City of Jacksonville moves forward with converting golf course clubhouse into new civic center

JACKSONVILLE, Texas (KLTV) - The City of Jacksonville is planning for a new civic center. After approval from voters, the construction will be paid for by a hotel tax increase. The former Cherokee Ranch Golf Course Clubhouse will be transformed into the new Jacksonville Civic Center.

Jacksonville residents voted in support of adding an additional two percent Venue Tax to the Hotel Occupancy Tax that will go toward supporting the new civic center. Jacksonville City Manager James Hubbard said the city partnered with the Jacksonville Economic Development Corporation to purchase the Cherokee Ranch Golf Course and clubhouse last spring.

“The proposition passed, approximately 65 percent of the vote was in support of the proposition. Almost two thousand people weighed in on it, so we had record voter turnout,” Hubbard said.

Inside the 15,000 square foot venue there is a large ballroom, space for breakout rooms, and a view that overlooks their 18-hole golf course.

“The next steps are going to be to partner potentially with an architectural firm to make some strategic renovations to the facility to make it more attractive to the end user,” he said.

Some of the things they anticipate updating include colors, textures, carpet, and lighting.

“One of the things we recognized we needed to improve is the audio, visual, the technology has changed greatly in the last couple of years, so improving those systems will be a welcome benefit,” Hubbard said.

City leadership will be part of the process as they move forward in planning.

“We do anticipate that in early 2023 we’ll hire a civic center manager who will actually office here at the civic center to greet guests, give tours, and certainly book business here at the civic center,” Hubbard said.

The first part of 2023 is when they’ll start seeing improvements, Hubbard said. By the second part of the year they hope to be fully operational.

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