City Does not Know how it will fund its share of $63 million for Everbank

[vicupstate]

Swimming pools at a  football stadium ?  Really?  Good Lord.

We can't cut the grass along the roads or keep libraries open, but we can build swimming pools at a stadium.  Just how stupid do things have to get before someone says ENOUGH.

How much does the ticket cost to watch the game while in the pool anyway?

[Charles Hunter]

Can someone explain WHY[/i] it is even a remotely good idea to have swimming pools at a football stadium?

I cannot see anything good coming from this, and the potential for very bad.  People at sporting events get drunk and fall down stairs and get hurt, and some even fall off upper decks and so on and die ... mix drinking fans and a pool?  At the very least, you'll folks peeing in it, at worst, drowning.

[mtraininjax]

Chalk this up to more good news from Mayor Alvin Brown. Of course, the City Council has to approve the decision to use the bed tax money for the project. The council seems to have the power over Brown and his legislation of late. Of course the bed tax money is used to pay for upkeep on other City Owned buildings so when you shift more money to one project, all the others lose out.

Better hope that the Arena has no more exterior problems, or that the Baseball Grounds don't start breaking apart. The most logical way to pay for it is to tax the people who use the stadium, if you use it, you pay for it. But logic is not a qualification for anything these days in Jacksonville.

[mbwright]

If you can have swimming pools at a baseball park,(Miami Marlins), why not football?  If Shad wants to pay for it, fine.  The Jags get to keep so much of the revenue, they should be able to afford it.

[copperfiend]

Can someone explain WHY[/i] it is even a remotely good idea to have swimming pools at a football stadium?

I cannot see anything good coming from this, and the potential for very bad.  People at sporting events get drunk and fall down stairs and get hurt, and some even fall off upper decks and so on and die ... mix drinking fans and a pool?  At the very least, you'll folks peeing in it, at worst, drowning.

The pools aren't just open to the general public. It will be part of a party deck or party zone that you have to rent. It is an additional revenue stream within the stadium. Just like the Terrace Suites, the Bud Zone, etc.

[Tacachale]

Hmm, this was the tax source that was mentioned as possibly funding a new convention center on the old courthouse site back during the Peyton administration.  So where are the backers of that project now?

Several years ago, the city dedicated the bed tax money to improvements in the sports complex. They wouldn't be able to use that funding for a convention center without changing that first. It's all connected; to build a new convention center they'd have to get a different funding source, like initiating a tax or bonding it, which this administration hasn't been very supportive of.

[fsquid]

Swimming pools at a  football stadium ?  Really?  Good Lord.

We can't cut the grass along the roads or keep libraries open, but we can build swimming pools at a stadium.  Just how stupid do things have to get before someone says ENOUGH.

How much does the ticket cost to watch the game while in the pool anyway?

can you use the bed tax to fund landscaping?

[thelakelander]

Hmm, this was the tax source that was mentioned as possibly funding a new convention center on the old courthouse site back during the Peyton administration.  So where are the backers of that project now?

Several years ago, the city dedicated the bed tax money to improvements in the sports complex. They wouldn't be able to use that funding for a convention center without changing that first. It's all connected; to build a new convention center they'd have to get a different funding source, like initiating a tax or bonding it, which this administration hasn't been very supportive of.

So after knowing for over a decade that the courthouse would be moved and talk of a new convention center dating back before we hosted the super bowl, we're nowhere closer to resolving this issue than we were in 2003?

[Tacachale]

Hmm, this was the tax source that was mentioned as possibly funding a new convention center on the old courthouse site back during the Peyton administration.  So where are the backers of that project now?

Several years ago, the city dedicated the bed tax money to improvements in the sports complex. They wouldn't be able to use that funding for a convention center without changing that first. It's all connected; to build a new convention center they'd have to get a different funding source, like initiating a tax or bonding it, which this administration hasn't been very supportive of.

So after knowing for over a decade that the courthouse would be moved and talk of a new convention center dating back before we hosted the super bowl, we're nowhere closer to resolving this issue than we were in 2003?

Sounds like a fair summary, yeah.

[Overstreet]

If you believe city hall is good on it's promises then you think there is a parking garage adjacent to and for the landing.

[tufsu1]

The pools aren't just open to the general public. It will be part of a party deck or party zone that you have to rent. It is an additional revenue stream within the stadium. Just like the Terrace Suites, the Bud Zone, etc.

are you sure?  the main idea of taking stands out in the north end zone is to create an open plaza area...similar to what the Bucs have with the prate ship area.

[edjax]

And to also provide the foundation to add the temp seats for the fla/ga game.  Also I wish they would rethink the whole pool thing.  I think some waterfalls coming down a wall would look a lot better.  Or perhaps they can still do something on outer edge of the pool facing the pool.  Just water cascading down the wall would look pretty cool.

[mtraininjax]

If you believe city hall is good on it's promises then you think there is a parking garage adjacent to and for the landing.

+1

[copperfiend]

The pools aren't just open to the general public. It will be part of a party deck or party zone that you have to rent. It is an additional revenue stream within the stadium. Just like the Terrace Suites, the Bud Zone, etc.

are you sure?  the main idea of taking stands out in the north end zone is to create an open plaza area...similar to what the Bucs have with the prate ship area.

Mark Lamping has said the pool will be part of a "party zone" that you could rent.

[Cheshire Cat]

If you believe city hall is good on it's promises then you think there is a parking garage adjacent to and for the landing.

+1

"This is a game-changer. This is what I mean when I say taking Jacksonville to the next level."

-Mayor Alvin Brown on new video boards at Everbank

MTrain, just read the quote you have under your post.  Blew my mind.  Did Alvin Brown seriously say that the scoreboard is what he meant when he talked of taking Jacksonville to another level?  Seriously?  If this is for real can you direct me to the place I can find his statement on the record?  This just blows me away.  A scoreboard the new level?  Aw hell no!