Will Jacksonville ever...

[OhJay]

Will Jacksonville ever get its act together...I have noticed out of the whole 20 years I have been here, Jacksonville had become a big retirement home. We are the biggest city in the united states (IN LAND AREA) and we put our land to waist. will Jacksonville ever be the city to attract tourists. will youth in Jacksonville be able to enjoy our city. I'm 25 and the only reason I'm here is because of my university, i love Jacksonville and we have so much potential to be a great city but we don't take advantage of it. Will Jacksonville ever get the chance to have a NBA Team, a MLB Team, a Nice facility to host our NBA Games, as well as a well loved NFL team, which is on the rocks. Jacksonville needs some sort of attraction, i suggest a theme park of some sort. look at what Busch gardens has done for Tampa bay. If you go to a city like Miami, they don't even have a amusement park but they attract people from across the world. If you look at Miami's skyline and look at ours they put us to shame...I have just one question...WILL JACKSONVILLE EVER GET THEIR ACT TOGETHER.

[CS Foltz]

OhJay..............really good question! Under the guidance of the current Administration short answer is NO! Long answer is MAYBE if we start a concentrated effort to take back our City..........but I have a question for you..........where would you put a theme park in at? How would you fund said park?

[OhJay]

Good question...well i really wouldn't say a theme park inside of Jacksonville, but a theme park in the first coast area, because some in the first coast area don't want to drive a whole 2 1/2 hours to Orlando, I think if we can find land in the first coast area big enough i think that can be achieved in the near future

[OhJay]

on the whole funding tip, thats up to the person who would come up with the concept, if the jacksonville administration considered to create a theme park it would take some time because They don't have a slight idea of what to do with our city, now if some millionaire comes out the blue (which i doubt) and says this is where i want my theme park then maybe we can get this ball rolling.

[Sportmotor]

This town hardly supports minor league soccer or hockey, I cant recall any basketball, but it does support the minor league baseball, not sure if it would for major league on any of the said mentioned.

Although I am not sure why everyone thinks we need to be like this city or that city, Jacksonville needs its OWN identity we arnt New York, Chicago, Orlando or San Francisco. We just need to be Jacksonville.

[OhJay]

yes we do need our identity, but at the same time we need some attraction or some influence to have our own identity.

[Sportmotor]

I disagree although it would help, we dont NEED one. I think it just needs a clean up.

[OhJay]

we need something in the city that everyone can enjoy

[heights unknown]

Good question Ohjay; in my opinion it starts with leadership and its leaders being focused with realistic goals that the administration and the citizens can embrace.  If the leadership pitches it (a good solid sell of those goals), and the public bites, it will become reality and it will be successful.  But our leaders are poor judges, poor leaders, are not focused, and don't have a clue relative to what Jacksonville should be or can be.  They try to mimick other cities instead of looking at what Jax already has, capitalize on it, are aware of Jax's history and capitalize on that, and the great potential already at our finger tips and at our disposal.  We need leaders that are original and not copy cats, and that know what Jacksonville was, what it now is, and the great potential that it can be.

"HU"

[Ocklawaha]

Sub-Tropical Exposition 1888, Main Street, Jacksonville


Seattle Exposition 1962


Two Observations...

1. Thanks to a nationwide media attack on the Jaguars, we are now the "attendance joke," of the USA... Earned or not, fair or not, we now occupy every sports talk show, in every tiny station, from Oklahoma to Omaha. Armed with this erroneous knowledge there isn't a sport's league in the world that would seriously consider us for placement of another team.

Once again, like it or not, we have to prove our metal. We either make them eat shit by blowing the Jaguar attendance figures through the roof, and equally supporting the SHARKS, as well as every other tiny franchise, or we bite the dust for another 50 years or so...

2. Theme Parks are great, they can as we have seen in Anaheim and Orlando, create vibrant growth... but it's been helter skelter at best. Agreed that we could stand some rapid growth, Miami's Skyline should by rights be our Skyline, but we made some stupid progress killing decisions that assured everything went SOUTH! I think we'd be much better off with a careful quality of life approach, rather then grabbing for a quick fix.

We do have a couple of historic opportunities to create unique "theme parks," but nothing like anything offered in Central Florida. Frankly a start-up park trying to compete for some of Disney/Universal/Busch/Sea World's bucks would be paramount to corporate suicide.

