Escambia leaders push coordinated master plan for Bay Center; mayor offers city-funded study

County commissioners and local officials held a Committee of the Whole workshop April 3 to discuss redevelopment of the Pensacola Bay Center and the surrounding district, with Pensacola’s mayor offering to fund a comprehensive, city-led master plan and urging a joint city–county process.

The mayor, identified in the meeting as Mayor Reeves, told commissioners the city would "step up at our expense" to fund a district master plan that would be completed this fall if the county joins the effort. He said the city’s proposed plan would digest prior studies, tie development of adjacent properties such as the Grand Hotel and the Tech Park into a single vision, and run concurrently with ASM’s arena-focused study.

The nut graf: officials said multiple separate studies produced over years left the community with fragmented options and no single implementation strategy. A coordinated master plan, city and county leaders said, would compare options (conference space, additional arena capacity, outdoor sports, and supporting development) on a consistent basis and improve the county’s ability to attract private investment and limit taxpayer exposure.

Ray Palmer, president of Pensacola Sports, urged urgency and…