SHOULD METROPOLITAN PARK BE CONVERTED TO A $20 MILLION PRIVATELY OPERATED FOR PROFIT AMPHITHEATER

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SHOULD METROPOLITAN PARK BE CONVERTED TO A $20 MILLION PRIVATELY OPERATED FOR PROFIT AMPHITHEATER?

A position paper by Citizens for Amphitheater Awareness. January, 1998

BACKGROUND

The Mayor is proposing that the City of Jacksonville demolish the existing concert pavilion at Metropolitan Park and build a $20 million outdoor amphitheater, with a 17,000 person capacity, 7,000 fixed seats under cover. It would be owned by the City and privately operated by a for-profit company,Cellar Door or a similar management group.

Approximately 52 fee-paid concerts would occur each year. (Cellar Door would present 30-40 concerts and 12-15 would be the WJCT & symphony fee-paid events, including Jazz Festival and Starry Nights concerts). The amphitheater would cover the entire 10.8 acres of the park.

Controversy surrounds several aspects of the proposed Amphitheater:

MAJOR PROBLEMS:

Converting a Federally-funded public recreational park for private, for-profit use. The State of Florida and National Park Service said "no" to a similar proposal in 1988.

Mayor's Economic Feasibility Study shows project to be a high-risk endeavor with no guarantee that enough concerts could occur to break even or net modest profit for the City. The Mayor promised citizens that he would not pursue the project if it did not make economic sense.

Large urban amphitheaters create significant noise pollution. The City Commissioned Sound Study shows that concert noise is a problem at the present location and a "state-of-the-art" amphitheater will still impact surrounding communities. The Mayor promised citizens that he would not pursue the project if it had a detrimental effect on neighborhoods.

Credibility of the project has been compromised by the surrounding secrecy and lack of public information. CAA has had to pay thousands of dollars in attorney's fees to obtain public documents.

Mayor is assuring that the City can impose and enforce "community standards" regarding profane or otherwise objectionable lyrics and acts. The 1^st Amendment makes this impossible.

RECOMMENDED SOLUTIONS

Refurbish the present pavilion and honor the original grant agreements with the State of Florida and National Park Service.

Find another location on private land where noise will not impact neighborhoods and/or businesses.

Require amphitheater developers to pay for the project.

ECONOMIC ISSUES

Should Metropolitan Park be converted to an entertainment amphitheater at a cost to taxpayers of $44 million ($20 million construction costs plus $24 million in interest) for the benefit of private promoters?

Mayor John Delaney, who has promised to operate the City of Jacksonville in a business-like way, wants to spend $44 million on a high-risk project that could lose money for years to come. Do you want your tax dollars committed for 25 years to a project which could be obsolete in 10-15 years?

The Economic Feasibility Analysis (prepared for the City of Jacksonville by Fishkind & Associates, Orlando, FL, October 1997) is superficial and arbitrary. It has many mistakes and is based upon assumptions. It grossly over estimates the number of people in the age 15-44 target market within the market area. It overstates the discretionary dollars available to the target market. It does not address potential negative financial effects of the project.

If we can accept its assumptions as plausible, the construction costs to taxpayers will be an astronomical $20 million - in addition to the loss of 10 acres of Metropolitan Park as a free recreational park. The Feasibility Analysis, commissioned by the City of Jacksonville, is ample indication that the project should not go forward.

70 cents of every dollar in ticket sales and sale of novelties will leave Jacksonville (to pay entertainers and media, not based in Jacksonville).

It will take 35 to 40 concerts per year, each at a 7,000-8,000 attendance, for the City to turn a net operating profit. This is assuming commitments of $675,000 in sponsorships/advertising and $400,000 in box seats are sold each year (at $10,000 each).

The taxpayers' annual debt service on the long-term bonds (25 years) for the Amphitheater construction costs will be $1.7 million or more per year. Cost overruns are likely and this figure could go up.

Projected average attendance for a majority of concerts is 7,000 persons. Coliseum seating capacity is 9,800. The Coliseum is underutilized, loses money for the City, and is subsidized by our taxes. Why do we need to build another facility for similar capacity crowds?

