A Stadium Proposal for the NFL's Jaguars
Baldwin. That’s what I’m saying, Baldwin, one square mile located on the far Westside that has its own town government, its own ordinances and governance, and its own police force. Well, technically, that’s currently contracted out to JSO, but the town charter makes a point that Baldwin has to have its own police force.
There’s only 1,396 of us town residents according to the 2020 census gathered into 600 or so households. With a median income under $30,000, we’ll sell out cheap to a certain NFL owner so he can have free rein to build the stadium, the entertainment district, the hotels, and whatever else he has in mind.
With the completion of the new I-10/US 301 interchange, there will be easy access into a town whose main street is US 90 (Beaver) with 5 lanes, two in each direction and a central left-turn lane.
One of the advantages in building the new stadium in Baldwin is that there will be no need to move games out of Downtown Jacksonville until the new stadium is ready.
The acquisition cost will be cheap. Even with an average price of $100,000 per property, 600 will only cost $60 million to acquire. From there, the sky’s the limit as far as construction goes.
Once the town residents move out, Shad will be left with a town government to rubberstamp all the building and occupancy permits he needs. He’ll have his own Reedy Creek Improvement District right under Ron DeSantis’s nose.
No more tiresome negotiations with Jacksonville politicians. No more wrangling with city agencies and boards, everyone of which wants to put their stamp on the plans. The only drawback is that Baldwin is landlocked and the Kismet can’t sail into town. But didn’t Shad put that up for sale a few years ago?
Baldwin. It’s win-win-win all the way around. As a sweetener to the deal, we won’t insist on renaming the team. Alliteration has its advantages, you know?