LONDON, England – The indoor option continues to look good.
Jaguars Owner Shad Khan, who in early September said he hoped to have an indoor practice facility adjacent to EverBank Field by training camp of 2016, on Saturday said he continues to believe that is a strong possibility.
"We are obviously negotiating with the city on an indoor practice facility, and other amenities in the stadium for the city of Jacksonville," Khan said Saturday morning while meeting with members of the Jacksonville media on the eighth floor of the Dorchester in Mayfair.
"I'm hopeful; I'm optimistic. I think it's moving at a process, obviously. I think we want to be in a position in the next month or so to get the holy water sprinkled and be able to announce it."
Khan in September said the team planned to build a state-of-the-art indoor practice facility located outside EverBank Field's South End Zone area. Khan estimated the cost at perhaps around $30 million, with much of the funding from Khan and the Jaguars.
He also said at the time he hoped for the facility to be ready by training camp late next July.
Khan on Saturday addressed the proposed facility's relationship with any development at the Shipyards, an area in downtown Jacksonville for which Khan proposed a significant overhaul earlier this year.
"It's something that stands on its own," Khan said of the indoor-facility proposal, "but certainly the way we're looking at it, any development over there should be an integrated type of development where one supports the other. It's going to be tied into it with bridges, or a pedestrian walkway. Architecturally, you want to have some harmony, but one doesn't have to be done in a certain sequence.
"There are environmental issues. I think the city is looking at it. Our goal timing-wise is we want to get the practice facility and the other development on the south side of the stadium done first; that will give the city enough time to focus on really having a plan to clean up the site. Then, we'd love to engage with the city."
