“If you build it, they will come”: Alachua County hosts Grand Opening for Sports & Events Center
BY JENNIFER CABRERA
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Today Alachua County celebrated the grand opening of the Alachua County Sports & Events Center at Celebration Pointe. The 144,000 sq. ft. events center is the product of a public-private partnership between Alachua County and Viking Companies, LLC, the Celebration Pointe developer. Project funding came from Alachua County’s Tourist Development Taxes ($30 million), Viking ($3 million), and the State of Florida ($2.32 million).
County Manager Michele Lieberman told the audience that she considers the Sports & Events Center as the highlight of her career. Alachua County Commission Chair Anna Prizzia said it was a “miracle” that the events center was completed on time and on budget and thanked Rep. Chuck Clemons and Sen. Keith Perry for championing the project in the legislature.
Clemons said the events center was originally a dream of Viking Principal Owner Svein Dyrkolbotn and that the plans and funding came from the combined contributions of the people who were there to celebrate the opening of the facility, along with the tourists who pay the Tourist Development Taxes. Referring to the movie Field of Dreams, Clemons said the facility is like a “barn-raising, and you have all helped in some way, whether it be materially or financially or politically. They will come.”
Perry said the County had asked the legislature for $2.5 million, and Dyrkolbotn brought former UF Football Coach Steve Spurrier to Tallahassee to meet with the Senate President, who said the decision on the amount would be made in the House; however, the House would only agree to $2,320,000. It turned out that the Chair of the House Appropriations Committee went to Auburn, and in 2001, his freshman year, Florida traveled to Auburn with a #1 ranking and Auburn won, 23-20; Perry said, “So now you know how it works in Tallahassee.”
Video of the ribbon-cutting:
Photos of the interior:
This is going to be a bottomless money pit just like Ironweed. Good luck with traffic and parking and the higher sales tax you have to pay in Celebration Point-ee.
Zero parking problems because of the shuttle to the tons of parking over the bridge.
A new parking garage directly next to the Center provides even more parking to the already plentiful parking at Celebration Pointe.
Special interest waste of tax payer money. They didn’t need a government handout for that project…it should have been totally private. But as always…scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours
That’s what we’ve been saying about Grace the Disgrace Marketplace for years.
They’re still coming.
30million? Tax payer money.
The dollars are from the Bed tax paid by out-of-town visitors. No General Fund, property tax dollars were used.
Are all the events going to be free since the taxpayers paid for the majority of cost?
🤣🤣🤣…😥, No.
The dollars are from the Bed tax paid by out-of-town visitors. No General Fund, property tax dollars were used.
Mark, are you implying events will be free?
You like giving answers about this facility, when will the county stop taking lands off the tax rolls thereby increasing the chances current residents will have to make up the difference? How much property tax revenue has been lost to protect certain individuals’ “buffers” around their private properties?
This project will generate over $77 million in annual economic activity, over 100,000 hotel room nights, and millions in tax revenues for our community. It will create over 1,000 jobs with over $25 million in annual wages.
That’s not even a deflection.
That’s an avoidance.
You’re in communications, even you should know that.
This is going to be great for Archer Road traffic.
We already have venues at UF. Why are they spending money on this?
Because UF is an increasing nightmare of students.
Because the county doesn’t want UF to be the only benefactor of sporting events in the Alachua County area.
Personally, I’m okay with it as long as they don’t raise our property taxes and add special assessments to maintain the facility or give tax breaks to the existing wealthy at the expense of average homeowners. It’s already a valuable piece of dirt that’s been taken off the tax rolls.
This project will generate over $77 million in annual economic activity, over 100,000 hotel room nights, and millions in tax revenues for our community. It will create over 1,000 jobs with over $25 million in
annual wages.
Money
If they want to spend money, spend it on infrastructure. Specifically, roads.
Infrastructure like roads should be a core county government mission. But instead money is siphoned off for nice to haves like Cuscowilla Springs, and Equestrian Center and now a sports and events center?
Seems like not having enough money to pay your rent and going out and blowing a couple of hundred dollars at a high end eatery.
This Center and the Equestrian Center were funded with Bed tax paid by out-of-town visitors. No General Fund property tax dollars were used. The voter-approved Wild Spaces Public Places surtax paid for Cuscawilla. Also, thanks to this commission’s determination and the voter-approved infrastructure surtax and other sources, almost a quarter of a billion dollars will be spent on road protects over the next ten years. Stay tuned.
* projects
Mark, only idiots vote to continue to increase their taxes without a return on their investment – I didn’t.
We’ve been staying tuned. The tax has been in place for many years, aside from the commission’s pet projects, why haven’t they spent more on roads and other infrastructure?
WSPP has been around, but what the voters approved in November of 22 included a second half penny that can be used for roads. This is a game-changer. Stay tuned.
Key word being “can.”
Doesn’t mean it will be or has to be. That’s what both city and county leaders have continued to do for years to fund their pet projects. Your handler knew that and that’s why he intentionally rearranged the verbiage so voters would be distracted from what they felt to be public priorities rather than what he wanted them to be. You can at least tell the truth instead of whitewashing the real covert intent. You bear the same characteristics of someone else in history – Joseph Goebbels. He was also instrumental in the Nazi propaganda machine and did what he could to manipulate the public perception of leadership. Evidently it’s working in this highly misinformed community.
