No Money Set Aside For Florida's 500th

No Money Set Aside For Florida's 500th By Jessica Clark First Coast News ST. AUGUSTINE, FL --Party planning is underway. In 2013, the state will celebrate the 500th anniversary of Ponce de Leon's discovery of Florida. In 2015, the First Coast will observe the 450th anniversary of the founding of St. Augustine. The guest list is expected to be pretty impressive. Barbara Golden with the Visitors and Convention Bureau said that list includes the President of the United States, the King of Spain, and even the Pope. Florida's and St. Augustine's festivities are still at least 5 years out and in the planning stages. However, St. Augustine City Commissioner George Gardner is concerned because the state has not yet set aside any funding for the historic celebrations. “We can't rely on the government to throw the party for all these events we want to have,” Gardner said, “nor do I think we should rely on government. I do feel that government -- as a representative of all the people -- has a responsibility to provide some seed funding.” The state legislature created a planning commission for Florida's 500th, but it did not assign any money to it. Now the Department of State wants to have that legislation repealed in order to create a more “cost effective” committee. Gardner said, “I think it is important that an arm of the state be involved because you're talking about the entire state.” Golden said the celebrations are not just parties, they're opportunities to showcase the state and they’re also money making events. “We anticipate quite an [economic] impact,” Golden said. “It's kind of hard to determine what kind of hard impact there would be at this point out.” While the celebration will be memorable and probably profitable, it appears planning and paying for the historic party currently appears to be a hurdle in tight economic times. First Coast News