Mayor D.C. Reeves will hold his weekly press conference this morning to discuss the future of Baptist Hospital’s former campus on E Street. He understands the loss of those living near the abandoned hospital.
“Number one, I think anybody who lives in that campus area and has for a long time certainly deserves to feel how important and vital that is,” the mayor said. “The City’s even taken some criticism of saying, ‘Well, is this the city’s obligation or is this Baptist obligation?’ And the truth of the matter is an empty, abandoned hospital sitting in that neighborhood does us no good, and I would regret not giving it my best shot.”
He continued, “What I can tell you at this point, and we’ll talk more at the press conferences, the city’s about $300,000 in right now just on consultants, advisors, attorneys, outside attorneys, all of those things to make that happen. Our timeline, we feel like, and we’ll lay out some of that again today, is as aggressive as reasonable, is the way I would put it. “
Mayor Reeves made it clear that he will not give the Escambia Children’s Trust complete control over the City’s CRA dollars in the Trust’s bank account. He will create an MOU to direct how the funds will be spent.
“How can I improve educational outcomes inside the city limits of Pensacola? That’s what my goal with the dollars is,” the mayor said. “I would never speak for the county on what their priorities are, but what I can tell you is for the first time, a mayor of this city now has, in essence, a funding source to help inject that into improving outcomes within the city limits.”
Mayor Reeves added, “And so it’s not a matter of finding something to do with it; I think it’s a matter of keeping those dollars where the taxpayers intended and make it happen.”