This successful ballot initiative will allow us to continue protecting lands for the sake of our environment and investing in parks and recreation – it will have a generational impact on our roads and allow us to invest in affordable housing projects. With the decision to allocate 70% of the second half penny and other funding sources, we are dedicating nearly a quarter of a billion dollars to tackling road projects. Through their actions, this County Commission has decided that the time is now to tackle our massive road challenges.
You keep telling yourself and the idiots who are foolish enough to believe you that recycled progressive hogwash.
The generational impact will be the protection of individual property owners and the legacy they want to leave to their heirs. How high should residents’ taxes be to continue funding all the property purchases? Between the city and county the homeless population is increasing. That’s a direct result of the light on crime, high utility rates and high taxes that are welcomed by the local governing bodies. The gentrification of certain neighborhoods is working really well for some but it comes at the expense of others. Unfortunately, some people are so addicted to government support they aren’t able to comprehend that.
Go away, that’s what they tell many of us when we don’t agree with their politics.
Since the BoCC is notorious for throwing taxpayer money at boondoggles, I say it is too early to be celebrating the success of this facility.
Let’s be patient and give it time while the jury is out before rendering an opinion.
I’m curious, what boondoggles are you speaking of?
This is but part of their agenda. People should review all of the “projects” currently being pursued that will protect the “haves” by increasing the taxes on the “have nots.”
That’s the purpose of conservation easements. People don’t want others to encroach on what they have and they’ll do what they can to keep others from having it.
“If you build it, they will come”
Not if you put it on the eastside of town. They already tried that.
Hey it’s bed tax money, most county residents don’t stay in hotels overnight, therefore they didn’t/don’t pay it. That regrettably was missing from the article.
Bring events and tourism into the area is a win for our county, the hospitality industry, local businesses and their employees.
Large infrastructure investment is at times needed in our community. Thank you supporter’s of this project for making it happen.
I’m pretty sure a 144,000sf gymnasium would not be considered infrastructure to most people. Yes, technically any real improvement of property can be labeled infrastructure but most would say that is a disingenuous definition…especially in this case. But it fits the narrative for the nepotistic developers and county officials, so the tax payers be damned
The dollars are from the Bed tax paid by out-of-town visitors. No General Fund, property tax dollars, or infrastructure surtax dollars were used.
Same crap, just regurgitated. Who’s pulling your strings?
🤮
What does that matter? The county is still wasting tax funds for pet projects to appease the local nepotism. Those funds should have been be used in a responsible manner for actual infrastructure improvements. Citizens can see through the games you’re playing with semantics. As I said earlier… you are being disingenuous.
Not semantics, We use Infrastructure surtax dollars for infrastructure and Bed Tax dollars for projects that bring in tourists. This completion of this project is a testament to the vision of current and past County Commissions. The Grand Opening was the culmination of the hard work of county staff and our partners at Celebration Pointe. This project will generate over $77 million in annual economic activity, over 100,000 hotel room nights, and millions in tax revenues for our community. It will create over 1,000 jobs with annual wages of over $25 million dollars.
Well since your speculative numbers are annual we will very quickly see if they are remotely true. Until then I will maintain that the county flipped the bill for a speculative project that the developers should have been fully responsible for. Additionally, I wouldn’t brag about adding 1,000 minimum wage jobs (average $25,000/yr)…you can’t even live properly on $2k per month in this area in 2023. We expect better fiscal responsibility from our government
That’s because most local residents know better than to stay in Gainesville/Alachua County.
Maybe there is some educated people in the county after all…nah, we’ve seen their voting habits.
when the county’s roads revert back to sand after years of neglect
the residents can get there by horse and buggy.
If you build it they will come seems to be Gainesville’s new motto. Too bad the roads to get there are in such bad shape!
thanks to this commission’s determination and the voter-approved infrastructure surtax and other sources, almost a quarter of a billion dollars will be spent on road protects over the next ten years. Stay tuned.
* Projects
Please refresh us on the dollar amount of backlog of road maintenance in the county and whether the <$25 million annually of repairs per you cite will materially address this ongoing neglect.
Don’t wait for that answer. His handlers aren’t ready/can’t/won’t release that information. It’s how they duped the voters into continuing to vote for the one cent tax. Now it’s become as close to perpetual as it can be.
The Chronicle to the rescue!
https://alachuachronicle.com/84-of-alachua-countys-road-network-in-dire-need-of-repair/
A 2021 county staff presentation discussed in the linked article set the backlog at $408m. So the ten year amount noted above would be a reasonable attempt at a down payment and not resolution to this long term problem.
$31.5m per year is needed to maintain current condition and $41.5m per year is needed to get to the staff target of having 70% of roads rated ‘fair’. This is a lot more than <$25m per year.
There is also some question whether the county's current 'determination' to spend more on roads in future years will survive the upcoming attempts of the city to dump the cost of programs it can no longer afford onto its 'partners'.
Maybe it needs a firing range
Public-private partnership projects is a communist dog-whistle
This will be a failure soon enough, kids these days have no respect to keep things nice. Maybe keep out the riff raff and that will help some.
MIERDA DE TORO. Spurrier should flip the bill all the money he got from athletics. and all the money he is getting selling beef that is fed with junk food. BS. Or how about all the Perry Roofing signs going up around the big jobs, let him pay back.
Mark, I asked a couple questions early in the comments and you haven’t answered yet.
It’s easy to see who you’re in bed with.
I am very grateful to Senator Perry and Rep. Clemons for fully embracing the project and getting State funding to help make this visionary project a reality.