• Several of the Super Bowl parties have already been high-impact events for local landlords. The Riverside Garden Club relocated a good part of its landscaping to make way for Maxim Magazine’s party — the magazine is paying for it. And the Jacksonville Museum of Modern Art is taking down most of the art from its walls in preparation for a series of hip-hop flavored parties, including P. Diddy on Friday night.
• Looks like the City has found an immediate use for the new County Courthouse construction site. The City will park about 50 City vehicles on the lot.
• You might have noticed the bagged parking meters running down Bay Street. Expect to see more meters out of service later in the week on Bay, Forsyth and Duval streets. Police say they’re reducing on-street parking there to help traffic flow and protect pedestrians. They worry about pedestrians stepping into traffic from behind parked cars.
• The bridges will stay lit late, thanks to Super Bowl Host Committee President Michael Kelly. He asked the City to leave the new bridge lighting illuminated until at least 3 a.m. so they’ll be seen during the late edition of ESPN’s SportsCenter, which broadcasts from the Southbank’s Friendship Fountain.
• Look for Mayor John Peyton this week on Fox News. The network set up an interview for this afternoon.
• The City will hand out exit surveys to visiting fans leaving the Super Bowl Sunday night, asking them to rate their experience in Jacksonville and their opinion of local airports in particular.
• City contractors are making every effort to make the Main Branch Public Library construction site look presentable for Super Bowl visitors. Construction materials and equipment will be pulled out of sight in the evenings. Work crews were able to clear both lanes of Duval Street, allowing for its use as a two-way bus route. The mayor’s office wanted Laura Street cleared as well, but the contractors needed one lane to move equipment in and out.
• One of a Super Bowl’s unique qualities is “Radio Row” with the nation’s sports talk shows lined up in the media center. The “Row” this year is actually three rows as the Osborn Center is smaller than past venues and the stations are split up in all three main corridors.
• One person who surely won’t misbehave at the media center parties is Charles Griggs, the TV-7 commentator and Jacksonville Free Press writer. His wife Cynthia is one of the Osborn Center’s security guards.
• The Girl Scouts got a sponsor for their annual awards luncheon — Blue Cross stepped up — and they’ll honor six: Rep. Corrine Brown, volunteer Rita Cannon, wife of T-U Publisher Carl Cannon; Nassau County benefactor Betty Cook, UNF Foundation leader Ann Hicks, St. Vincent’s Janice Lipsky and Blue Cross’ Susan Wildes. It’s March 11.
• Also on the honors list: Leadership Jacksonville’s names this year are Bank of America’s Martha Barrett, RS&H’s Leerie Jenkins and super volunteer Alton Yates. It’s March 31.
• Gate owner Herb Peyton will speak at a Feb. 18 UNF business forum and his title will be “Challenges of Growing a Family Business” and you can count on him listing one challenge: what happens when your No. 1 man (and son) takes off to be the city’s mayor.
• The Chamber’s Downtown Council has decided they’ll forget this Friday’s meeting. They originally planned to go ahead with their first Friday gathering but figured there was too much else going on.They’ll convene on the 18th.
• Scalping has become a problem outside the Florida Theatre so the management has posted not-so-subtle notices detailing the state law. Yes, you can sell your ticket, but for no more than $1 over face value.
• The downtown library will close at 5 on Thursday and Friday, and won’t open at all over the weekend.
• Excuse our goof in Monday’s paper. The nine — not “none” — tax collector branch offices all will be open Friday and fully staffed. The downtown office has a smaller crew.
• Red carpets are the big thing this week and even the Chamber tried it Monday night to welcome guests to their big dinner at the Arena. Celebrity watching was a bit sparse, though, and the chilly media hanging around outside couldn’t do any better than the Jaguars’ Kyle Brady.
• The stadium will be more colorful at the game Sunday. New lights in various colors have been installed on the main towers and the field entrances for the halftime show.
• Cadillac didn’t hold back with its Terrace Suite party Monday night, even down to the Johnnie Walker Blue scotch. There were 16 chefs to prepare the buffet, said headman Harry Smith.
• Lunching at Juliette’s at the Omni: ex-Green Bay star Bart Starr, who was so good that they named the league’s Most Valuable Player trophy after him.