The amphitheater's negative economic effects must be considered:

Coliseum, Florida Theater & Times Union Performing Arts Center will lose some bookings to the Amphitheater.
Drain of entertainment dollars from current local businesses
Costs to City of litigation from affected neighborhoods
Costs to citizens of affected neighborhoods for litigation against City
Devaluation of property in affected neighborhoods
City's costs for sound monitoring and enforcement

There are no replacement reserves indicated for the facility. A private business venture of this magnitude would always have depreciation reserves built into the economic package. Such reserves will increase the total cost of the project.

The Economic Feasibility Analysis shows nearly $4 million in amphitheater revenue leaving the economy each year and $2.6 million in "total new direct spending."

Operating expenses are estimated at $870,000 for management, utilities and maintenance, insurance, etc.)

Net income from projected events will bring an amount approximately equal to the depreciation of the facility.

CONVERSION OF A PUBLIC PARK

TO A PRIVATE, FOR-PROFIT USE.

The Mayor has submitted a proposal to the State Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) asking them and the National Park Service to declare Metropolitan Park and the current Pavilion obsolete. These agencies will have final authority to approve whether the City can convert Metro Park to a private, for-profit use.

If a large-scale amphitheater is built at Metro Park, substantially altering the original intended use of the park as a free recreational space, the State DEP and National Park Service can require the City to find another parcel of land to substitute for the compromised park. That "conversion site" must be "of reasonably equivalent usefulness and location as that being converted." If NPS determines that a conversion is required, the City is proposing to swap Metropolitan Park for the Southeast Regional Park, a woodlands site 12 miles south of downtown near the Duval/St. Johns County line. It is nowhere near the St. Johns River, it lacks public transportation to the site, and it was already planned and funded as a public park for Mandarin. Hardly an appropriate substitute and clearly in conflict with the intent of State and National Park Service intentions.

A similar proposal to the City in 1988 by Zev Buffman Group was rejected by the State of Florida and National Park Service.

Memoranda, letters, and reports from city, state and National Park Service officials document significant concerns over the Amphitheater project on the Metropolitan Park site.

Memo: April 8, 1996. To Mayor John Delaney from Bill Potter, Director of Recreation & Parks Department, City of Jacksonville:	"I attended a meeting called by the DDA converting Met Park and turning it over to a private vendor. . . I walked away with some significant concerns regarding the Metropolitan proposal... Metropolitan Park is our last green waterfront area in that quadrant of the City. It affords access to literally thousands of school children during school outings, as well as a backdrop and venue for various public functions, weddings etc. that are free or at little cost to the public. The conversion would virtually eliminate this public component of the current Metropolitan Park. . . Finally, and most importantly, the conversion of Met Park would be in conflict with our required agreements currently in place with granting agencies that have funded acquisition and development of major portions of Metropolitan Park. . . By converting the property, we would be reversing on our commitment. . . As an advocate for public lands, I am not comfortable with the current proposal for Met Park. It is my position in this job to be an advocate for the public."
Memo: To Frank Nero (former) Executive Director of Downtown Development Authority from Lex Hester, CEO, and City of Jacksonville:	"This basically consumes a very attractive park that we now fully control and use for a large variety of community events--some of these appear to be protected, but the land space required basically does away with the park atmosphere--it becomes pretty much a commercial amphitheater."
Letter: April 2, 1997. From Fran Mainella, Director of Recreation and Parks, Department of Environmental Protection, State of Florida, to Dan Weimer, the City's Chief Planner for Recreation & Parks Department.	Ms. Mainella noted that the City had already converted 4.75 acres of Metropolitan park for use as a Jaguars practice field and portion of the Bay Street Expansion. She further stated that the proposed amphitheater use, "if approved, will terminate the public outdoor recreation use of the entire park. . . Because of its location in the Central Business District, it was identified as a resource that would provide public waterfront access to a large number of city residents. To this date, Metropolitan Park remains a significant urban waterfront resource to City residents, as well as one of the most popular parks in the City's park and recreation system." She further said that the City obtained Federal and State development assistance to protect Metropolitan Park from private development interests.

