A black curtain dropped Saturday night, unveiling a sign with illuminated words.
Everybody at the dedication of the Alachua County Sports and Events Center knew the name. Chances are you might be wondering why it’s shining on a big red wall.
Jimmy Carnes Track.
You might also be wondering about the latest structure that’s popped up at Celebration Pointe. Nestled next to Bass Pro Shop, just down from Spurrier’s Gridiron Grille, is a new sports complex unlike anything in Florida.
The prime attraction is a 220-meter track, the only indoor one in the state. It was built in Italy by MONDO, the company that produces running surfaces at most Olympic stadiums.
The white lines they’d painted were still drying Saturday, so nobody could try it out Saturday. Too bad. The rubberized red surface and banked turns look like they could turn any track dreamer into Usain Bolt.
That’s just what the guy they named it after would have wanted.
“I know how much Jimmy wanted this to happen. It was his vision,” said Carnes’ wife, Nannette. “I couldn’t believe it when I walked in here and saw this awesome place.” It’s much more than a place to run. The center is 130,000 square feet (that’s more than two football fields) of sports and exercise possibilities. There are 10 basketball, 18 volleyball and 21 pickleball courts.
There are strength and conditioning areas, batting cages and a training room. It’s built for everything from world class track meets to youth league hoops.
The $38 million public-private venture, with Alachua County providing most of the money. Proponents say it will bring a $77 million economic impact annually, and it’s already booked for most of the year.
The first event is the 10th Annual Jimmy Carnes Indoor Track Invitational this coming weekend. The 9th Annual was in 2016 at the Stephen O’Connell Center.
The O’Dome was then remodeled, and the track went bye-bye. That hasn’t exactly hurt UF’s track program.
The Gators won the 2022 NCAA men’s and women’s outdoor championships, and women’s indoor championship. But coach Mike Holloway knows that having a top-notch indoor track a couple of miles from campus can’t hurt.
“It attracts high school athletes from around the country to come in and compete,” he said. “They’ll come over and check out the university while they’re here. It’s definitely going to help us.”
Holloway was among the 200 or so people at the dedication ceremony. Just about all of them had memories of Carnes, who died of cancer in 2011 at age 76.
“I never had a conversation with him where he wasn’t encouraging me to do better. That’s just who he was,” Holloway said. “I know he’s smiling down and very happy about what’s going on here today.”
Carnes’ resume features a long list of accomplishments, highlighted by his time as UF’s track and field coach from 1964-76, being head coach of the 1980 U.S. Olympic team and a member of five different hall of fames.
Carnes helped start the Florida Track Club in 1966. It started as an elite running club and evolved into a home for countless recreational runners around Gainesville. He spearheaded junior programs and promoted Special Olympics.
He co-founded Athletic Attic stores with Olympian Marty Liquori. Carnes was a guy who got things done.
“He liked to get people together and discuss thoughts and ideas,” Holloway said. “He always had a vision. He always had a plan.”
That’s why there’s one more thing on Carnes’ resume.
“Civil rights pioneer,” Ron Coleman said.
He was a hotshot long jumper from Ocala who also happened to be Black. With the backing of athletic director Ray Graves, Carnes made Coleman the first Black person to receive an athletic scholarship.
Such news didn’t go over well with everybody in 1968.
“You will never ever get to Gainesville,” a racist letter to Coleman said. “Don’t come out on your front porch. You’ll die tonight.”
Carnes received similar hate mail. But he and Coleman had a vision, and UF athletics would never be the same.
“Despite the naysayers. Despite the warning of state legislators. Even the president of the school was saying, ‘Don’t do it.’” Coleman said. “Despite all that, Jimmy Carnes chose to do the right thing.”
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