Is it time to replace Metropolitan Park?

[Kay]

I have not been to the St. Augustine Amphitheater.  Does anyone know if it is close to homes?  I heard it was not.  Perhaps the answer is to find a location in Jacksonville away from residents.

[thelakelander]

Is Met Park any louder than Everbank Field? It's a bad idea to remove live performance venues out of DT, IMO. I think the ultimate answer is to build a real facility.

[fieldafm]

I have not been to the St. Augustine Amphitheater.  Does anyone know if it is close to homes?  I heard it was not.  Perhaps the answer is to find a location in Jacksonville away from residents.

There are homes across the street.

[jaxjags]

thelakelander, I agree with you. Time for a new facility designed for the concerts of today. When in ATL a couple weeks ago, I noticed a new amphitheatre on the far northside, near Northpoint Mall. A highly residential area, but centered near where a lot of people live. I know this is not DT, but to me an ideal location would be across JTB from UNF. This area is still undeveloped and a proper design could make noise pollution to future development minimal. With JTB, 95, 295 all close, access from most of the city would be good. Just a thought.

[Dog Walker]

Is Met Park any louder than Everbank Field? It's a bad idea to remove live performance venues out of DT, IMO. I think the ultimate answer is to build a real facility.

I keep saying; build a facility in or connected to a new convention center, but build it INSIDE.  Why does everybody seem to want these events outside, exposed to the weather?  It isn't necessary to move it out of downtown, just put a roof and walls around it.  Problem solved.

[Charles Hunter]

I have not been to the St. Augustine Amphitheater.  Does anyone know if it is close to homes?  I heard it was not.  Perhaps the answer is to find a location in Jacksonville away from residents.

There are homes across the street.

And they have a very firm curfew (don't know when it is, but it seems to be enforced).  Don't know if they have decibel limits.  A great venue.

[Charles Hunter]

Is Met Park any louder than Everbank Field? It's a bad idea to remove live performance venues out of DT, IMO. I think the ultimate answer is to build a real facility.

I keep saying; build a facility in or connected to a new convention center, but build it INSIDE.  Why does everybody seem to want these events outside, exposed to the weather?  It isn't necessary to move it out of downtown, just put a roof and walls around it.  Problem solved.

Then you don't have an amphitheater, you have a concert hall, or arena ... kinda like those buildings on A. Phillip Randolf or on Water Street, or Forsyth Street.

[sheclown]

do we really need to move something else out of the urban core?

[thelakelander]

^No. Moving things out of the core that attract people from all over, goes against the general idea of DT revitalization.

[Jaxson]

^No. Moving things out of the core that attract people from all over, goes against the general idea of DT revitalization.

+1,000

[mtraininjax]

Is Met Park any louder than Everbank Field? It's a bad idea to remove live performance venues out of DT, IMO. I think the ultimate answer is to build a real facility.

Holy hole in a donut batman, if we move music anywhere we will need the Potato Cart trucks, Holy Hole on that one. What will happen then? OMG!!!!!!!!

[Dog Walker]

Is Met Park any louder than Everbank Field? It's a bad idea to remove live performance venues out of DT, IMO. I think the ultimate answer is to build a real facility.

I keep saying; build a facility in or connected to a new convention center, but build it INSIDE.  Why does everybody seem to want these events outside, exposed to the weather?  It isn't necessary to move it out of downtown, just put a roof and walls around it.  Problem solved.

Then you don't have an amphitheater, you have a concert hall, or arena ... kinda like those buildings on A. Phillip Randolf or on Water Street, or Forsyth Street.

Again, why must it be an amphitheater?  What's wrong with having the concerts inside?  What am I missing here?

The St. Augustine Amphitheater is built in a hole in the ground, something not possible at Metro Park.  It is not on the water.  It has a solid roof over the stage and partial roof over the seats.  All of these design features as well as being surrounded by trees and having a strict curfew (11:00PM ?) keep it from being the huge pain-in-the- ear that the concerts in Metropolitan Park create.

[Dog Walker]

Walls and roofs are new technology?

I still think my idea of having everyone wear radio connected headphones with the sound beamed to them would be fun to watch.

[thelakelander]

I know Mtrain  may believe this isn't applicable because Jaxons are a unique human species but other communities have dealt with this issue before. Instead of relying on the Don Redmans of our council to make sound decisions, it may not hurt to check out the result of other community's solutions for residents who have ears attached to their heads. For example, Raleigh just built a real downtown amphitheater a few years ago. There's more residential in closer proximity to it than anything near Met Park. It could be looked at as a case study for deciding if further investment in a real outdoor venue at Met Park is a viable option.

[Tacachale]

Amphitheaters are a comparatively inexpensive and easy way to draw considerable activity, much more so than building an entire building. If you're looking at, say, a 5000-seat venue, building a new building is going to be pretty costly to build and maintain, with the need for insulation, HVAC, etc. Outdoor concerts are also a different experience, certainly different than most of what's offered in our area (besides driving all the way down to Anastasia Island to go to concerts Jax has missed). We do need more venues of all kinds, so an indoor, mid-large venue would be a good addition, but it would seem to be an expensive, somewhat redundant option, as we have multiple similar facilities already. And besides, it's not really on the table anyway.

I have not been to the St. Augustine Amphitheater.  Does anyone know if it is close to homes?  I heard it was not.  Perhaps the answer is to find a location in Jacksonville away from residents.

There are homes across the street.

And they have a very firm curfew (don't know when it is, but it seems to be enforced).  Don't know if they have decibel limits.  A great venue.

Yes, the homes by the St. Augustine Amphitheater are directly across the street, not half a mile a way across a major river. The amphitheater is also only about 2 miles from St. Augustine's downtown. In Jax, you'd have to go pretty far away to get something that's not near any homes. As in, you'd be moving events out of the urban core entirely to appease a few.