JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The mayor and city council call it a game changer for Jacksonville--a new University of Florida grad school near downtown that will focus on medical, financial and even artificial intelligence education.
The city council gave its approval for the plan Tuesday night that will eventually cost Jacksonville taxpayers $50 million, with another $50 million coming from the state and private investors.
Details are limited. We don’t know exactly where it will be in Jacksonville, only that it will be somewhere downtown. News4JAX went downtown Wednesday to talk to people about the project.
When asked about the council’s approval of $50 million taxpayer dollars for the project, one woman said, “We really are surprised by stuff like that. I would like to see that money go to helping others, but you know, hopefully there’s some good that comes from the campus.”
News4JAX talked to Mayor Lenny Curry Wednesday and told him that many people didn’t even know about the plans for a UF satellite campus and how taxpayer dollars will be used for it.
“It doesn’t surprised me, because we are a city of a million people. People are trying to raise their families,” Mayor Curry said. “You know, they’re not in the minutiae of what we are doing every day. But now that they’ve heard about it, once they see and understand--I mean, this is a bold vision for generations to come in the city of Jacksonville, to bring a top five university here.”
There is the question of secrecy, and why there hasn’t been any renderings or a location released. The mayor responded, “Well, we don’t know where it’s going to be. There are options, that we’ll have to run a process. It’s not about secrecy, this is about the fact that big projects take time.”
The state and private investors will also need to approve millions of dollars for the project. By the time it happens, Mayor Curry will be out of office.
“You won’t see a groundbreaking while I’m in office,” Mayor Curry said. “But again, I think big picture is that people understand the University of Florida is a top five university.”
When asked if this project will be Mayor Curry’s legacy, he replied, “I mean, this is one of many things we’ve done and I’m very proud of it. But no, the legacy, I’m frankly not concerned about that. I’m just going to keep running through the tape until July 1.”
The one city councilmember who voted no, Al Ferraro, is also running for mayor. Ferraro said there are just too many unanswered questions at this time, and he’s concerned about how this will work out for taxpayers.