by Mike Sharkey
Staff Writer
While a new $34 million baseball park and $130 million arena will give Jacksonville one of the most modern sports complexes in the South, the ongoing construction will add to an already existing problem: a shortage of parking spaces near the stadium for not just Jaguars games but also for the Florida-Georgia game and the Toyota Gator Bowl.
Sam Mousa, the City chief administrative officer, said parking has been a problem since construction on Kids Kampus began in March 2000. By contractual obligation, the City is required to provide the Jaguars with 7,000 parking spaces within a half-mile of the stadium.
“Since Kids Kampus, we have been short of that figure and we are trying to resolve that,” said Mousa.
Construction on the new ball park and arena has also chipped into the number of City-provided spaces. The new ball park now occupies what used to be Lot R and the new trolley lot sits on the area that was formerly Lot S. Both of those lots used to hold Jaguars season ticket holders, most of whom have been displaced to other lots.
While it may seem like the Jaguars should have a beef with the City over the parking situation, the problem actually affects the City financially.
“We are libel for that shortfall,” said Mousa. “Revenue-wise, we have to make up the difference to the Jaguars. That is coming out of our revenues from the stadium.”
According to Mousa, the 2002-03 season will start with the Jags short approximately 1,400 spaces. However, as the season progresses that figure should improve. With the first preseason game less than three months away, both entities are working diligently to resolve the matter.
“We are having considerable discussions with the Jaguars and we are coming up with considerable game plans,” said Mousa. “The parking situation in the latter part of the season will be better than early in the year.
“Wolfson Park is coming down in September or October, so for the first couple or three Jaguars games parking will be an issue. Once the Fair is gone, we will use that lot for parking. There will not be 7,000 parking spaces for the first game. At the start of the season we expect 5,600 spots and by the end we should have 6,200.”
Bill Prescott, vice president and CFO for the Jaguars, said the team understands the dilemma and is doing everything possible to work with season ticket holders, other fans and the City.
“Lot R was eaten up by the ball park and Lot S was the old trolley lot,” said Prescott. “Lot R is now Lot Z and is in the new trolley lot and there are other lots in there. We have asked our season ticket holders to let us know if this is a problem. We are also talking to the City about a free shuttle service if we have to move people even farther away.”
Construction has also closed a portion of Duval Street, a once popular pedestrian passage to the stadium. Whether by car or by foot, the only eastbound thoroughfare to the stadium this season will be Bay Street. That fact has not gone unnoticed by Jacksonville Transportation Authority officials who plan to institute an aggressive marketing campaign to persuade fans to take advantage of lots on the periphery of town and ride a JTA shuttle to and from the stadium.
“We are looking to use our park and ride lots and the Kings Avenue Garage even more,” said Stephanie Barker of JTA. “We start marketing that soon and we are probably a little behind on that. Part of the problem with the Kings Avenue Garage is that people don’t know how to get to it.”
Prescott said the Jaguars admit this season may be difficult and commend the City for doing what’s necessary to bring Jacksonville’s sports facilities out of the Dark Ages.
“The message this year is: bear with us and we will try to make this as convenient as possible,” said Prescott. “It will get better in the end. We have a good working relationship with the City.”
With two brand new facilities and a renovated Alltel Stadium — the City will spend about $24 million to get the stadium ready for the 2005 Super Bowl — Mousa said the City also realizes that several surface lots won’t be enough, especially if there are multiple events during the course of one day.
“We are discussing parking options as we speak and a potential parking garage is one of them,” said Mousa.