Metro Jacksonville

Moving Fairgrounds to Cecil Field a Bad Idea

(http://photos.metrojacksonville.com/photos/732843247_xtp8D-M.jpg)

Since 2000, more than $1.1 billion in development has taken place in Downtown Jacksonville.  In 2008, the city even went as far as establishing a special committee to help increase the number of events taking place in downtown.  Now the City of Jacksonville is prepared to undermine its own efforts to make downtown a vibrant destination by possibly moving the fair and its 500,000 annual visitors to Cecil Field.  Here are five reasons why this appears to be a bad idea.

Full Article
http://www.metrojacksonville.com/article/2009-dec-moving-fairgrounds-to-cecil-field-a-bad-idea

APPEARS to be a bad idea?  It IS a bad idea!

Heights Unknown

QuoteBefore removing 500,000 downtown visitors per year, consider backing JTA and the North Florida TPO's plans with local money to accelerate implementation of mass transit to the Sports District and Downtown. 

DITTO!!!!!!

Now the city is really getting desperate to put something at Cecil to create the illusion of activity.  Good thing those real estate speculators set up those speakers at City Hall to keep the Navy away.  We certainly did need them here and all the jobs they would have brought.

If the fairgrounds have to move why not integrate them into the Springfield parks master plan?  There is plenty of open space coupled with a soon to be upgraded creek and additional ammenities.  Furthermore, there may soon be a transit connection via Springfield trollys and State & Union to move people around.

I think the biggest issue is the fact that Cecil Field is way out there.  The nice thing about it being in downtown is it was basically in the heart of Jacksonville; it wasn't too far for anybody.  Now, I'm pretty sure that Eastern Jacksonville residents won't even bother.

The folks at the fair should be prepared to take a big hit the first year that it moves to Cecil, if that occurs. 

When I lived in Columbia SC, there was a popular, well attended festival called Mayfeast that had been held annually for about a decade or so.  One year the NAME of the park where it was held was changed (to honor the mayor who fostered the idea and creation of said park).  Despite ideal weather, the attendance dropped something like 20-30%.  While the location of the festival didn't change, too much of the the general population did not realize that the festival was in the same location, and only the name of the park had changed.

Eventually, word got around and attendance returned to normal over the next year or two.  Still, there was that initial hit that no one planned for.

In this situation, the NAME AND LOCATION of the site will change.  I would expect it to be even worst, particularly if there isn't additional expenditure to 'educate' people.  Not everyone reads the newspaper and follows local stuff like this.       

Of all the bad ideas this city has proposed, this one is up there with the worst.

Why not just put it in Lake City? Then Gate would really make out well on the deal...

Can the date of the fair be changed? Seems like a simple solution, just move the fair to the springtime.

I think this idea is so bad even Jax can not get this done.

so what happens if we move the fair out of this location and then we lose the jaguars to another town that actually supports being an NFL town?  can we just gut it all and lump the entire district in with the shipyards pipe dream?

Leave the fair Downtown. IF you want a rural fair experience go to any county in this region. Duval's fair should be Downtown!

If the Fair fades away from the downtown scene for whatever 'reason' there is but one conclusion:Another step in the decline of downtown.

The whole episode speaks volumes.

Quote from: hightowerlover on December 07, 2009, 11:11:53 AM
so what happens if we move the fair out of this location and then we lose the jaguars to another town that actually supports being an NFL town?  can we just gut it all and lump the entire district in with the shipyards pipe dream?

Speaking of the Shipyards....I recall Shipyards/Tri-Legacy group involvement in Cecil.

Hang on the the Downtown Fair location-it may be all we end up with.

Some day we may see Cecil brought back to military use in US soil defense needs.

Is this another "bend over backwards for the Jaguars" type of thing? God forbid we have TOO MANY PEOPLE downtown for a couple of weekends. Who cares about some traffic a couple weekends out of the year? If it's that big a deal, why don't the fair organizers just reschedule it? Nothing drastic, just a week or two earlier... Or get the friggin mass transit thing going so you don't have a million cars clogging up E Bay and Forsyth, Hart Bridge, Mathews Bridge, etc...

I'm two minutes from downtown. I'm at least half an hour from Cecil Field, along with more than half the city, I imagine. I don't see many people going that far out of their way for corn dogs and deadly dangerous thrill rides.

Just leave the Fair where it is!

I disagree. I see the fairgrounds property as a perfect location for a hotel/condo similar to the W in Dallas. Sitting right in the heart of the sports complex with permanent and transient populations would then make extending the Skyway to that area more logical. Agricultural fairs should in in ag areas - like the Westside/Cecil area. Leave the sentimentality at home and look at the bigger picture. This is not a Jaguars issue.

Quote from: Jth on December 07, 2009, 10:43:34 AM
Of all the bad ideas this city has proposed, this one is up there with the worst.

Why not just put it in Lake City? Then Gate would really make out well on the deal...

Can the date of the fair be changed? Seems like a simple solution, just move the fair to the springtime.

