The School Board of Alachua County (SBAC) voted to table agreements with the city of Gainesville involving Citizens Field at a nearly five-hour meeting on Tuesday night. 

In October 2025, the Gainesville City Commission directed staff to begin negotiating with the SBAC for the sale of Citizens Field, the primary home to all three of the city’s public high schools. 

The SBAC had asked for the sale option in March 2025. Alachua County Public Schools (ACPS) currently leases the stadium from the city under a 40-year contract and takes care of the upkeep.  

Two agreements between the city and SBAC were presented to board members on Tuesday night. One was a purchase and sale agreement (PSA), and the other was an interlocal agreement. District staff said the two go together. 

With the PSA, the school board would purchase Citizens Field from the city for a total price of $500,000. Per this agreement, the school board would need to place a $100,000 deposit into escrow within 20 days after both the SBAC and City Commission approve the contract. The remaining $400,000 would be paid at closing. 

The PSA gives the school board a lengthy due diligence period. 

“Once we enter [into] the purchase agreement, there is a 90-day inspection period, which the school board has the unilateral right to extend two more times for a total of 270 days, if needed,” said David Ricco, an attorney representing the SBAC. “And during that inspection period, the school board includes due diligence on the property and on the feasibility and cost of the redevelopment.” 

Ricco, who attended the meeting via Zoom, said the SBAC can terminate the PSA – which would then terminate the interlocal agreement – at any time before the end of the inspection period. He noted that if the school board hit 270 days, it would then be financially committed to the deal.  

The interlocal agreement between the city and SBAC establishes a partnership between the two parties regarding the redevelopment of Citizens Field.  

The agreement states that the SBAC and city “have determined that the joint construction, maintenance, and use of the Stadium and certain Required Improvements will result in significant cost savings, eliminate unnecessary duplication of facilities, and promote the efficient use of public resources …” 

With the interlocal agreement, the city would be responsible for infrastructure improvements as it relates to Citizens Field. These improvements include “paved parking adequate for the stadium,” such as ADA-accessible spaces, stormwater management facilities, “perimeter fencing and security infrastructure,” etc. 

The agreement states that the city would also be responsible for environmental remediation at the property, with this cost estimated at $4.917 million. The SBAC would include its share of the remediation costs in its payment to the city at closing, according to the agreement. 

If the actual remediation costs end up being less than estimated, the agreement states that the city will need to reimburse the school board for 50% of the savings.  

The SBAC, meanwhile, would be responsible for designing, building, operating and maintaining a new stadium on the property. 

Suzanne Wynn, executive director of planning, construction and maintenance for ACPS, told the board at Tuesday’s meeting that she had the district’s structural engineer, who does annual inspections on Citizens Field, provide her with a letter and his “professional opinion” on whether the stadium is worth renovating. 

“His opinion was [that] it should be demolished,” she said. “It is safe to occupy until we get it demoed and reconstructed. Every year, we do an inspection. And if there is any shoring up [that] we need to do, we do that.” 

According to the interlocal agreement, the total estimated cost to build the new stadium is between $22 and $25 million.  

Board Member Janine Plavac asked how the school board would pay for the new stadium. 

Interim Superintendent Kamela Patton said it was up to the SBAC to decide in a workshop on Wednesday. She noted that there are four major projects that will be discussed in the workshop, including Citizens Field. 

“If the [school] board so chooses to say, ‘we don’t have enough money, we don’t think you can do it, then we have the opportunity to pull out of the contract,” Patton said. “Because you’re not committing to that money tonight.” 

Vice Chair Leanetta McNealy asked Wynn how long it would take to get the new stadium built. In response, Wynn said the district is looking at three years for completion, adding that the city is eyeing two years to have its infrastructure work finished.  

“They [the city] don’t have their contracts executed yet for their design and construction services,” Wynn said. “We haven’t begun the process to acquire design and construction services, so we have to go through that advertisement process, that selection process, contract negotiations, and then we start design.” 

Wynn said the agreements will go before the city commission for consideration on June 18. 

Board Member Tina Certain originally made a motion to authorize Patton and staff to move forward with the agreements to do the due diligence on Citizens Field, which received a second from McNealy. However, after a lengthy discussion, the board voted unanimously to table the agreements until a special meeting on June 16.  

This was after some board members shared concerns about not having enough time to review both agreements thoroughly.  

Board Chair Thomas Vu said he received a copy of the agreements at 5 p.m. on Tuesday. 

“I can’t, me personally, proceed with this, given that I haven’t read it,” he said. 

The special meeting on June 16 will start at 5:30 p.m.  

Nick Anschultz is a Report for America corps member and writes about education for Mainstreet Daily News. This position is supported by local donations through the Community Catalyst for Local Journalism Fund at the Community Foundation of North Central Florida.