USPS Publication Number 16300
T h is C o m mu n i t y N ewsp a p er is a pu bl ica t ion of E sca m bia-S a n t a Rosa B a r Assoc ia t ion
Se r v i ng t he Fi r st Jud icial Ci rcu it
Section A, Page 1
Vol. 19, No. 20
Visit The Summation Weekly Online: www.summationweekly.com
May 15, 2019
1 Section, 12 Pages
A New Vision for the Port by Will Isern
The Port of Pensacola could be a revitalized gateway for trade, a hub for maritime research and a vital part of the city’s public waterfront, but only if Pensacolians are willing to invest significant time and money into a transformation. Those were the conclusions of a nine-month, $100,000 study designed to envision what the city’s historic port could and should look like in 50 years. The study was commissioned by former Mayor Ashton Hayward in June of 2018 and presented to the City Council in March. California-based advisory firm Moffatt & Nichol hosted three public input sessions, gathered thousands of online responses and examined modern ports around the nation to develop three concepts of what the port could look like and who it should serve. The surveys and input sessions found that city
residents want the port to stay, and view it as an underutilized strategic asset. More than half of respondents agreed that investment in the port and maritime industry benefit Northwest Florida. Residents largely disagreed with any suggestion that the port property should be used for another purpose. Most said they would prefer to see the port engage in traditional maritime uses, as well as emerging tech and research opportunities. “The most important thing in my mind that came out of this study effort is the commitment of the community to traditional seaport cargo operations,” said port director Amy Miller. The vision plan comes as the port has struggled turn a profit in the last decade. A sharp decline in the offshore oil and gas industry has seen fewer ships docking in Pensacola for service. And because of its relatively small size, the port has been largely left out of
the container shipping market, where the ever-increasing
Guide Posts 1. Pensacola’s Trade Gateway 2. An Engine of our Blue Economy 3. A Future Proofed Port 4. Promoted Increased Recreational Activity 5. A Celebration of Pensacola’s Past and Future 6. Embrace New Approaches to Port Organization
size of ships requires deeper drafts and more wharfage than Pensacola can provide. “We’ve said for years and years we’re never going to be a large scale container port
here in Pensacola,” Miller said. “We don’t have the infrastructure to support that. So we’re going to play in some very niche cargo roles and I think the key to the success of the port is how you activate the rest of the port property in a meaningful way that generates revenue to the port, that’s meaningful to the community and integrates the community and the port together. I think to a large extent the plan that came out of this process does that.” The study identified six guide posts that it suggests should be used to guide development of the port in to the future. These included maintaining the port as a gateway for trade, growing partnerships with research entities like the University of West Florida and the Institute for Human and Machine Cognition, remaining flexible so as to adapt to changing market conditions, enhancing linkages with downtown through recreational opportunities, enhancing opportunities for the public to observe and engage with the port’s maritime activities and embracing a new management structure that will allow the port to be more nimble in attracting and serving new tenants. “The full—or even partial— realization of the Vision Plan will require the study and ultimate adoption of a new model(s) for development and management of the site,” the report’s authors concluded. “Moving forward, one of the
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first steps the City should take as part of plan implementation is to form a task force charged with the study, evaluation and recommendation of the forward approaches to establish a governance model that will be most effective in achieving the aims of the plan.” Included in several proposals in the vision plan is an idea to move the port’s security fence closer to the water, opening up some 25 acres of largely unused property for mixed-use development, envisioned in the plan as space for research, education and commercial opportunities. A new east-west street would connect Palafox Pier to Bartram Park. Mayor Grover Robinson said he’d want to see real proposals to use the land before moving the security fence. “I don’t know until we have something in hand I’m not necessarily looking to change what we end up doing with the fence line and taking on cost when we don’t know what’s going to happen one way or another,” Robinson said. As for actually bringing the vision plan to fruition, much will rely on private sector interest, Miller said. Council President Andy Terhaar said he hopes to see the vision plan move forward. “It’s exciting and I think it’s something that can be done over several years or maybe a decade,” Terhaar said. “It’s going to take some time and lots of money, but there’s a demand.”
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