The Sad State of Friendship Fountain

[Kerry]

The world's "largest" videoboards at the time.  It never  became a popular tourist attraction.

To be fair though, they can be seen from the interstate.

[jax_hwy_engineer]

The world's "largest" videoboards at the time.  It never  became a popular tourist attraction.

To be fair though, they can be seen from the interstate.

wow, at first I thought "no way, they can be seen from the EXPRESSWAYS at best" but nope! you can see 'em clear across the river from I-95 on the Overland Bridge. Pretty impressive, didn't even realize that.

(still, not sure I've ever heard anybody say "oh yeah let's go watch a Jags game, their jumbotrons are SO BIG!" so I kinda question their real draw by themselves, though I do concede that the screens in conjunction with the other stadium improvements are working together to draw more people to the Stadium District)

[thelakelander]

Jacksonville got into the tourism game late.  From the 1920s onward, Jacksonville wanted to attract industry not tourists.  We got the pulp mills, the fertilizer plants, chemical plants, shipyards, and everything else that repelled tourists.  It's going to be difficult to turn this ship around.  We are always going to be that big town people pass through to get to the "real" Florida.  Meanwhile, we are left to clean up the mess all of these industrial plants left behind.  We need to clean up and repair what we have.  Improve our schools, get real with crime, and the growth will come.  We have a lot to offer, we just don't have the leadership to guide us.

Sounds like Seattle, Portland, New Orleans, Savannah and Charleston. All old industrial cities with historic industry similar to that of Jax's that have had success. Yes, we have our challenges but they certainly aren't unique and can be overcome by taking advantage of the pros and cons of tried and true redevelopment strategies.

[Kerry]

Jacksonville got into the tourism game late.  From the 1920s onward, Jacksonville wanted to attract industry not tourists.  We got the pulp mills, the fertilizer plants, chemical plants, shipyards, and everything else that repelled tourists.  It's going to be difficult to turn this ship around.  We are always going to be that big town people pass through to get to the "real" Florida.  Meanwhile, we are left to clean up the mess all of these industrial plants left behind.  We need to clean up and repair what we have.  Improve our schools, get real with crime, and the growth will come.  We have a lot to offer, we just don't have the leadership to guide us.

Sounds like Seattle, Portland, New Orleans, Savannah and Charleston. All old industrial cities with historic industry similar to that of Jax's that have had success. Yes, we have our challenges but they certainly aren't unique and can be overcome by taking advantage of the pros and cons of tried and true redevelopment strategies.

Great, any idea when we will start?

[Kerry]

"oh yeah let's go watch a Jags game, their jumbotrons are SO BIG!"

That's what she said.

[Bativac]

3) Remember how spectacular the fountain was for that brief period in 2013 when it was fully restored? A new addition to the fountain itself is being discussed that would make it even more spectacular (if properly maintained).

The fountain was incredible when it was restored. I remember taking out of town guests there and we would marvel at it.

Wow. Sounds like quite a night out.

Yeah. That's what there was for fun in Jax... that and breweries! That's part of why we finally left.

[KenFSU]

The world's "largest" videoboards at the time.  It never  became a popular tourist attraction.

Come on now, this is just patently absurd.

Sports tourism is huge for Jacksonville.

In 2018 alone, tens of thousands, if not over 100 thousand, tourists came to Everbank Field from places like Gainesville, Athens, Notre Dame, Annapolis, Louisville, Mississippi, London, and 11 major NFL markets and most of them, you know, spent the night.

In fact, I just came back from a Visit Florida lunch at the Omni, and the CEO and CMO of Visit Florida led their presentation by accurately distilling the entire tourism machine into one, four-word mission statement: "Put heads in beds."

Suggesting that keeping our stadium up to date resulted in the facility "never becoming a tourist attraction" literally disregards 100 years of our city's history.

Does Florida State-Boise State open the 2019 college football season in Jacksonville if our stadium still looked like it did in 2012? Absolutely not.

[Kerry]

Does Florida State-Boise State open the 2019 college football season in Jacksonville if our stadium still looked like it did in 2012? Absolutely not.

They might.  In 2007 they played a neutral site game against Alabama in Jax.

http://seminoles.com/gator-bowl-association-announces-sell-out-of-river-city-showdown/

"It was important, from my perspective, that our Alumni and fan base be able to share a historic moment and memory as a record crowd gathers in Jacksonville for this neutral site game between the Seminoles and the Crimson Tide", said Dave Hart, Director of Athletics at Florida State.  "Having that come to fruition only adds to the excitement surrounding this game between two of college football's most decorated programs", Hart added.

[Steve]

Does Florida State-Boise State open the 2019 college football season in Jacksonville if our stadium still looked like it did in 2012? Absolutely not.

