Naming Rights of T-U Center in Dispute

[jaxlongtimer]

^ I would ask Brian if it isn't in perpetuity, what is it in then?  And, how determined and who decides?  Who made him "god" over the T-U naming rights? 

I don't think he would make a good witness for the City in a court room!  Would love to see how Hughes would (did?) perform before a JEA federal grand jury .

[fieldafm]

Absolutely asinine commentary from Brian Hughes on the move, with absolutely nothing concrete to support it:

“There’s no scenario where a naming right is a one-time payment in perpetuity,” Brian Hughes, the city’s chief administrative officer, told WJCT.

“It’s just not how naming rights is structured, certainly not in the modern era.”

The absence of language in the ordinance either defining a specific term or identifying that the naming rights would be held in perpetuity was just not something contemplated in those 'unmodern' times of the roaring 1990's. It was understood, as fact.  Isn't it 'weird' that they aren't going after the Moran or Jacoby families, just the Times Union?

There is nothing in the ordinance that created the half cent sales tax for transportation (Sec. 774 Discretionary Sales Surtax For Transportation) that SPECIFICALLY indicates that the sidewalks, roads and other transportation projects be built in a safe manner. So by this same logic, COJ has no liability then if the half cent sales tax monies went towards constructing half-assed roads that caused the death of a motorist, pedestrian or cyclist. I mean, its not in the ordinance, right?

The ordinance that created the Veterans Memorial Arena didn't spell out that the arena was specifically NAMED to honor Jacksonville veterans in perpetuity either... and they broke that promise as well. 

In these 'modern times', it sounds like the naming rights to the Vystar Veterans Memorial Arena, Daily's Place and 121 Financial Ballpark were all horribly negotiated deals because those naming rights don't even come close to approaching 10% of the cost to construct these venues... which is the equivalent of what the Times Union paid towards constructing the Times Union Center for Performing Arts in 1994.

That the Mayor's office has spent so much time in the swamp over the course of 6+ years settling scores and rewarding loyalists is truly bewildering.  There are so many more pressing issues, like maybe picking up recycling and yard waste. 

[jaxlongtimer]

Mark Woods column on this issue comes down hard on Curry & Co. with their pattern of reinterpreting agreements or laws to get their way.

From trying to renege on the Metro Park agreement with the State that it be a park in perpetuity to having JEA trying to back out of its agreement on Plant Vogle to reinterpreting the word "shall" when Curry didn't want to go forward with the required placement of the school board referendum on the ballot.  (He left out the City welching on its deal with the Landing parking or now suing to get out of a bad deal the City made on money losing parking garages.) 

Woods continues with a litany of facts and scenarios that clearly show the City on shaky ground, not just legally, but reputationally and morally.  Just pathetic.

.....While Hughes is correct to say the norm in naming rights is a defined length — just look at the revolving names on skylines, arenas, sports stadiums — he’s wrong to say there’s no scenario where a naming right involves a one-time donation and perpetuity.

Such lasting agreements can be found all over the country, in the names of everything from performing arts centers to parks.

They even can be found right here in Jacksonville.

When Jacksonville investor Winthrop Bancroft donated 5 acres of oceanfront land in 1967, he had just two stipulations — that the land be used as a park, and that it be named for the late Kathyrn Abbey Hanna.

Our parks are terribly underfunded. Sure, we could put more money in the budget. Or we could take down the Hanna Park signs and resell the name.

I mean, that was more than 50 years ago, right? Was it explicitly said that it would be named after Hanna “in perpetuity”? And even if it was, the park has grown to 450 magnificent acres.

Or how about Willie Browne’s donation? When he gave away hundreds of acres of land, his only stipulation was that it be left as is, for all to enjoy. And he wanted it named after his favorite politician.

Maybe we should be grateful that the Theodore Roosevelt Area of the Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve is in the hands of the National Park Service, not the city. And not just because of the name....

.....It’s worth going all the way back to stories written at the start of a $29 million fundraising campaign. They talked about how the plan to find one donor whose name could end up on the building, formerly known as the Civic Auditorium, was a dramatic change. Local leaders said that in this way, our performing arts center was going to be like New York’s Carnegie Hall or Avery Fisher Hall — or maybe it would have a corporate sponsor and be like Heinz Hall in Pittsburgh or Disney Symphony Hall in Los Angeles.

Nearly 30 years later, all but one of those places still have the same name.

Avery Fisher Hall has become David Geffen Hall after Geffen donated $100 million — with $15 million of it going to the family of Fisher to have his name removed. Geffen’s stipulation: His name be on the hall in perpetuity.....

https://www.jacksonville.com/story/news/columns/mark-woods/2022/01/21/im-still-calling-times-union-center/6532671001/

[marcuscnelson]

I wonder if there's any possibility that either this will be undone (returning to the Times-Union name) or a new search for naming rights will start soon.

[jaxlongtimer]

^ Like his demolitions, Curry pulled the plug on the prior naming rights but nothing has been done to secure new ones.  Maybe the City should contact the Jags.... they know how to lasso customers for this type of thing.

Wondering if they are holding back because it is in legal limbo.  No news on that but would be interesting to get an update.

[simms3]

I have spoken with a number of consultants and outsiders lately for work and they all speak so highly of the Jacksonville market and the potential that it has for growth and development.  I appreciate their comments, but always in my mind I'm thinking that if only they knew how our government worked they'd feel differently.

Haha just seeing this and the same thing with me...well, now we have a new administration and it literally feels different (in a good way) already!

[Ken_FSU]

PEAK Curry/Hughes pettiness.

TU is critical of Lenny in the wake of the JEA scandal, they pull the TU's name off a theater.

Great use of resources.