JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Engineers and construction crews continued to assess and clean up the damage at the new Jacksonville Fairgrounds Exposition Center on Tuesday after a portion of its skeleton structure collapsed in a storm over the weekend.
An insurance inspector was set to assess the damage on Tuesday after engineers also conducted an assessment on Monday. Meanwhile, crews continued to take down any safety hazards at the new construction site off Normandy Boulevard on Jacksonville’s Westside.
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Jacksonville Fairgrounds President/CEO Bill Olson told News4JAX the initial structure was about one-third complete.
“Our construction project manager called me and told me about it,” Olson said. “We have a camera mounted out there, so I was able to go online and take a look for myself.”
The support beams took the initial hit from the heavy winds and tipped over. No injuries were reported.
“Thankfully it was early on, so we can still keep working around it, and it won’t really affect us too bad,” Olson said.
Construction continued as normal Tuesday morning, according to Olson.
“They’re working on the other foundations for the office area and the amphitheater portion. So that’s still ongoing. It’s just going to affect that Expo Hall portion where the steel collapsed,” Olson said.
As of Tuesday, they were still waiting on engineering reports and for the insurance inspectors to make it out there to the site, but there was still extensive work going on.
“So we’re working on the on the expo building, which is the big Expo Hall, the office, the amphitheater, all of that and then you have this other work, the site. Work with JV Coxwell company, so they’re doing all of the grading and utilities and clearing and putting in the new roadways. So that’s all still ongoing.”
In September 2024, the city approved the new site for the Jacksonville Fairgrounds after issuing a permit for construction to start on an expo hall, office space and amphitheater. The project is expected to cost at least $17 million.
The City Council first approved the redevelopment of the land and a lease agreement with the Duval County Fair Association in April of 2023, a year after Jaguars’ owner Shad Khan’s Iguana Investments Florida LLC agreed to buy the current fairgrounds property downtown.
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The project was expected to be finished by early next year, as the fairgrounds are slated to move from their traditional location in the sports complex area downtown to the new Westside location by 2026.
Olson said the damage will likely only delay construction for a few weeks.