They might.  In 2007 they played a neutral site game against Alabama in Jax.

http://seminoles.com/gator-bowl-association-announces-sell-out-of-river-city-showdown/

"It was important, from my perspective, that our Alumni and fan base be able to share a historic moment and memory as a record crowd gathers in Jacksonville for this neutral site game between the Seminoles and the Crimson Tide", said Dave Hart, Director of Athletics at Florida State.  "Having that come to fruition only adds to the excitement surrounding this game between two of college football's most decorated programs", Hart added.

Much different atmosphere in 2007. Right or Wrong, College Football money has grown dramatically in 11 years. What teams would want from a payout in 2007 is far different today. While the Scoreboards aren't something you can charge more for, you definitely can for the pool cabanas, club seats, etc. All of that goes into the economics of College Football.

(On a personal note, I think the economics in College Football are FAR more ridiculous than the NFL, or any other sport for that matter. But, the point remains)

[KenFSU]

Does Florida State-Boise State open the 2019 college football season in Jacksonville if our stadium still looked like it did in 2012? Absolutely not.

They might.  In 2007 they played a neutral site game against Alabama in Jax.

... which was signed in 2005 as a result of the $40 million in stadium renovations carried out for Super Bowl XXXIX that year.

You need first-class facilities to draw first-class events.

[Snaketoz]

The world's "largest" videoboards at the time.  It never  became a popular tourist attraction.

Come on now, this is just patently absurd.

Sports tourism is huge for Jacksonville.

In 2018 alone, tens of thousands, if not over 100 thousand, tourists came to Everbank Field from places like Gainesville, Athens, Notre Dame, Annapolis, Louisville, Mississippi, London, and 11 major NFL markets and most of them, you know, spent the night.

In fact, I just came back from a Visit Florida lunch at the Omni, and the CEO and CMO of Visit Florida led their presentation by accurately distilling the entire tourism machine into one, four-word mission statement: "Put heads in beds."

Suggesting that keeping our stadium up to date resulted in the facility "never becoming a tourist attraction" literally disregards 100 years of our city's history.

Does Florida State-Boise State open the 2019 college football season in Jacksonville if our stadium still looked like it did in 2012? Absolutely not.

Jacksonville is quickly becoming a "medical tourist" town.  Unbelievable amount of people coming here for medical procedures.

[Kiva]

True. Proton therapy alone brings people from all over. They are adding on to the UF Health proton therapy center due to demand.

[jaxjags]

Jacksonville got into the tourism game late.  From the 1920s onward, Jacksonville wanted to attract industry not tourists.  We got the pulp mills, the fertilizer plants, chemical plants, shipyards, and everything else that repelled tourists.  It's going to be difficult to turn this ship around.  We are always going to be that big town people pass through to get to the "real" Florida.  Meanwhile, we are left to clean up the mess all of these industrial plants left behind.  We need to clean up and repair what we have.  Improve our schools, get real with crime, and the growth will come.  We have a lot to offer, we just don't have the leadership to guide us.

Sounds like Seattle, Portland, New Orleans, Savannah and Charleston. All old industrial cities with historic industry similar to that of Jax's that have had success. Yes, we have our challenges but they certainly aren't unique and can be overcome by taking advantage of the pros and cons of tried and true redevelopment strategies.

As I said in my last post I spend lots of tine in Savannah. Savannah is 100% a tourist town. And guess what, except for 2-3 DT hotels being built there is little if any other development in the area. Maybe Pooler, but it is a mini River City Marketplace. Let face it, we will not be a typical Florida tourist town. We don't attract people to our beaches in the winter like Ft. Lauderdale, Miami, WPB.  We can be a medical tourist town. Or a kayak, wildlife (as in Talbot Island) type town. Lets grow Jax based on it's strengths. Business environment, low taxes, family oriented, etc.

[thelakelander]

Did you spend lots of time in Savannah in the 1980s? What you see now is the hard work of revitalization efforts that span more than 30 years now. Both Savannah and Charleston were run down industrial Southern port cities back then. They just hadn't blown everything up like we do. But make no doubt about it, stuff like a port, military, paper mills, forest products, etc. were/are just as important to their economies as it is our's. In other words, even today, they aren't 100% tourist towns.

I do agree that we should grow on our strengths. Moreso than taxes, I'd tell you history, culture and sense of place are true unique strentghs here that we totally down play and drop the ball on. Those are the strengths the list of cities I mentioned took advantage of to turn their fortunes around.

[Kerry]

While tourism is pretty big in Savannah, it has a lot more going for it than that.  They have 3 good sized universities (Savannah State, Georgia Southern - Armstrong, and SCAD), 5th largest container port in the US (behind LA, Long Beach, NY/NJ, and Seattle/Tacoma), 3 large military bases (Hunter Army Airfield, Fort Stewart, and Parris Island Marine Corp), and is a pretty active movie location (just watched the Adam Sandler/David Spade movie - The Do Over, which was filmed in Savannah).  Also, Hilton Head Island is just across the river.

Anyhow, back to our 40 year struggle to get our fountain to work.