JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — As politicians head back to their homes after a busy legislative session in Tallahassee, many of them made sure that new growth was centered on Jacksonville.
There are new projects that will cost millions of dollars.
A college center of the University of Florida will be built in downtown Jacksonville. This is one of the biggest investments the state will make in the city.
The state is putting $75 million into the project, along with money from the city and from private sources.
UF Board of Trustees Chair Mori Hossein said at the news event, “The campus would build on UF and Jacksonville’s long history of working together in healthcare. It would offer new graduate education programs to help meet the region’s growing need for workers.”
The state gives money to more than just the University of Florida.
In the budget, the University of North Florida Coggin College of Business remodel will get more than $26 million and the Brooks College of Health makeover will get more than $7 million.
Research on sharks is making its way into the budget. A new Ocearch Research and Operations Center at Mayport will get $5 million.
Atlantic Beach’s ongoing fight against flooding will get a boost: $500,000 will go toward preventing flooding at Hopkins Creek, near Aquatic Gardens and Atlantic Boulevard.
The USS Orleck’s new home in the docks needs to be fixed up. It will cost $500,000 to fix up the pier and hangar.
Another $500,000 would be used to turn the downtown Jacksonville Florida Casket Company into the Jacksonville Music History Museum.
These are just a few of the projects that the state budget could help make happen.
That may be a big one, because the governor still needs to sign off on this budget, and he can use his line item veto to get rid of any of these if they aren’t necessary.
For example, a budget was made for the Ocearch Research Center last year, but the governor stopped it.
