JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The first round of city funding for the nearly $2 billion price tag for the cost of renovating the EverBank Stadium was released Friday. That’s according to a court document filed by the Jacksonville City Council.
The city council filed a bill to set aside $10 million toward the massive makeover. This is funding that was already approved and coming out of $20 million that was already passed in the capital improvement plan.
The cost of renovations has an estimated price of $1.4 billion, with half the money coming from taxpayers.
Gallery: ‘Stadium of the Future’ renderings
The bill said the funding represents an appropriation of $10 million from project contingency to engineering and design for costs associated with major renovations for the “Stadium of the Future.”
Pushpjeed Kanwar was visiting San Marco Square Friday night and said he’s in favor of the move.
“If it provides more jobs to people then it’s a good idea,” Kanwar said.
While some are in favor, others like Joseph Burtner, who was visiting from New York, are against taxpayer dollars paying for the stadium.
“They need to pay the players less, and the owners need to take charge and stop taking all the tax dollars, period,” Burtner said.
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When News4JAX reached out about the bill and received this statement:
“The $10 million outlined in bill #2024-0170 is coming out of a $20 million line item that was already passed in the FY24-28 Capital Improvement Plan for stadium planning. This funding is covering services provided by Gilbane, an engineering company that was hired through a competitive RFP process to complete the design process started by the Jaguars and conduct structural and construction analysis for the renovation.”
Phil Perry, City of Jacksonville
Kanwar was accepting of the price tag because he felt the stadium needed the facelift.
“There are better stadiums than that one, so I’m not saying it doesn’t need improvement but as long as it provides jobs and as long as people actually think the 10 million dollars is needed for that then it’s okay,” Kanwar said.
Burtner, however, feels the Jaguars need to foot the entire bill for upgrades.
“I’m not local. I know how it is to be taken advantage of and I think it’s ridiculous… bad enough people have to pay so much for tickets. I think it’s awful,” He said.
The current construction plans have the stadium slated for renovation during the 2026 and 2027 seasons – with the Jags returning home in 2028.
Negotiations between the team and the city of Jacksonville are still underway and may not be decided until this summer.