NOISE POLLUTION

Much like an airport or industrial area, it is not prudent policy to allow future residential development near an amphitheater site from a noise intrusion perspective." From Wrightson, Johnson, Haddon & Williams, Inc. Environmental Noise Impact Evaluation, 1995 for Lake Ridge Amphitheater site (Virginia Beach, VA)

Noise affecting nearby neighborhoods is a problem for all large urban amphitheaters. One has been shut down after years of lawsuits over noise, many others have been in court repeatedly over noise pollution, and many more are the targets of pending litigation. For this reason the architect for the proposed Metropolitan Park amphitheater advised the City that these facilities are best located in rural areas.

The Sound Study was prepared for the City by Kirkegaard & Associates and Sustaina & Associates. Citizens were told that an independent sound study would be done by Kirkegaard. Sustaina is the amphitheater architect, who has a direct interest in the execution of the project. It seems a conflict of interest for the firm to have participated in the preparation of the sound study. This conflict completely undermines the credibility of any assertions made by the consultants or the City Administration about the merits of the project.

George Izenour, internationally known authority in the fields of theater design, engineering and acoustics, reviewed the Jacksonville sound study for CAA. According to Dr. Izenour, the study ignores the fact that rock and hard rock touring bands will not use the "in-house" audio system. They always bring in their own amplification system. Izenour: "It is the considered opinion of this office that the proposed site for the Jacksonville outdoor amphitheater is wrong."

The Sound Study prepared for the City makes clear that noise from a new facility will drastically increase levels in the downtown area east of Main Street, portions of Springfield, much of the Eastside and render WJCT/Channel 7 building "insufficient for normal operations for some of the studio and office spaces during concerts or perhaps even during sound checks." The City will have to pay to soundproof the building.

Wind and other atmospheric conditions play a significant role in sound transmission from these outdoor facilities. The Jacksonville sound study recognizes this and recommends "careful management and monitoring" of the facility. Inclusion of this requirement in the study is a clear indication the architect is well aware of the limitations of architectural control of sound from amphitheaters.

Monitoring and control of sound will be the responsibility of the city, with additional costs to taxpayers. However, the City currently exempts outdoor musical entertainment from enforcement of its noise ordinance. Bands often will not play a venue with restrictions on decibel levels and curfews reasonable for residential areas and the City of Jacksonville is not likely to enforce such limits at the risk of "running off" profitable shows.

COMMUNITY STANDARDS & SOCIAL IMPACT

First Amendment Rights Prevail

The Mayor is promising that the City will be able to restrict or control bookings at the amphitheater to prevent bands from playing that exhibit objectionable behavior or use profane language and lyrics. In case after case throughout the U.S., the First Amendment has prevailed when municipalities, city governments, etc. have attempted to prevent entertainers from performing at public concerts based upon the content of lyrics, questionable behavior of performers, etc. Music & entertainment are "protected speech" for purposes of the First Amendment.

1984 City of Burbank, CA (Starlight Bowl)	1^st Amendment Rights prevailed over City's attempt to restrict concerts based upon content of certain performers.
1989 Ward vs. Rock Against Racism (1989)	1^st Amendment Rights upheld.
May '97 Marilyn Manson vs. New Jersey Sports & Exposition Authority .	Court upheld the group's right to free expression, etc.
1997 George, WA (10/1997)	*Grant Co. Superior Court Judge ruled that Rage Against the Machine* could perform.**

CAA OFFERS WAYS YOU CAN HELP

Please take time to write your City Council representative and the Mayor to let them know how you feel about the "amphitheater project." Numbers do make a difference.

We need your help in attending City Council meetings and speaking out against the Metropolitan Park Conversion. Call Jan Miller, 398-3844, who is coordinating this effort.

Council meets every 2^nd and 4^th Tuesday evening. Only 3 minutes of "public comment" per person is allowed. If you need help with specifics, talk to Jan. Your presence at City Council will help to send a strong message that many citizens throughout Duval County are concerned about this project. If we wait until the Cellar Door project is introduced into Council for review and vote, it will be too late!!

We are accepting contributions payable to Citizens for Amphitheater Awareness to pay for legal fees and printing.