Agenda Item Name:
Title
Request to Name the Alachua County Sports Complex Track at Celebration Pointe as the “Jimmy Carnes Track”
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Presenter:
Gina Peebles, 352-538-8265
Description:
Request to Name the Alachua County Sports Complex Track at Celebration Pointe as the “Jimmy Carnes Track”
Recommended Action:
Recommended Action
Adopt Resolution 22-xx approving CP Event Center Operations, LLC’s request to name the Alachua County Sports Complex Track at Celebration Pointe as the “Jimmy Carnes Track”
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Prior Board Motions:
N/A
Fiscal Consideration:
Fiscal Consideration
There are no funds available for any cost attributable to this change unless the Board directs the use of Reserves, which will then be brought back as budget amendment.
The construction of the Alachua County Sports Complex at Celebration Pointe is being financed with Tourist Development Tax (TDT) funding.
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Background:
Pursuant to the Operations & Maintenance Agreement for the Alachua County Sports Complex, CP Event Center Operations, LLC has the exclusive Naming Rights for the Sports Complex and all of its components, subject to BOCC approval. CP Event Center Operations, LLC., with the support of the Gainesville Sports Commission, has requested to name the Alachua County Sports Complex at Celebration Pointe Track in honor of Jimmy Carnes.
Section 1.58 of our public private partnership defines Naming Rights to include all components of the Event Center. Viking does not intend to charge or collect a fee for naming the track in honor of Jimmy Carnes, so in this case, there will be no money to go back into the project.
Alachua County’s own Jimmy Carnes was a leading advocate of amateur athletics and Olympic sports in the state of Florida. As executive director of the both the Governor’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports and the Sunshine State Games Foundation, he almost single handedly built an amateur sports infrastructure in Florida which is second to none.
Nationally, he served on countless committees and boards and was recognized by Presidents Lyndon B., Johnson, Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton for his contributions to amateur athletics. Locally, he created the Gainesville Sports Organizing Committee in 1988 (now known as the Gainesville Sports Commission) and served as the University of Florida Head Track and Field and Cross Country coach for 12 years during which time he integrated these sports - significantly impacting the south and our nation;
He was inducted into the Florida Sports Hall of Fame in 1980, the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame in 1984, the US Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 1998, and the USA Track and Field Hall of Fame in 2008. He was also inducted into the University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame as an honorary letter winner in 1983.
During the month preceding his death, he attended the 9th Annual Jimmy Carnes’ Indoor Track and Field Invitational at the O’Connell Center watching competitors compete in the sport he felt everyone could compete in - no matter their ability, ethnicity, or gender. Jimmy Carnes passed away on March 5, 2011 after a three-year battle with cancer at the age of 76.