COMMUNITY CORNER: PLAY FOOTBALL MONTH

In August, we celebrated Play Football Month which honors our area youth and high school football athletes. From helmet donations and youth football camps to donating more than 3,500 tickets to our Play Football Game against the Miami Dolphins, the Jaguars celebrated the youth football community by impacting more than 5,000 coaches, athletes and families this month.

ON THE UP AND UP

In June, we received our foundation permit for both the Shipyards Hotel and the Shipyards Office projects and commenced foundation work on both projects last month. This foundation work is well underway with soil mixing activities — fortifying the soil with a concrete mixture — and the installation of deep vertical piles being conducted throughout the combined Shipyards development site. This month we also notified the City of Jacksonville that we were underway with vertical construction, accomplishing this milestone ahead of schedule.

ALL FOR ART

On the heels of training camp, with 14 open practices (ushering in close to 20,000 fans) taking place at Miller Electric Center, the new facility recently received its final piece of public art — a 16-foot-tall aluminum sculpture designed by local artist Aisling Millar-McDonald. Installed outside the player lobby entrance, the sculpture, titled ‘Rising Coalescence,’ rounds out seven pieces commissioned through a partnership with the Cultural Council of Greater Jacksonville by way of an international call to artists.

Aisling Millar-McDonald (Jacksonville) ‘Rising Coalescence’

DAAS (North Carolina)

Will DuBois (Missouri)

Arlin Graff (Ohio)

Casto Solano (Spain)

Timothy R. Smith (California)

Arlin Graff (Ohio)

Javier Marin (Mexico) – Hoy es Hoy

The partnership with the CCGJ to infuse public art into the facility’s design was announced last September. More than 150 artists from around the world answered the calls to artists put forth by the Cultural Council. Submissions were received from artists representing 25 states and nine countries.
Additionally, the Hoy es Hoy sculpture adorns Miller Electric Center’s west public entrance. A gift from the Jacksonville Aviation Authority, the bronze sculpture weighs nearly 3,350 pounds.

READY TO WORK

Construction Ready class 6 kicked off August 28 in the OUTEAST community at the First Baptist Church of Oakland. Students will be led by Johnny Hughes, Vice President of Training and Development, and Iris Moody, who will be teaching professional skills and financial literacy. After four weeks of training students will be eligible to receive eight industry-recognized credentials. From there, area employers will meet with students during a hiring fair and then on graduation day students will receive their employment offers.

A LOOK INTO THE FUTURE

This month we shared an ‘Economic Impact Analysis for Jacksonville’s EverBank Stadium of the Future’ report with Mayor Deegan and City Council. The report includes a research overview, key findings, future impacts and capital expenditures.

Read the report here.

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