I'm for a multi-million dollar stadium "upgrade" on the condition Shad Khan agrees that the lease on Jacksonville's Municipal Stadium by the Jaguars is extended for twenty or more years.


The original lease is due to expire in ten or eleven years, but the NFL is currently experimenting on termination.


The city and the Jaguars' owner can go farther in developing a strong bond by examining public lands, particularly along I-95 north or south of town, which might be made available to the Jaguars to own or long-term lease or even swap under the terms of the current lease.


This would allow the Jaguars to move the practice fields to a more secluded, less urban area making way for a multi-level parking garage next to the stadium with a cross-over to the skirt of the stadium.


Additionally, a monorail platform could be blended in with the idea that the downtown monorail tracks will eventually extend to the stadium as part of the huge northeast Florida transportation transformation in our future.


Winning isn't the only thing holding folks around town back. Many don't want to invest so much of themselves into a football franchise constantly rumored to be leaving Jacksonville.


A lease extension and broader vision for the future is really needed. (pun intended)




 

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