The Gainesville City Commission continued with plans to improve East Gainesville at a meeting Thursday.
East Gainesville is home to several historically Black neighborhoods. The city plans to sell or renovate public spaces to offer greater prosperity to the east side of town.
Ironwood Golf Course
The commission voted to issue a search for businesses interested in purchasing Ironwood Golf Course.
HangTime Golf owners Adam Rappaport and David Pearson expressed interest in purchasing the land. The two UF alumni currently operate two facilities in North Carolina. In both cities, they started by purchasing and renovating rundown courses.
Apart from golf, their current facilities also contain a bar and restaurant.
“This will be a destination,” Rappaport said. “We'll be bringing people in from all over North Central Florida and beyond.”
The commission, rather than voting to sell the course to Rappaport and his friend, voted to issue a broader search for interested buyers.
Mayor Harvey Ward said the search allows the commission to consider a range of competitive ideas.
“It is a way that people can bring something forward without having to know all the right people,” Ward said, “and that makes this a much better process for our community.”
The search process also promises greater transparency in the selection process, Ward added.
Citizens Field
The city also discussed how to move forward with Citizens Field in its meeting Thursday.
The discussion comes after a Tuesday school board meeting, in which the Alachua County School Board voted against signing a contract that would allow the board to purchase the stadium from the city commission.
The contract would have allowed the city three 90-day grace periods to conduct environmental studies and look into other property concerns before being locked into the purchase.
The school board cited environmental concerns, such as an alleged brownfield designation, in its reasons for not signing the contract.
Citizens Field is not currently designated as a brownfield, according to a list from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection updated in April.
Until the 1980s, Citizens Field used to sit above an underground heating oil tank used to warm on-site facilities. The city looked into any contamination left behind following the tank’s removal. The city found some soil has oil in it, but the level is below limits set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
The city also found a pool adjacent to the field is built on a former dump site.
Still, the city concluded there was no contamination at the Citizens Field site.
The contract would have sold the land to the school board for $5.5 million. The school board would have then spent an estimated $20 to $25 million to rebuild the stadium, seating and other facilities.
The commission would be responsible for updating stormwater management facilities, the parking lot and other utilities.
The city commission currently leases the stadium to the school board to be used for football games at Eastside, Gainesville and Buchholz High Schools.
The commission voted Thursday to extend the lease by a year. Commissioners also voted to draft a letter to the school board requesting clarification on whether the board wishes to move forward with the contract to purchase Citizens Field.
Commissioner Desmon Duncan-Walker said Citizens Field needs to be renovated regardless of the board’s decision so it can become an important community spot in East Gainesville.
“If they do decide that they want to do something else, that is OK,” Duncan-Walker said. “We will, and our responsibility to the people that we’ve been elected to serve, make sure that something goes in that space that incentivizes economic development in East Gainesville.”
The school board has until Aug. 31 to respond.
Contact Grace Larson at glarson@alligator.org. Follow her on X @graceellarson.
Grace Larson is a second-year journalism student and this summer's metro editor. She previously worked as city/county commission reporter and K-12 education reporter for The Alligator. When she's not editing stories, Grace enjoys running, weightlifting and going on random side quests. If she's not at her desk, you can find her at any place offering free food and crafts.
