by David Ball
Staff Writer
There was a bigger crowd this time to discuss management of the Jacksonville Equestrian Center on Monday — at close to two dozen people about triple the turnout for the first meeting five weeks ago.
And while City Council members Jack Webb and Ray Holt and Council President Daniel Davis expected to hear solutions for how the center can expand its access to the public while maintaining revenue, the discussion was more of the same: members of the North Florida Equestrian Society saying Equestrian Center manager SMG is limiting access to the community and SMG officials saying the community is welcome, even though the center is meant to attract large events from outside Jacksonville.
“I take it nobody met and came up with solutions,” remarked Davis, who at the last meeting directed the groups to meet and vet their concerns. “Instead of us going back and forth talking about who said what we need to find solutions.”
Equestrian Society board members Peggy Fuller, Joanne Connell and chair Betty Griner said there was a meeting on Jan. 14 with Lisa Williams, Equestrian Center director for SMG, although no compromises were reported. In fact, Fuller said the issue has become contentious.
“I’ve been told to my face not to upset the city or (we will) lose funding,” she said. “We were told to be careful, that if we raise flags we could jeopardize the facility.”
Webb said if there are roadblocks being put up, the Council members would address that. But for now, he wanted to “find out where we are.”
Fuller again spoke about pricing, saying a 3-day event with 150 horses would cost $19,000 at the Equestrian Center, whereas the same event would cost less than $5,000 at the Clay County Fairgrounds.
Those figures are “very reflective of real pricing,” said Williams, who added that price breaks are usually given for multi-day events. “We structure the deals to meet the needs of the client.”
At the previous meeting, Williams said SMG was instructed by the City to base their prices on comparable regional facilities, such as county-owned equestrian centers in Tampa and Perry, Ga.
On Monday, SMG General Manager Bob Downey said opening the facility more to non-profit and community use goes against what he understands as the goal of the center.
“The emphasis was that this facility would have a very positive economic impact for that Cecil Center and host events that would be of a regional and statewide nature,” said Downey. “Now after it’s been opened three or four years...now it’s supposed to be for public groups? It’s a bit of a new concept.”
SMG, through a City contract, manages the center and five other public facilities, including Jacksonville Municipal Stadium, the Times-Union Center, Veterans Memorial Arena, the Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville and the Prime Osborn Convention Center.
Downey said the City always has the power to carve out use of those facilities to specific groups, although it could affect SMG’s ability to generate income and also could set a precedent for local groups to demand use of the facilities.
“Our role has been to keep the overall cost of running these venues as low as can be,” said Downey, adding he refers to the goals spelled out in the Better Jacksonville Plan.
However, Connell read from a message from former Mayor John Delaney in 2002 that stated the center “will be a one-of-a-kind facility for the entire community to enjoy,” although it will also “draw crowds from across the U.S.”
“I think the mayor was clear in that it was not just for outside organizations, but for the entire community,” said Connell.
Williams said 47 of the 52 weekends in 2008 are already booked by outside events. When Equestrian Society members asked if they could reserve those five open weekends for community use, Davis said he’d consider it.
“I would look at a proposal for that,” he said. “But we need to make sure the City is not subsidizing SMG.”
According to figures provided by the Jacksonville Economic Development Commission, the City pays SMG $962,883 annually to manage the six facilities. In FY 2006-07, the six facilities showed a combined net loss of $8,699,420, including SMG’s fee. The City subsidizes the loss each year.
Davis asked SMG to document what impact holding community events would have on their bottom line. Webb asked Equestrian Society members to put together a list of the groups that want to use the facility and scheduled another meeting in two weeks to discuss fund raising efforts to improve and expand the facility.