Former Mayor Leads UNF into the Future
In the summer of 2003, a new day dawned for the University of North Florida. As John Delaney served his last days in the Jacksonville Mayor's Office, the UNF Board of Trustees selected him as the university's fifth permanent president. His transition from city mayor to UNF president created a buzz that permeated the North Florida campus.
Delaney earned his Bachelor of Arts and law degrees from the University of Florida after attending Terry Parker High School in Jacksonville. He served as former Mayor Ed Austin's chief of staff before being elected to mayor in 1995.
He was reelected in 1999 without opposition and will be remembered for helping Jacksonville secure the 2005 Super Bowl and for instituting the Better Jacksonville Plan. That initiative focused on improving roads, preserving land and the environment, targeting economic development, and revitalizing downtown.
Two prongs of the plan involved building a new baseba
ll park and erecting a state-of-the-art arena to serve the city's growing sports and entertainment needs. Both facilities were completed in 2003.
Delaney's record of using sports to lead gives athletics administrators and coaches the knowledge that they have a strong ally in the president's office.
Beaches, Nightlife, 2005 Super Bowl Highlight Jacksonville
You could call Jacksonville the littlest big city in the nation.
More than one million citizens and an NFL team go a long way in illustrating why this city is one of the fastest growing in the country. But 1 million people doesn't seem like quite so many when they're spread across a city that's the largest in land area in the 48 contiguous states.
In many aspects, the city has the nightlife of a bustling metropolis. But the daylight brings a small-town quaintness and calmness that can be enjoyed throughout Jacksonville.
This calmness can come in the form of miles of uncrowded beaches or it can come from the city's
urban park system, the largest in the United States.
Deciding between the solitude of sandy-white beaches with waves crashing down and the leafy greenness of a local park is a difficult task, but save your energy. You'll need it if you're planning to visit the Jacksonville Landing or one of the city's trendy night clubs. Plan carefully, because it might be a Jaguars game day. If so, you could join in an even bigger daylight party: tailgating before the game.
The UNF campus sits at the center of all this action, seven miles from the beaches and 12 miles from downtown. UNF is also a short driving distance from the city's most popular malls - the Avenues and Regency - and movie theaters - Tinseltown, AMC 24 at Regency and Regal at the Avenues.
When the athlete in you wants to stretch your legs, you'll find plenty of room to run. USA Today named Jacksonville one of the 10 great places to run while you're away from home.
When you're finished with that jog, you might take in a game of another sort. The city is also home to the Jacksonville Suns, the Double A affiliate of the Los Angeles Dodgers, and the Jacksonville Barracudas hockey team, which won the first World Hockey Association 2 championship in 2004.
Highlighting Jacksonville's presence as a sports haven, the area is also home to the Gator Bowl, the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) Tour, the PGA Tour headquarters, the World Golf Village and the annual PGA Players Championship tournament.
In addition, the city's new arena has brought in some of the world's biggest performing stars, complementing the city's best outdoor entertainment center, Metropolitan Park. Since it opened in November 2003, the new Veterans Memorial Arena has attracted such varied artists as Sir Elton John, Jessica Simpson, Eric Clapton, Van Halen and Kenny Chesney.
The Arena's first-class capabilities have already guaranteed the city some March Madness in 2006 as the city plays host to first- and second-round games of the NCAA tournament.
But the biggest party of them all came in early 2005 when Jacksonville played host to Super Bowl XXXIX.
The city offers a wide range of activities that satisfy all kinds of tastes, preferences and people. If you're looking for a city where you can explore the outdoors, fabulous entertainment and yourself, you should consider doing what more than a million others have done. You might want to call Jacksonville home.