We once had one of the coolest midways on any beach between Key West and Cony Island. If someone would take the investment bucks to our beaches, and plop down a hotel and a couple of blocks of beachside fun, 1920's style, we would have something once again, that Orlando could NEVER match, and it doesn't have to be a Billion Dollar project to win.

Our history at DIXIELAND, the trolley park on the southbank, no doubt borrowed much of it's flair from the "Sub-Tropical Exposition of 1888," which was on Main Street. (In fact if you want to mourn the loss of any building, this is YOUR building...)  If we really want to persue a completely different path, I'd submit to all of you that a "Worlds Fair" on the JEA site, with duplication of much of the Sub-Tropical Theme of 1888, would be a blow-out attraction. The fair would serve to kick off the attraction, as the buildings could be recycled as a recreation facility, museums, and cultural centers for the next 100 years. The fair has a new venue, which amounts to a small expo, and this might be the thing for us to review... Here's an example:


Map of the Spokane Exposition 1974, note how the fairs are blended into the cities, unlike "theme parks."

Expo '74 was an environmentally themed world's fair in Spokane, Washington that ran from 4 May to 3 November 1974.

Spokane was the smallest city to host a world's fair until Knoxville, Tennessee held the 1982 World's Fair eight years later. The theme for Expo '74 was "Celebrating Tomorrow's Fresh New Environment." The heart of the fair park grounds was located on Canada Island, Havermale Island, and the adjacent south bank of the Spokane River in the center of the city. With the exception of two pavilions, all of the major buildings were modular structures assembled on the site. The fair had 5.2 million visitors and was considered a success, nearly breaking even, revitalizing the blighted urban core, and pumping an estimated $150 million into the local economy and surrounding region.

Among the many attractions, architectural critics were intrigued by the Australian Pavilion with its 36 screen revolving audio visual platform which quickly gained an underground reputation as the place to experience something different. (The artistic director for the project was film director Jonathan Dawson).

After the event closed, the exposition site became the city's 100 acre (400,000 m²) Riverfront Park, containing the former U.S. Pavilion and a clock tower (part of a Great Northern rail depot that was demolished for Expo '74), which prominently featured the park's logo.

Several structures built for the fair are still standing. The United States Pavilion still houses an IMAX theater built for the fair, as well as a winter ice rink that is put to other varied uses in the warm months. The "Sky Ride" chairlift from Expo '74 still stands as well, but not in its original place. It has since been moved to Adventureland theme park in Altoona, Iowa. The Washington State Pavillion still stands and is used as the Spokane Convention Center and the Opera House. The Carousel remains a popular attraction. It originated in Natatorium Park, which closed in 1967, and was restored for the World's Fair.

Knoxville Exposition 1974

The idea for a World's Fair in Knoxville came from a visit to Spokane, Washington, in 1974 that touted the benefits of the Expo for the city. W. Stewart Evans, president of the Downtown Knoxville Association, came up with the idea of hosting a fair in Knoxville and presented the to the city and the mayor.[1]

Knoxville Mayor Kyle Testerman appointed banker Jake Butcher to lead an exploratory committee on the fair, and Butcher served as the driving force behind the fair. Many Knoxvillians called it "Jake's Fair".[1] The organizing body was the Knoxville Foundation Inc.[2] There was skepticism about the ability of Knoxville, described as a "scruffy little city" by a national publication, to successfully host a World's Fair.[3]

This was the second World's Fair to be held in Tennessee, the first being the Tennessee Centennial Exposition of 1897, held in Nashville.

The 1982 World's Fair, formally known as the Knoxville International Energy Exposition, was held in Knoxville, Tennessee, in the United States. The theme of the exposition was "Energy Turns the World."

It opened on May 1, 1982, and closed on October 31, 1982 after receiving over 11 million visitors. Participating nations included Australia, Belgium, Canada, China, Denmark, Egypt, France, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Korea, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, Panama, Peru, Philippines, Saudi Arabia, United Kingdom, United States, and West Germany.

