Tommy Hazouri referred to it as a Christmas gift for the city.
If that’s the case, it’s an expensive one. There isn’t a receipt for returns. And it can’t be opened until next fall.
City Council members Tuesday unanimously approved $90 million in upgrades at EverBank Field, improvements that will bring new club level seating, an amphitheater and a multipurpose outdoor practice facility.
The 19-0 vote comes a week after detailed reviews at four committees, where council members learned more about the facts and figures behind the latest improvements to the city-owned facility.
The city and Jacksonville Jaguars are each putting up $45 million for the investments. The city portion will be borrowed and paid back via the tourism-driven bed tax.
The 6 percent tax is applied to hotel rooms and a portion only can be used for tourism-related improvements — not for uses like public safety, libraries and roads.
Heading into Tuesday’s vote, it appeared there might not be unanimous support.
Council member Danny Becton raised concern last week about trying to receive a better deal for the city when it came to splits for costs, revenue and usage opportunities on the venues. He voted against the bill in two committees and was the only council member to do so.
Becton joined his peers in approval Tuesday, explaining afterward he still wanted a better deal, but knows the venues are good economic drivers for the city.
He said he wasn’t pressured by Mayor Lenny Curry’s administration or Jaguars officials to swap his vote and that he knew he’d vote for the improvements last week.
Other council members weighed in on the issue, explaining their rationale for support.
John Crescimbeni said the city would own $90 million worth of assets after only contributing half.
“That’s a deal I find difficult to walk away from,” he said. “That is a tremendous value for the city of Jacksonville.”
Katrina Brown said she initially would have voted against it when she first heard of the proposal.
But after listening to facts from other council members, the auditors and Curry’s administration, there were “good things” coming out of the deal.
The amphitheater, said Bill Gulliford, was a component the city “desperately” needed given the issues at Metropolitan Park. The longtime facility’s amphitheater is not usable because it needs substantial repairs before it is safe.
There also are consistent complaints about noise along with restrictions on the number of annual ticketed events.
“There’s no way we can fix Metro Park to work as an amphitheater in the future,” he said.
Outside of Becton’s concerns, the only other negative comments came from three members of the public.
Dan Carr called the deal “astoundingly bad” and criticized it being city “welfare for billionaires.”
John Nooney asked for a “timeout” and wanted an ironclad claw-back provision.
Jaguars owner Shad Khan said in a release there’s been an effort to improve EverBank Field over the years to make it one of the best stadiums in the NFL.
“Today’s news is a major step forward in our continuing effort to establish Jacksonville as the best of the best,” he said.
Under the agreement, the city will own the multipurpose outdoor facility and amphitheater. However, a Jaguars subsidiary will operate and manage the venues. That subsidiary would be responsible for all costs while also keeping all revenue.
The city would benefit through a ticket and parking surcharge on those events the Jaguars would match twice a year. Those funds would go toward maintenance.
The amount of those surcharges will be set in legislation expected to be filed early next year. It’s also been suggested the city would update its surcharges on events at other city-owned venues like Veterans Memorial Arena and the Times-Union Center for the Performing Arts. Those two surcharges are $1 each and haven’t been updated since the mid-1990s.
The improvements are scheduled to begin immediately after the Jan. 2 TaxSlayer Bowl and wrap up in early fall before the Jaguars begin the 2016 season.
(904) 356-2466