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Redevelopment
Peyton's About-Face
REDEVELOPMENT:
Peyton's About-Face
JACKSONVILLE -- In a stunning reversal, Mayor John Peyton bowed to neighborhood pressure and declared Cecil Field will not be reopened as a Navy air base. State and local politicians, including Gov. Jeb Bush, had lobbied the federal Base Realignment and Closure Commission to move the Navy's Master Jet Base from Oceana Naval Air Station in Virginia Beach, Va., to Cecil Field, which was abandoned in the mid-1990s as part of an earlier base closing cycle. The sprawling base has since been transformed into Cecil Commerce Center, a diverse industrial hub that includes everything from private aviation facilities to an equestrian center. Peyton said he could no longer ignore complaints about jet noise from many who had moved to the area after Cecil Field closed. Bush called Peyton's reversal "disappointing" and hinted that it could harm national security.
