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Jacksonville's bigwigs hope $175 million is enough to draw top entertainers to the city. That's the amount allocated by the $2.2 billion Better Jacksonville Plan to soup up local sports and entertainment venues.
City officials hope to have nearly 90 percent of the BJP completed before Super Bowl XXXIX makes Jacksonville an international-media host in 2005.
Jacksonville's after-hours options trail those of similar-size cities, due in part to an antiquated coliseum and a third-tier ball park.
The Veterans Memorial Coliseum and Samuel Wolfson Ball Park will be razed to make way for a new high-tech sports arena and ball park.
Also in the works is a equestrian center at Cecil Field. And the Jacksonville Zoo already has some wild changes under way.
"We're in the process of hiring program managers for each of those projects now," said Audrey Moran.
Mayor John Delaney's chief of staff. Proposals from contractors are expected to be completed in six weeks.
"The mayor has committed to a design competition for each of the vertical projects that are part of the Better Jacksonville Plan," Moran said.
Badminton, anyone?
The sports complex, anchored by Altel Stadium, the ballpark and the new arena, takes priority, since it will be the center point for Super Bowl XXXIX.
Delaney envisions a look similar to Baltimore's Camden Yards, with a red brick facade that conjures up images of baseball's glory days.
The $125 million arena will replace the 42-year-old coliseum, originally built as a public assembly hall for badminton and other tournaments, according to the BJP. Seating capacity will double and seats will be arranged so fans won't have to stare at speakers - a common complaint from ticket buyers.
Inadequate sporting space means the ice rink and arena football field must be shortened from regulation size - one of the sticking points that...