1994 Gator Bowl - Renovations

Renovations

For more details on this topic, see Jacksonville Municipal Stadium.

In early 1994, Jacksonville Mayor Ed Austin proposed $49 million in renovations to Jacksonville's aging Gator Bowl Stadium in order to keep the stadium up to date for the annual Florida-Georgia rivalry game. After Florida and Georgia accepted the renovations, agreeing to play the rivalry game in Athens, Georgia during the renovations, Jacksonville investors proposed expanding the renovation plan in order to attract a National Football League team. The price tag was revised upward—to $121 million—and the city successfully attracted a team. Shortly after Jacksonville was awarded its new franchise—the Jacksonville Jaguars—the final plans were unveiled. The stadium would have additional luxury boxes, expanded seating, and upgraded facilities for teams and fans.

The renovations were much more extensive than had initially been proposed, and required more time to be completed. Instead of beginning in early 1995, work would have to begin in 1994, leaving the site of the 1994 Gator Bowl (played on Dec. 30) in doubt. By the end of January 1994, as the Gator Bowl was being demolished, that doubt was also demolished when a deal was struck to host the Gator Bowl at the University of Florida, in that school's Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. The game's title sponsor, Outback Steakhouse, and its television sponsor, TBS, would remain constant, and both were in their final year of contracts with the Gator Bowl.