‘Proud to be a Jacksonville citizen:’ What the Stadium of the Future deal means to residents

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The $1.4-billion Stadium Deal of the Future has passed in a historical vote tonight.

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While some people have concerns about the removal of millions of dollars from the Community Benefits Agreement (CBA) portion, they say as Jags Fans, they’re excited to the Stadium of the Future come to life.

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“We’ve Got a Touchdown,” Jacksonville City Council President Ron Salem said.

After a lot of back and forth, and some modifications to the Stadium Deal of the Future, the Jacksonville City Council made a run for the pass and got a touchdown.

They voted 14-1 to allow the gameplan go from renderings to reality.

“This is making me proud to be a Jacksonville citizen,” Jacksonville resident Kaden Young said. “I really resonated with Matt Carlucci. He said, ‘Let’s not go for a field goal, let’s go for a touchdown. I feel like this stadium is probably the biggest investment I will ever see in our city.”

RELATED: ‘We have scored a touchdown:” $1.4B Stadium of the Future deal approved by council

Young is one of the many people happy to see Jaguars stay in Duval County.

“Duuuuvall,” Eastside resident Tellisa Robinson said. “Yessir, we’re bringing the Superbowl in and we’re just excited about the deal. We didn’t know how it will play out, but it played out for the best and the rest is up to the community and the city to bridge this gap.”

That gap? The funding for the Eastside along with the workforce development and programs to address homelessness that were a part of the $94 million carved out of the community benefits agreement.

Robinson and Rose Pierre run the East Coast Striping and Painting business is on the Eastside. And they said while they’re excited about the deal, they want to see the rest of the CBA happen.

“We just need to push forward with what we have and bring the revitalization to the area so that Jacksonville can be put on the map and one of those top destination for Florida,” Pierre said.

RELATED: Jacksonville City Council approves Jaguars ‘Stadium of the Future’ deal

Duval School Board Member Warren Jones said the challenges the council went through to make this deal happen tonight, doesn’t compare to his experience three decades ago.

He was a part of the city council which voted to transform the stadium into the home of the Jaguars franchise.

“I voted 31 years ago to bring them here with so many unknowns,” Jones said. “Certainly, this is a no brainer to the council now, because we did the dirty work, we took the heat on that.”

Tonight, the surviving members of that previous council came out to support the momentous decision tonight.

While the city is not currently supporting the Eastside in the deal that happened tonight, the Jags said they will still be, by providing their portion of the original deal of $75 million.

The city is tabling the Eastside discussion for July.

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