JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The Republican National Convention is officially coming to Jacksonville, and with only seventy-two days to prepare, leaders will have to rush to prepare the city for massive convention.
Mayor Lenny Curry says that this is a tremendous opportunity, especially for economic development. He and Duval GOP Chairman Dean Black believes that Jacksonville will earn an economic impact of more than $100 million.
Curry did clarify Friday morning that the RNC will not be paid by the City of Jacksonville. Instead it will be paid by both federal funding and by a host committee that will fundraise money from outside sources. That host committee is a nonprofit and no party-affiliation group run by Daniel Davis, the President and CEO of Jax Chamber, Michael Corrigan, President and CEO of Visit Jacksonville, and U.S. Rep. Michael Waltz.
When it comes to the worry of hotel space downtown, Curry says that Jacksonville does have enough room to host everyone who comes down.
“We have the hotel capacity to handle this,” Curry said. “I’ve heard talk about and seen media reports of there’s no new hotels since the Superbowl. That’s just some ridiculous statement. While the hotels in and around downtown have not grown specifically downtown, the hotel capacity in and around our city exists, and our metropolitan exists, and there’s many more hotel rooms then there were back around the Superbowl.”
Another major concern for many is the spread of COVID-19. In Duval County, there have 1,923 total cases since Mid-March, according to the Florida Department of Health. While specific precautions haven’t been published yet, Curry believed that the state will be in a different phase of reopening at that point.
“It likely won’t look like it does today,” Curry said
In an announcement made by the Duval GOP Chapter, safety precautions were also discussed.
“They will be sanitizing everything,” Black said. “They will be taking temperatures and I am sure still other precautions be implemented.”
Masks have not been confirmed to be required or not at the convention.
Duval Democrats came out denouncing the convention coming to the city, calling it reckless and irresponsible.
“The Center for Disease Control has consistently warned people against large gatherings. Yet our local political leadership chose to put partisanship over citizenship and their sworn duty to keep this city safe,” party chair Daniel Henry said.
The Jacksonville International Airport is planning on having a meeting on Monday where they will discuss preparations of the RNC. The Jacksonville Transportation Authority is also working on how best to support the city while the RNC is in town. More details will be announced in a few weeks.
The convention is expected start in Charlotte, North Carolina on August 24 before heading to Jacksonville. The event will be held at the VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena and it will be a three-day event from August 25 to August 27.