VOLUME 5 ISSUE 47
New exhibit at Brick City Art Center
DECEMBER 6 - DECEMBER 12, 2024
$2
Pg A6
Preserving the legacy of Mount Moriah Church as parking garage project is green lit Demolition and design/construction for downtown parking garage approved By Caroline Brauchler caroline@ocalagazette.com
T
he Ocala City Council has approved the demolition of the Mount Moriah Missionary Baptist Church in preparation
for the new downtown parking garage while also promising to plan an appropriate monument to acknowledge the church’s history and prominence at the site. On Tuesday, the city awarded a $17.5 million bid to SSC
Construction Management LLC to design and build the garage at 55 SW Third Ave. The garage is proposed to be up to seven floors, with each floor designed to hold at least 800 vehicles. The top level See Church, page A9
Design rendering of the new downtown parking garage [SSC Construction Management LLC]
Holiday hilarity
Southwest Marion high school project is $29 million over budget Increase partially credited to delays caused by debate over choosing a contractor By Caroline Brauchler caroline@ocalagazette.com
R The cast, crew, and creative team of “A Tuna Christmas” at Ocala Civic Theatre, with actors Scott Fitzgerald and John Allsopp in center. [Photos by Dave Schlenker, courtesy OCT]
Two actors bring 20 characters to life on stage in Ocala Civic Theatre’s ‘A Tuna Christmas.’ By Jamie Berube Special to the Gazette
F
our years ago, John Allsopp landed back in Ocala after he built a 30year career as a working actor in Los Angeles, where he performed in more than 20 national commercials and many films and television shows. His claims
to theatrical fame include acting in “CSI,” “General Hospital,” “All My Children,” “Lizzie McGuire” and “Murder, She Wrote.” An Ocala native, Allsopp is glad to be back. “I loved LA, but the pace here is so much less stress-inducing and, quite frankly, there’s just as much fun stuff to do here, such incredible community, and it’s a heck of a lot easier to do it,” Allsopp said.
With a toolbox of talent that has come with time, Allsopp will grace the Ocala Civic Theatre stage this month as he makes his OCT debut starring in “A Tuna Christmas.” Allsopp is thrilled to get his stage feet wet again with this play and is both grateful and petrified, according to officials with OCT. See Holiday, page A7
Browning ‘poised’ to join Congress but would step aside to aid Trump’s interests Trump-endorsed Randy Fine enters race By Caroline Brauchler caroline@ocalagazette.com
A
former Marion County School Board member has declared his candidacy for the District 6 U.S. House of Representatives vacancy left by
Michael Waltz, who is expected to join President-elect Donald Trump’s Cabinet as National Security Adviser. Donald Browning, of Weirsdale, has sent the Florida Division of Elections a letter of intent to run in the special election. Soon after, Trump issued an endorsement for Republican State Sen. Randy Fine, District 19, who filed to run on Dec. 3.
Browning, an 82-year-old Republican, said he intends to continue running but will honor Trump’s wishes in the best interest of the Republican Party. “I am following Trump’s direction, which is a clear runway, right straight to Congress. We want to light that thing up and hold the majority,” See Browning, page A9
Don Browning of District 2 speaks during a meeting of the Marion County Public School Board at the MTI auditorium in Ocala, Fla. on Tuesday, April 26, 2022. [Bruce Ackerman/Ocala Gazette] 2022.
ecent estimates show that the new southwest Marion County high school project is more than $29 million over budget, caused in part by delay caused the school board’s debate over choosing a contractor during the botched procurement process. The total anticipated costs for High School “CCC” have racked up to $164,777,011, $153,930,244 of which consists of construction costs, said Ivonne Bumbach, interim director of facilities for Marion County Public Schools. The available funds for the project are $135,585,439, leaving the district over $29 million short after changes to the school’s design, delays in starting construction, and cost escalations. “I anticipate that we still need $91 million to finish the project as it is designed today. That means we are right now $29 million short,” Bumbach told the Marion County School Board at its Nov. 21 work session. No increase will be seen for the contract with Wharton-Smith Inc. construction, which was negotiated for $130,000,000 with a fee of $5.2 million. “How did we get to this increase? That original budget was based on a smaller school. We were probably anticipating 275,000 square feet for that high school,” Bumbach said. “Right now, the school is designed for 310,000 square feet. So, we increased the square footage of the school by 35,000 square feet.” Adding square footage to the school cost a price increase of $14 million. In addition to adding square footage to the school, cost increases See Project, page A1
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