By David DeCamp
Times-Union staff writer

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The plan's progress

A year ago tomorrow, voters approved an increase of the local sales tax from 6.5 percent to 7 percent. The hike took effect Jan. 1, with exemptions for items such as basic foods and medicine.

An update on the Better Jacksonville Plan's major initiatives:

Arena and ballpark: A $25 million ballpark and $125 million arena are expected to beby mid-2003. Designs are finished for the ballpark, which is expected to have 8,000 to 10,000 seats. The arena's design is 75 percent complete. Libraries: Architects are expected to be selected in October for a new $95 million main library downtown. Construction will begin next year and is scheduled to finish in May 2003. Building or renovating 18 branch libraries should be complete by the end of 2004. County courthouse: A new courthouse, costing $190 million, is planned to be designed by mid-2003 and completed by September 2005. Planning for what's needed is going on now. Road improvements: Designs are beginning on roads as part of a $1.5 billion reconstruction program. Private consultants to manage the program are negotiating contracts. Road resurfacing: The first 100 miles of work -- approved before the plan -- are nearly finished. Only 2,070 miles to go, worth $105 million. Source: City Hall status report for August --------------------------------------------------

So there are no pillars being built yet for a downtown library, no brick outfield wall being mortared for a ballpark.

But Mayor John Delaney wants people to know there really is a lot of work being done for the $2.2 billion Better Jacksonville Plan, which is supposed to build libraries, a ballpark, miles of roads and more. And he's going to tell them on the first anniversary of voters approving a half-cent sales tax to fuel the plan.

Tomorrow, Delaney will give essentially three sessions of major updates about how his program is moving along, including a session beginning at 5:30 p.m. at Memorial Coliseum for the public. He's expected to give a 30-minute speech, and 16 tables full of information on various projects will be displayed, press secretary Sharon Ashton said.

Earlier that day, about 200 members of agencies, boards and the City Council -- groups that are involved in approving parts of the plan -- will hear about the progress in a breakfast briefing at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum, which is to be replaced by a new arena.

The mayor then is scheduled to join news media representatives in a van to tour three sites. One is Townsend Road, where almost $2 million in improved drainage lines are going in. Another site is 407 acres near Otis Road on the Westside, where Delaney wants to convince the City Council that buying the land for his Preservation Project is a good idea. The land will cost as much as $2.5 million, Delaney's advisers said.

In the past year, no major project has been thrown off schedule. But the baseball park'sng day has been pushed back a year, the tax revenue started low, and City Hall shuffled managers this summer. The city also was unsuccessfully sued over the bidding process for part of the road resurfacing work.

The day's events are estimated to cost about $15,000, including $6,000 for renting the coliseum, Ashton said. Another $10,000 will be spent on a special vendor section highlighting Better Jacksonville included in the Times-Union on Sunday. The money will come from the city's general tax fund, not new tax. "We want people to see it. We want their involvement," Delaney said. "If we didn't do it, then people would ask what we're doing."