Jacksonville temporarily pulling out of bidding for college football's national

[RattlerGator]

We still don't have a plan for convention space. I doubt a 300,000 square foot convention center will fit efficiently on the shipyards site. Besides, that's not a part of Khan's plan anyway.

Well. . . .

I'm not so sure, Ennis. I know there is a large pie-in-the-sky element to my wish here but the greatest gift Shad Khan brings to our discussions about downtown is flexibility. In a college sports context, people often talk about the Big Money Donors (Bull Gators, etc.). With Jax, Shad is the ultimate Big Money Donor and he might be able to be that money guy that can pull a project together that extends beyond what was conceptually contemplated in the presentation. Yes, I do believe that.

Although this linked article included a headline that seemingly slights Shad:

http://folioweekly.com/Are-We-Robbing-Our-Hoteliers-to-Pay-Shad-Khan,8286

the substance of the editorial doesn't. In discussing the best use of Jax's bed tax dollars, it does include an interesting discussion that is relevant to pulling out of the current bidding for the college football national championship. Bruce A. Fouraker wrote, after lamenting the very limited flexibility of our convention spaces:

The best option available is to build a convention center with about 250,000 square feet of exhibition space and 700,000 square feet of total space, as explained by Paul Astleford, CEO of Visit Jacksonville.

* * *

The site at the Shipyards would have a convention center built from scratch. The portion of the Shipyards property that could hold a center this size is on the east side of Hogan's Creek. The total cost for the exhibition space is $27.132 million; for the meeting space, the total is $50.017 million. After allowing for site preparation, the total is $92.747 million. This leaves $68 million for Skyway extensions to the Hyatt and the new convention center.

We'll see how it plays out. We've given Shad the ball; there's no way he and his team have not thought about this and, in fact, they may have been central players in the decision to pull out of the bidding. As some have said, it was an obvious decision but . . . we had rather publicly previously said we *were* bidding for the game.

I think Shad has looked at what has been done in Indianapolis and is saying we can do better, or at least as well, in Jacksonville. I think he wants that college football national championship game, and I think he sees how to build a district that will at least allow us to legitimately be part of the discussion.

It's a new day in Jax. That's a good thing.

[thelakelander]

LOL, that 2013 Folio opinion piece by Bruce Fouraker has to many factual errors in it to use as a source. He's posted similiar opinions on the Skyway here in the past that were shot down pretty quickly from a technical standpoint. Plus Khan's plan released earlier this year doesn't have any of the things Fouraker dreamed about two years ago.

[Dapperdan]

Can the field that Khan is planning to build be a possible  convention center? I noticed it had windows that could close to make it an all indoor venue.

[Tacachale]

LOL, that 2013 Folio opinion piece by Bruce Fouraker has to many factual errors in it to use as a source. He's posted similiar opinions on the Skyway here in the past that were shot down pretty quickly from a technical standpoint. Plus Khan's plan released earlier this year doesn't have any of the things Fouraker dreamed about two years ago.

Fouraker needs to stick to his day job.

[pierre]

We didn't stand a snow ball's chance in hell of winning anyway.

That's the winning spirit we love to see and hear about our great city!

Like it or not, it is reality.

Under Rick Catlett's watch, the Gator Bowl has gone from one of the top "second tier" bowl games on a broadcast network to one on ESPN2 now regularly featuring 6-6 teams. The city has been shut out of the Bowl Alliance, the BCS and now the College Football Playoff.

[fsquid]

We didn't stand a snow ball's chance in hell of winning anyway.

That's the winning spirit we love to see and hear about our great city!

Like it or not, it is reality.

Under Rick Catlett's watch, the Gator Bowl has gone from one of the top "second tier" bowl games on a broadcast network to one on ESPN2 now regularly featuring 6-6 teams. The city has been shut out of the Bowl Alliance, the BCS and now the College Football Playoff.

not much the Gator Bowl could have done about that though.

[thelakelander]

Can the field that Khan is planning to build be a possible  convention center? I noticed it had windows that could close to make it an all indoor venue.

A convention center would eat up most of the shipyard's property. I'm caught up with some other things at the moment but when I get some time, I'll overlay a 200k exhibition hall over Khan's plan to visually demonstrate how much space something like that would eat up.

[thelakelander]

We didn't stand a snow ball's chance in hell of winning anyway.

That's the winning spirit we love to see and hear about our great city!

I like to live in the world of reality. Unless we're are overly sensitive, sometimes the truth can hurt.  There are things we are perfectly suited for and others that we aren't. This just happens to be something (at the present time) that we aren't.

[mtraininjax]

I like to live in the world of reality.

An online chat room is reality.....guess again.

[thelakelander]

Well it is the 21st century. If you're actually typing and reading, then you're engaged in a real chat or online conversation.

[RattlerGator]

A convention center would eat up most of the shipyard's property. I'm caught up with some other things at the moment but when I get some time, I'll overlay a 200k exhibition hall over Khan's plan to visually demonstrate how much space something like that would eat up.
[/quote]I like this idea, Ennis. It would be tremendously useful to give me some idea of just how impractical it might (or might not) be. If I may make a request -- it would also be incredibly helpful if you could have a second overlay of an exhibition hall sized at about 100k.

Beggars can't be choosy, I know, so I thank you in advance for at least considering the idea.

[RattlerGator]

I'll also add this: the big parking lots immediately adjacent to the stadium may be something of a waste of space, right? Couldn't convention center space be gained by strategic placement of a combination parking structure / exhibition hall adjacent to The Shipyards property

[Keith-N-Jax]

That would be nice, but who's paying for it? I seriously doubt we see a new convention center in Jax anytime soon with in the next 20 years, unless some one like Khan builds one or the city wins the lottery.

[thelakelander]

Don't expect Khan to save the day for Jacksonville by building stuff with his own money that doesn't make financial sense. He didn't end up being a billionaire by being a sugar daddy. If COJ wants a convention center, it will have to foot most of the bill for it.

[RattlerGator]

I definitely agree Shad isn't going to do the convention center thing without massive funding support from the City.

But . . . how is the City *not* going to do a new convention center? It almost has to be done, doesn't it? Or else, everyone is just whistling Dixie about so much of this push forward for a District downtown that takes us to the next level.

At a minimum, we at least must have an average or slightly above-average convention center down there in the vicinity of The Shipyards, not over by the 95/10 junction.

Right?