Yesterday, gusty winds caused chaos at the construction site of the new Jacksonville Fairgrounds, leading to a partial collapse of a building that was under construction. According to First Coast News, the incident occurred on the city's Westside, with strong winds bringing down what has been described as the structure's "skeleton," already 20% constructed by crews who had commenced work just last week.
Jacksonville City Council President Randy White, representing the district encompassing the fairgrounds, mentioned that a downburst likely caused the damage and, due to this unforeseen event, there could be a two to three-week delay in the structure's completion as engineers are set to reassess the stability and suitability of the building materials, White said no one was working at the time of the collapse and that thankfully, there were no injuries, a silver lining in what could have been a hazardous turn of events.
In a seemingly more optimistic outlook reported by Action News Jax, it was suggested that the damage will not cause any major delays to the overall completion timeline of the fairgrounds. The new location over at the Westside, which replaces the Downtown Jacksonville site, is to provide more space and is part of a growth plan that is expected to finalize the move by 2026.
Adding to the details, News4Jax reported that the main structure damage occurred on the support beams which took the initial brunt of the storm's heavy winds, and despite the setback, sources close to the project believe it won't be too much of a roadblock, with expectations to continue aiming for an early next year completion of the $20 million project, meanwhile, the former fairgrounds site has been acquired by Shad Khan’s Iguana Investments for $15 million, the Jaguars owner, transforming the old 14.1-acre site into parking spaces for the sports complex area downtown.
