Home to much more than the fair

News

by Max Marbut

Staff Writer

The exact count for attendance at last month’s Greater Jacksonville Agricultural came in at 437,460 people through the gates. That’s a big figure, but most people don’t realize it represents only about half of the total attendance at all events held at the Jacksonville Expo Center in a year.

With more than 42,000 square feet of exhibit space an on 14-acre site in the Sports Complex between Municipal Stadium and the Arena, the Expo Center is flexible enough to accommodate large and small groups. It’s also privately owned and managed, which gives the facility an edge when it comes to working with a wide variety of groups, said Expo Center Vice President of Marketing Gayle Hart.

“The fair is by far our largest annual event,” she said, “But we are booked solid year-round with smaller events of all types.”

Those other events include this weekend’s Southern Classic Gun & Knife Show, which sets up at the center five times each year. The Expo Center is also the site for the Friends of the Jacksonville Public Library Book sales each year, the Pilot Club Antiques Show, the Junior League of Jacksonville’s “Whale of a Sale,” the Cowford and Revelers balls, River Run registration and the Duval County Public Schools’ “Magnet Mania.”

There’s also a fencing tournament on the schedule next year as well as shows for people who enjoy niche hobbies like raising birds and reptiles and arts and crafts.

The 2010 calendar is already full. Hart said every weekend is spoken for in January, February, March and April and “we still have a couple of weekends available in May and June but July is gone.”

With construction soon to begin on the improvements to nearby Metropolitan park, the Expo Center expects to see an increase in bookings.

Hart, who joined the team at the Expo Center after working for the City’s Office of Special Events, said since the venue is privately owned and operated, there’s more flexibility when it comes to meeting the needs of potential customers compared to the public venues.

“Everyone assumes we’re owned by the City, but we are not,” pointed out Hart . “Everything you see here we pay for. We get no subsidies and no grants.”

The Expo Center is governed by a 13-member board. There are only four people on the administrative staff and three full-time maintenance personnel, a situation Hart described as “a very streamlined operation.” As for the facility itself, she said, “It’s nothing fancy. We’ve got concrete floors and block walls,” but that creates a blank slate that can be transformed temporarily for almost any type of function, like when the Expo Center was turned into the Corporate Village for Super Bowl XXXIX.

Sometimes the exhibit halls, arena and barns aren’t part of an event. The Expo Center is also a popular parking and tailgating spot for Jaguars games, the Florida-Georgia game, the Gator Bowl game and other events at the Sports Complex.

“I always tell people the Expo Center is one of the best-kept secrets of Downtown economic development,” said Hart. “We’re proud to give about a million people a reason to come Downtown every year.”