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 pointed to sports tourism as a major economic driver, saying the community needs a facility that can host large youth and national events. "It's time to make the commitment to the upgrades necessary to bring our facility up to the standards we deserve," Palmer said. He told the board that, with upgrades, the Bay Center could capture tournaments and events now held elsewhere and cited recent and upcoming bids the group is pursuing.

Michael Capps, representing ASM (the Bay Center operator), said ASM is leading an arena-focused market and condition assessment and has engaged national venue experts. He described ASM’s current scope as focused on the arena renovation and an additional 75,000 square feet of flex event space, and he asked county officials who they want included in a stakeholder group to guide the next steps.

Commissioners and speakers repeatedly urged concurrent work: county staff and ASM’s arena study would proceed while the proposed city-funded, area-wide master plan would examine traffic, connectivity, parking, and how surrounding properties could maximize value. Several speakers and commissioners said running the studies together — sharing data and stakeholder engagement — would be the fastest way to avoid duplicative work and reach decisions.

Pensacola City Council member Allison Patton said the project "will likely serve the community for at least 40 years," urged broad community outreach, and endorsed the mayor’s offer to fund a master plan and to hold a joint meeting with county commissioners, school board representatives and other partners.

Greg Harris, owner of the Pensacola Ice Flyers, advocated for improving ice and multiuse facilities. He said a dedicated second ice sheet would enable more tournaments and year-round programming and estimated a standalone ice facility could cost in the tens of millions of dollars; he also described the local economic contributions from ice-related events and the Ice Flyers’ role as a steady source of event revenue for the Bay Center.

Walker Wilson of the Downtown Improvement Board told commissioners the DIB is willing to contribute financially and indicated a preliminary range of $4 million to $6 million over a bond period as one option to support redevelopment. Chris Platt of Florida West/Tech Park said shared infrastructure such as parking decks could make a redevelopment more feasible and help connect Tech Park uses to the Bay Center area.

School district representatives — including Deputy Superintendent Sheena Payne and Pensacola State’s John Stephenson — emphasized the venue’s role for graduations and student events and asked that schools remain part of planning discussions. Dr. Payne noted the schools' contracts with ASM extend through 2029 and asked for continuity while decisions are considered.

No formal decisions or votes were taken at the workshop; participants described it as informational and a step toward forming a task force or working group. County staff and city staff said they will meet to define a process, including whether to form a joint task force, and to identify which stakeholders will be on any steering group. The mayor and several board members signaled support for a smaller, nimble working group to expedite selection of a master-plan firm and begin community engagement.

Ending: Commissioners said they expect staff to return with options for a formalized working group or task force and for ways to run ASM’s arena-focused work in parallel with a broader master plan if the county approves participation. Officials suggested a joint city–county meeting within 30–45 days to secure buy-in and begin the master-planning process.