The fair was constructed on a 70-acre (280,000 m2) site between downtown Knoxville and the University of Tennessee. The core of the site primarily consisted of a deteriorating L&N railroad yard and depot. The railroad yard was demolished, with the exception of a single rail line, and the depot was renovated into a restaurant. The Sunsphere, a 266-foot (81 m) steel tower topped with a five-story gold globe, was built for the 1982 World's Fair. It still stands and remains a symbol for the city of Knoxville.

In 2002, the World's Fair Park was reopened to general events and concerts, such as Earth Fest and Greek Fest. A July 4 celebration is held there every year with the Knoxville Symphony playing a free concert with a massive fireworks display. The 2007 July 4 celebration was held in conjunction with festivities commemorating the 25th Anniversary of the 1982 World's Fair.

The following day, July 5, 2007, The Sunsphere's observation deck reopened to the public.

http://www.worldsfairs.com/Worlds_Fairs/Home.html


OCKLAWAHA

[OhJay]

if adventure landing was to expand and grown and purchase land big enough to build a theme park, i think Jacksonville would be very grateful, although it wouldn't compete with the disney empire or the universal studios empire, but it would be a great starter her for us to enjoy and something to call our own.

[Ocklawaha]

AREA ATTRACTION EVENT! COME AND HEAR IT YOURSELVES!

Dr. Wayne Wood

Tuesday, February 23rd, 2010
at Old St. Andrews
317 A. Philip Randolph Blvd.

7:00 p.m. reception and 7:30 p.m. program

In 1887, as California grew as a rival to Florida's tourist trade, an elaborate Sub-Tropical Exposition was built on on Main Street to lure tourists to Florida.  It opened on January 12, 1888. The main building was one of the most outrageous edifices ever constructed in Jacksonville -- a spectacular structure topped by towers and minarets and which covered over an acre of ground.  It was designed by the firm of Ellis & McClure.  Inside the enormous hall was an electrically-lit fountain of stone and coral with a pond containing rare fish.  Exhibits included a Seminole Indian camp, displays of Florida products, an art gallery, two artificial lakes, and a zoo.  For a time the exposition proved highly popular. The town went ga-ga when President Grover Cleveland and his young bride came to visit the exposition.

Hear the story of this amazing chapter in Jacksonville's history as told by one of JHS's most popular speakers.  Dr. Wayne Wood, author of a series of award-winning Jacksonville history books, will present rare images and discuss this fascinating historical event.


For more information, call 904-665-0064

OCKLAWAHA

[tufsu1]

Jacksonville needs some sort of attraction, i suggest a theme park of some sort. look at what Busch gardens has done for Tampa bay.

maybe I missed something...what has it done?
From the looks of the surrounding neighborhood and Busch Blvd, nothing much.

As to the rest of your post, the Miami area has 4.5 million people, the Tampa Bay area has close to 3 million....and we have 1.3 million.

[downtownjag]

I don't think a theme park makes sense geographically, there is too much in a driveable radius.  However, a new trend is vacation treatments, where people get out of town for r&r while they have procedures done.  Sometimes they are cosmetic procedures, sometimes they are more serious.  We have the beaches, a beautiful river, and plenty of golf courses. We have UF&Shands and tons of medical facilities.  It's always warm and sunny (besides today).  Maybe high command (as stephendare calls them) should look into this idea.  It may be something that we could use as a competitive advantage instead of always playing catch up.  Oklawaha, 2300 jags tickets sold in January, last year January was 0 and the year before 13.  Go Jags

[mtraininjax]

we need something in the city that everyone can enjoy

Have you ever been out US 90 or Beach Blvd EAST, until you run into that glob of water at the end of Beach? AKA JACKSONVILLE BEACH? Its there for everyone of us, no cost to get on the beach and it is there 24/7 365 days a year. Enjoy it, and by the way, it is FREE.

A consortium of water parks wanted to add a water park on the northside as it was growing, but the land became too expensive and the plan died. I can't see anything more than a water park here, but a cool one tied to surfing would be great. It could function at least 8-9 months out of the year.

As previous have said, we barely support soccer or hockey here, and there are still tickets for the NCAA Round 1 and 2 available. Basketball was ranked last in a survey of needed sports in the area. There used to be a team at the beach, semi-pro but it folded with poor attendance. We need to fix and clean the river and keep the beaches, because we are a water town and we have the water to offer to people. Most people do not have all the water we have available, so showcase the water and water theme parks, if you must. Personally, I like Jax, just the way it is.