On Real News with Rick Outzen this morning, Mayor D.C. Reeves didn’t want to argue the merits of the effort to force a referendum on whether the Malcolm Yonge Gym should be demolished. However, he did call spending money on the aging building not a responsible use of tax dollars.
“I’m not a legal professional, so I’m not going to speak to the pluses and minuses, pros and cons of all of that,” he said. “Obviously, they’re keeping us briefed, but I can speak philosophically that we continue to proceed as the council has voted.”
Kicking the Can
He said previous councils had avoided maintaining the aging facility and chose to lease it instead. “As a matter of fact, almost to the day, I think it was February 22nd, maybe three years ago, when some of the current members and former members of the council were having this conversation about leasing to Lighthouse (Christian Academy), and that $15,000 a year in maintenance in their contract was never going to be enough to fix it.”
The mayor continued, “Everyone was fully aware of that, and so the definition of kicking the can down the road is what happened. That’s what took place, and here we are. That isn’t a mayor’s decision. We’ve kicked the can off the cliff to a $3 million bill. It was a day that was going to come at some point.”
He didn’t name former council members Ann Hill and Sherri Myers, who signed the affidavit calling for a referendum, when he added, “And while there’re former council members that want this day to continue, the reality is I cannot irresponsibly use the taxpayer dollar in the way that’s being suggested here.”
No Outcry from Neighborhood
In 2020 and 2021, when the Pensacola City Council discussed then-Mayor Grover Robinson’s request to declare the gym surplus, then-Councilwoman Hill supported keeping the building and leasing it to Lighthouse Private Christian Academy because it helps at-risk children.
“The group of 10 (who signed the affidavit), those are not people who live anywhere close to this building,” Reeves said. “And so, we are not hearing some outcry from the neighborhood about using this building because, frankly, they weren’t using the building. One private organization was using the building. So, you’re not going to hear that because that’s not what was happening.”
The mayor wasn’t moved by the quote from FRP Construction that developer Fred Gunther had. However, he questioned the developer’s motives.
“Fred Gunther knocked down the YMCA to put up eight $900,000 houses downtown, and it was a more historic structure. I think it was built in 1951,” Reeves said. “He also acquired property from the YMCA out in Myrtle Grove that was intended to be affordable housing. That’s still empty today.”
I mentioned the September 2019 property appraisal for the gym site that listed a total value of $870,000—$780,000 for the land and $90,000 for the building and other improvements. The mayor said if a referendum passes and the CRA deems it surplus property, he would make it available to the highest bidder.
“I’m saying let’s use this $800,000- $900,000 of property as a subsidy to create affordable housing. That’s my intent, not just a surplus to the highest bidder,” the mayor said. “But if there’s a discussion to be made about preserving a building or putting money into it on the private side, we will then let the CRA board decide that that’s what they want to do. And then we’ll surplus it, and we’ll make sure that the taxpayer is treated responsibly.”
Listen to the podcast: No More Kicking the Can.