LOL...that's funny...moving it to Lake City; but I see where you're coming from.  And I agree with what someone said about it now being centralized in the county, where everyone won't have too far to go; move it to Cecil and the people at the Beaches and the Eastside/Arlington (and even far southside) won't bother.

Heights Unknown

Quote from: exnewsman on December 07, 2009, 12:53:14 PM
I disagree. I see the fairgrounds property as a perfect location for a hotel/condo similar to the W in Dallas. Sitting right in the heart of the sports complex with permanent and transient populations would then make extending the Skyway to that area more logical. Agricultural fairs should in in ag areas - like the Westside/Cecil area. Leave the sentimentality at home and look at the bigger picture. This is not a Jaguars issue.

???  What?

"HU"

If the land had a buyer I would love to see the Fair housed in Metro Park.

Metro Park isn't nearly large enough....you'd have to use it and the Shipyards property....for 2 weeks a year...what a great use of riverfront land 

No do not use the shipyards. How much bigger are the fair grounds?

Honestly I don't think we need to worry about this.  Even if they do move the fair, after a couple of years of dramatic attendance drop off, they'll move it back...  Then again, maybe I overestimate the city's intelligence.

Ron Mexico hit the nail on the head in his first sentence.

So Clay and other nearby counties could move THEIR fair events to the Equestrian center.
[i know cecil is in duval]
but JAX needs to keep the fair in the CORE!
omg how dumb are our 'leaders' to spend so much on "studying" this... .

You know I really don't care. I'm not going. They won't let me carry my pocket knife in the gate for fear of ......... whatever. Must be a downtown thing. 

The agricultural fair portion is relatively small. The displays of crafts, canning and cooking are also small. The mainstay is the midway. I'm just not into amusement parks. Two visits to the Duval county fair in 25 years is enough for my life time.

What I miss is the state fairgrounds of my youth. Between the shows, the sulkie races, the midget (cars) races, the agricultural equipment displays, the tractor pulls and the animals it was interesting without ever setting foot on the midway. They had whole buildings devoted to a particular animal, ie cow barn, pig barn, etc. Oh yeah it wasn't downtown either. It was on the edge of town and the town moved out to it.

We've had this dismal conversation before.  Leave the damn fair alone.  Since this topic puts me to sleep, it escapes me the real reason they want to move the fair-it's only 2 weeks out of 52.

The main reason is that the City's contract for the Florida/Georgia game forbids conflict in the Sports Comples with the Fair.  According to schedules of the Fair and the FL/GA game, there will be a conflict in (IIRC) 2014.

I also think there are other, unspoken reasons.

Someone can correct me if I am wrong, but aren't they eying the Fairgrounds space for a future Prime Osborn replacement? Parking is already there, concessionaires already service the area (just missing transit).

Some cities have found success in clumping the sports complexes adjacent to their convention centers to increase viability.

That would free up Jacksonville Terminal for what it was really designed for.

While I prefer that the Fair stay in the city as I attend it (and wouldn't if it goes to Cecil), if they could find a locale nearby that doesn't require the demolishing of homes (perhaps some dilapidated warehouses at the nearby piers)

I can state for certain that the fairgrounds Livestock section was graded wrong by Shyster concrete contractors...hello! piss has to run downhill into drainage...not uphill! It disgusted livestock folks who knew better than to accept these conditions.
Might as well demo that mess.Who knows how old that ripoff was..long spent by now.
Another Classic example of some GOB network brother lining his pocket and laughing over his High Ball glass of Wild Turkey every night.

another Classic moment from the fairgrounds. The Maintenance guys told me that some guy had put on a "Home Depot" carpenters apron, and parked at least 50+ cars at $5.00 on the arena/fairgrounds property...they yelled at him and he wrapped up his cash and apron and slowly hopped the fence!!  :D

Quote from: spuwho on December 22, 2010, 08:08:48 PM
Someone can correct me if I am wrong, but aren't they eying the Fairgrounds space for a future Prime Osborn replacement? Parking is already there, concessionaires already service the area (just missing transit).

Some cities have found success in clumping the sports complexes adjacent to their convention centers to increase viability.

That would free up Jacksonville Terminal for what it was really designed for.

While I prefer that the Fair stay in the city as I attend it (and wouldn't if it goes to Cecil), if they could find a locale nearby that doesn't require the demolishing of homes (perhaps some dilapidated warehouses at the nearby piers)

Moving the Convention Center to the Fairgrounds would be a disaster as bad as building another one in LaVilla... NOTHING WALKABLE, no hotels, no transit... A completely isolated island.

Taking down the "Prime Osbourne," would be wonderful as long as nobody touches any of the historical building fabric. Changing it back to a transportation center would be great if JTA didn't have plans to create a monstrosity larger then a small country.

OCKLAWAHA

The convention center site being considered is the Bay Street courthouse location, not the current fairgrounds site.

uh wooow ooo Im tellin Sleiman!
lol