Work can begin toward the $1.4 billion Stadium of the Future now that the city issued a permit Dec. 10 for test piles around the foundation.
AECOM Hunt/Barton Malow is the joint venture contractor for the almost $1.53 million project at EverBank Stadium. HOK is the architect of record.
The permit for the test piles is issued as the city reviews another permit application for a $78 million project for foundation work at the stadium at 1 EverBank Stadium Drive.
That larger project, whose permit request was created Nov. 21, covers the partial demolition of the existing structure for construction of the foundations and structural elements embedded into the foundations.
Those include piles, pile caps, grade beams, cast-in-place walls, strip footings, steel reinforcing dowels, anchor rods and other structural elements that will be embedded into the foundations.
The stadium anchors the Sports & Entertainment District on the eastern edge of Downtown.
With Jacksonville City Council and the NFL owners approving the deal for the city and the Jacksonville Jaguars to proceed with the project, the team ownership has been assembling the team of services and contractors to start work on the 29-year-old stadium when the 2024 season ends.
The NFL owners’ group gave final approval Oct. 15 to the Jaguars’ deal with the city. The Jaguars lease the stadium from the city, which owns it.
The owners’ vote allowed the team to proceed toward remaking and modernizing EverBank Stadium by the 2028 season with such features as a partial roof cover, expanded and elevated concourses, a park-like entrance, corner openings to improve airflow and a reflective outer coating designed to reduce interior heat.
The deal includes $775 million in public funding from the city of Jacksonville and $625 million from the team. A 30-year lease is part of the package.
Stadium renovation groundwork has been ongoing for months.
The team’s timeline calls for the stadium construction to begin in February 2025.
The Jaguars will play at EverBank Stadium during the 2025 NFL season with a slightly reduced capacity, then will return to EverBank in 2026 with a stadium capacity of about 43,500.
In 2027, the Jaguars will play their home games in Orlando or Gainesville, but with the possibility of playing three home games in London.
The renovated stadium would open in August 2028.