By David DeCamp
Times-Union staff writer

With the glitzy spectacle of the 2005 Super Bowl on their minds, the Jacksonville Jaguars have envisioned adding an outdoor veranda, club seating and a terrace with huge canopies spanning the length of Alltel Stadium's south end zone.

The additions are among changes that could be part of the $40 million cost city officials recently estimated for the stadium's overhaul in time for the National Football League event. But no one is publicly saying how they will specifically put together the money to pay for the upgrades in the city-owned stadium.

Not Wayne Weaver, owner of the Jaguars franchise, which commissioned the proposed designs for the overhaul. Not Mike Weinstein, president of the Super Bowl Host Committee, or Tom Petway, co-chair of the committee. Not Mayor John Delaney, who said he has yet to see final plans.

And yesterday when Weinstein, Petway and co-chair Peter Rummell spent about an hour in front of the City Council describing plans, showing off glossy pamphlets and playing a booming 15-minute video heralding the event's significance, no council member asked about Alltel's changes.

"I didn't get the sense that they were there yet," said council Vice President Suzanne Jenkins, adding that the council needs to wait until organizers finish the entire proposal.

--------------------------------------------------
  The proposed lounge would be located on the level above the main concourse and be closer to the field than existing stadium suites. -- Special--------------------------------------------------

Broad plans are trickling in, however. The city expects to finish and approve funding plans for a $6 million to $10 million deck related to the annual Florida-Georgia college football game by the end of September. A contract extension for the game must be approved by Georgia officials first. But Weinstein and Delaney said that will be the city's limit for funding improvements.

With that deal and project set, Weaver said this week he plans to present the proposal to other NFL team owners at a league meeting at the end of October. There, he will seek money from the NFL. That will partially determine how much money has to come from other sources, such as the team and fund-raising through sponsorships. Then, the proposed changes will be rolled out publicly, Weaver said.

"I haven't asked the city for anything ... We're getting all ahead of this," he said. "All I want is this stadium to be one of the finest stadiums ... to ever host a Super Bowl."

All told, the public should start getting a glimpse of the cost and changes within the next month, when the city's project is presented. Time is of essence. City Hall must sign off first and the changes should be done by 2004, in time for football season and the Super Bowl in February.

NFL officials declined comment about its past funding help for Super Bowls, or avenue available to Jacksonville. The league-produced video local officials showed, however, said the league helped with some improvements to Tampa's stadium for this year's game, although it wasn't specific.

--------------------------------------------------
  The stadium's press box would be relocated from its midfield section to the north end zone in two phases. Suites could also be added. -- Special--------------------------------------------------

The City Council originally approved a $20 million upgrade as part of the city's bid to host the Super Bowl. But in November, owners gave Jacksonville the game after Jaguars owner Wayne Weaver told them it could help him do $40 million to $50 million in changes at Alltel. Delaney said Friday he was unaware of the higher cost when the original proposal was approved. City Hall will ultimately have to sign off on any upgrades to the stadium, which was finished in 1995 for about $140 million.

Weinstein and Weaver said the exact proposal and financing is still being decided. Weaver declined to provide the Jaguars-commissioned drawings or other information about the proposed changes of the stadium, but the city released renderings held by the Jacksonville Economic Development Commission. The creator of the proposals is not listed on the documents City Hall provided. A few pages appear to be missing.

Weaver also said the changes are not meant to produce more money for the team. "It's more fan enhancement," he said.

The renderings suggest the changes will solve an identity crisis of sorts for Alltel. The stadium, which was reconstructed from the old Gator Bowl, needs a defining, identifying element, according to the designs. That's where the canopies come in. But much more is proposed.

For starters, the first level on the south end could have a team store and "corporate garden," then a new, wider concourse with escalators, and a club lounge with tiered seating, buffet bars, elevators and an outdoor veranda. "A lounge at this location would target an intermediate price range that has not yet been tapped," the rendering says, adding that non-game day events could provide year-round revenue.

The new terrace would be built above that lounge. Besides the option of canopies, the new terrace would allow the stadium to add about 6,000 temporary bleachers in the south end zone.

That fits into the city's portion of the work. Delaney supports building a platform for temporary seating tied to the annual Florida-Georgia game. The new platform would save at least half the roughly $300,000 cost of erecting temporary bleachers for the game each fall, said Bob Downey, general manager of the SMG, the private company that manages the stadium. The city's investment also would complement the Jaguars' plans, though.

--------------------------------------------------
  Proposals for Alltel Stadium's south end include a concourse, club seating and lounge for 800 people, a veranda and terrace for canopies over a deck. The canopies could be removed in favor of 6,000 more seats. -- Special--------------------------------------------------

Above the north end zone, a new press box would be built, and a suite expansion is sketched. City officials have said the current, midfield press box could be removed in favor of more suites, but the provided renderings do not include that change.

Outside the stadium, visitors would see revamped entrances. Steel-rail entry gates and fence would extend around the perimeter to create the feel of an outdoor plaza, replete with palm trees and other plants. New steel entry gates with canopies would be built at two places along the south side of the stadium. One drawing has a Jaguars emblem at a gate entrance; another has a Super Bowl sign above stadium doors.