JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — When a billionaire sports team owner asks for $1 billion dollars from taxpayers there are going to be skeptics.
"Is all this renovation going to give us a better more productive team?" a woman asked Jaguars team president Mark Lamping at Tuesday night's community meeting to discuss the Jaguars 'Stadium of the Future.'
Others are believers.
"I think we've been a minor league city and we're on the cusp of going to the major leagues with this project," a man said to Lamping.
The Jaguars are projecting their stadium renovation and neighboring sports and entertainment district to cost close to $2 billion and are asking for close to $1 billion from taxpayers.
Over the next 14 days the team is hosting a series of community chats to discuss the project and take questions from fans and residents.
Some think it's too much money, others think it's well worth it.
"This is a ground floor opportunity for Jacksonville," Jaguars fan, Larry Williams, said.
Larry Williams moved to Jacksonville 30 years ago and has been a believer in the team since it came to the city.
"I look at me as being a child of the situation I was new to Jacksonville the Jaguars were new to Jacksonville so we kind of grew up together," Williams said.
Williams was a member of the fan Super Bowl committee when the big game came to Jacksonville in 2005.
"It gave us VIP seatings they had a lot of events and meetings you were able to go to," Williams said.
He said he got an inside look at preparations for the big game, Tuesday night he got a glimpse of years to come.
"It's just like today when I came to the meeting today, I like the fact that they're going around to all the parts of the city talking about the new stadium," Williams said.
The Jaguars have a bold vision.
A renovated stadium with a canopy providing shade to all seats. Next door, a sports and entertainment district with a new University of Florida graduate campus nearby.
But it comes with a massive price tag.
Williams is a believer in what it could bring.
"This is the foundation for the future, and I think the way things are now that's the way we have to look at it," he added.
On Monday, Lamping said in order to move forward with construction after the 2025 season, and to protect pricing, spending on the project needs to start in October.
The team will bring its plans to the city to negotiate with incoming Jacksonville Mayor, Donna Deegan.
The Jaguars will host 12 more community events, below is the list of times and locations.
