The Alachua County School Board decided not to proceed with an interlocal agreement with the Gainesville City Commission that would have allowed the school board ownership of Citizens Field.
Though owned by the city, the school district currently uses Citizens Field as a football stadium for Eastside, Buchholz and Gainesville High Schools.
In May 2025, the board expressed interest in a partnership with the city to renovate the field.
Six months later, the Gainesville City Commission voted to draft an interlocal agreement that would allow the school board to buy and renovate the stadium.
Though the partnership has been over a year in the making, the school board voted against the interlocal agreement at its meeting Tuesday.
Board members expressed concerns over language used within the contract, though the board also voted against renegotiating and rewording it.
Board Chair Thomas Vu said he’s consistently voted against the interlocal agreement.
Vu said the contract clearly outlines school board consequences for not upholding the agreement but doesn’t grant the school board authority to hold the city commission accountable.
The agreement allows the school board to obtain ownership of the land as long as it renovates the field and keeps it a football stadium.
The agreement allows the school board to sell the land, Vu said, but does not compensate the board for time. If the agreement fell through, the school board would lose time that could have been spent working out an alternative plan, he added.
“To me, two [to] three years is two [to] three years we haven't worked on an alternate solution,” Vu said. “It's two [to] three years that we've left the state of athletics for our kids just in some state of limbo.”
Vu wasn’t the only board member to express concerns over the agreement.
Board member Leanetta McNealy said the district shouldn’t take on the environmental risks associated with the project.
“The school board should not be the one having the financial burden and assuming the associated risk of such a project,” McNealy said.
Citizens Field has allegedly been labeled a brownfield, McNealy said. A brownfield designation suggests the ground may be contaminated.
The site is not currently designated as a brownfield, according to a list from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection last updated in April.
Superintendent Kamela Patton said the commission is looking into whether the site is contaminated.
The city can’t conduct an environmental study unless a contract is signed, but if contamination is found, the cost to demolish and renovate the field would increase.
The total cost to purchase, demolish and renovate Citizens Field is estimated to cost around $30.5 million.
While the majority of the board voted against the interlocal agreement, some board members were in favor of the contract.
Board member Tina Certain stressed the importance of the project for East Gainesville, which is home to several historically Black neighborhoods.
“Just know that the constituents in the East are going to say that this is another elected body who said they were going to pursue doing some improvements in East Gainesville, and yet you said to pause and not do it,” Certain said.
Certain also said environmental concerns can’t be confirmed until a study is conducted — something that would only be possible after signing the contract.
The contract gives the school board 90 days to conduct inspections on the field and to pull out if any unfavorable conditions are found.
Though the board didn’t vote in favor of the interlocal agreement, the district will continue to work toward finding alternatives to the current stadium plan.
The board requested information on an alternative site for a shared stadium, a three-stadium option that allows each school to have its own football field and the Citizens Field plan.
The city commission will discuss the interlocal agreement at its Thursday meeting. The commission may decide whether to keep the offer available to the school board.
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.
