Cecil Field: A look at what might have been

[thelakelander]

Would Jacksonville have been better off letting the Navy return to Cecil, assuming 24k jobs came along with it?  Food for thought.

Random thoughts while reflecting on my good fortune to be living in the greatest nation in world history:

- Unemployment hit 9.2 percent here in February, the Times-Union reported recently.

The same day, I walked through Regency Square Mall. Many, many stores were closed.

A few years ago, you may recall, the Navy wanted to reopen Cecil Field as a naval air station. That, it was said at the time, would have created nearly 12,000 jobs, paying an average of $53,000 each - $66,000 if you included housing and meal allowances.

And there would have been about 12,000 spin-off jobs.

That would have insulated Jacksonville from the recession.

But the voters, at City Hall's urging, told the Navy to take a hike. Now, we're paying the price.

http://www.jacksonville.com/opinion/columnists/phil_fretz/2009-04-06/story/cecil_field_a_look_at_what_might_have_been

[Ocklawaha]

It's Never Too Late Lyrics
Artist :Steppenwolf


Words and music by John Kay and Nick St. Nicholas

Your eyes are moist, you scream and shout
As though you were a man possessed
From deep inside comes rushing forth
All the anguish you suppressed
Up on your wall hangs your degree
Your parents craved so much for you
And though you're trained to make your mark
You still don't quite know what to do

It's never too late to start all over again
To love the people you caused the pain
And help them learn your name
Oh, no, not too late
It's never too late to start all over again

Well, it's much to late to start again
To try and find a little bliss
So on your woman and your child
You release your bitterness
You drift apart some more each day
You feel the guilt and loneliness
And the God of your childhood you can't find
To save you from your emptiness

It's never too late to start all over again
To love the people you caused the pain
And help them learn your name
Oh, no, not too late
It's never too late to start all over again

You say you've only got one life to live
And when your dead your gone
Your family comes to your grave
And with tears in their eyes
They tell you, you did something wrong
"You left us alone"

Tell me who's to say after all is done
And you're finally gone, you won't be back again
You can find a way to change today
You don't have to wait 'til then

It's never too late to start all over again
To love the people you caused the pain
And help them learn your name
Oh, no, not too late
It's never too late to start all over again

OCKLAWAHA

[JaxBorn1962]

Would Jacksonville have been better off letting the Navy return to Cecil, assuming 24k jobs came along with it?  Food for thought.

Random thoughts while reflecting on my good fortune to be living in the greatest nation in world history:

- Unemployment hit 9.2 percent here in February, the Times-Union reported recently.

The same day, I walked through Regency Square Mall. Many, many stores were closed.

A few years ago, you may recall, the Navy wanted to reopen Cecil Field as a naval air station. That, it was said at the time, would have created nearly 12,000 jobs, paying an average of $53,000 each - $66,000 if you included housing and meal allowances.

And there would have been about 12,000 spin-off jobs.

That would have insulated Jacksonville from the recession.

But the voters, at City Hall's urging, told the Navy to take a hike. Now, we're paying the price.

http://www.jacksonville.com/opinion/columnists/phil_fretz/2009-04-06/story/cecil_field_a_look_at_what_might_have_been

No

[civil42806]

Not if you live on the far westside.   The base was gone by the time this proposal came up,  it would have been a waste of the taxpayers money to rebuild what was destroyed a few years ago.  Give it up, its gone, its history.  The Navy made a huge mistake in closing it, but they are going to have to deal with the results.

[JaxBorn1962]

Not if you live on the far westside.   The base was gone by the time this proposal came up,  it would have been a waste of the taxpayers money to rebuild what was destroyed a few years ago.  Give it up, its gone, its history.  The Navy made a huge mistake in closing it, but they are going to have to deal with the results.

Amen

[JeffreyS]

The Navy made a mistake closing it and I understand people had to try and move on. However hindsight being 20/20 yes we should have begged them to return just before the economy tanked. I was on the wrong side of this fight because it would have been good for Jax and the west-side home values.

[thelakelander]

If they would have returned, there would have been a market to sell homes on the Westside to Navy families moving into the area instead of people losing them to foreclosure.  An influx of people moving in would have also helped our retail market weather the storm, in addition to the suppliers that would have followed, which would have created more high paying job opportunities.  Nevertheless, it doesn't really matter now.  What's done is done.  So when is the Walmart distribution center and that jet manufacturer opening?

[vicupstate]

The only ones insulated from the recession would be lawyers.  Virginia Beach was not going to let the base go without a major fight.  I'm sure it would be still be in the Congress, bog down (on purpose) at the Pentagon or tied up in the courts if Jax had not let it go. 

The real question is why we don't we see Cecil on any of the short lists for major industrial expansions.  With the new I-10 interchange open, there is one less excuse.       

[copperfiend]

I voted against it and still would today.

[JaxBorn1962]

The only ones insulated from the recession would be lawyers.  Virginia Beach was not going to let the base go without a major fight.  I'm sure it would be still be in the Congress, bog down (on purpose) at the Pentagon or tied up in the courts if Jax had not let it go. 

The real question is why we don't we see Cecil on any of the short lists for major industrial expansions.  With the new I-10 interchange open, there is one less excuse.       

We will everything isn't back to Normal and What gwb and DICK did to every working stiff in America its going to take some more time. The New World Ave area has Bridgestone and the new Cecil Field Florida State College. This area is going to be big in the near future just wait and see.

[thelakelander]

It will be big but it won't be in the near future.  Give it another 20, 30 or 40 years.

[reednavy]

The BRAC has admitted that closing Cecil was a mistake, and should've closed NAS JAX instead.

Oh what might have been had it been reversed, that is some prime ass real estate.

[JaxBorn1962]

The BRAC has admitted that closing Cecil was a mistake, and should've closed NAS JAX instead.

Oh what might have been had it been reversed, that is some prime ass real estate.

Couldn't you have said some prime real estate? Do you remember cecil closing you were 12? NAS Jax brings in a lot more Money and Jobs then cecil did. End Of Story.

[reednavy]

No.

Anyways, Cecil Field has more to for unlimited operations. NAS JAX is surrounded by development and the river, and has no more room to grow.

[stjr]

Closing Cecil was a big mistake for the COUNTRY, not just Jax.  But, it was a FEDERAL decision.  Locals get kudos for fighting hard to point out the error of the Fed's ways but, just like locally, a lot of decisions get made for POLITICAL reasons, not the RIGHT reasons.  Thanks to selfish Virginians, this is one of those.

My reasoning, along with obviously a majority of the local voters, was that we LOCALS, on behalf of the entire COUNTRY, should not have to pay the 1 Billion dollars to restore the base .  The FEDS should have paid this and it would have been a bargain if they did.  Had they done so, Jax would have rolled out the red carpet for the Navy as it always has.  But again, it wasn't done right.

If we had the base back on BRAC terms, we also would have a City with another one billion dollars in debt (over $1,000 per every citizen in Duval) paid by all of us for an operation that uses our infrastructure (don't forget the schools) but produces no direct property taxes.  Think the City and it's taxpayers are in financial straights now?

By the way, I think, even if it now costs TWO billion dollars, the FEDS should buy it back if it is of significant military importance.  TWO billion to the country is pocket change.  Could have included the money in the 1 Trillion dollar stimulus package and eliminated the equivalent of 10 useless road projects like 9B (you gotta believe Jax doesn't have a monopoly on pork barrel!).