The Baptist Legacy Campus narrative floated over the weekend was that West Moreno District residents who voiced concerns about the mayor’s recommendation to hire Bayou District Consulting to advise the city on the redevelopment of the old Baptist Hospital campus mistakenly “conflated Bayou District Foundation with the closure of the St. Bernard public housing complex, which Columbia Parc replaced.”
According to Mayor D.C. Reeves and the PNJ, most of the Pensacola City Council wants to give the consultants another hearing. The only obstacle is Councilman Delarian Wiggins.
- The insinuation is that if Wiggins gives in to the pressure, Bayou District Consulting will get the project, and everyone will be happy.
Lack of Connection with Community
At the Pensacola City Council meeting on Dec. 11, several citizens spoke out against hiring Bayou District Consulting. Yes, some talked about the Bayou District Foundation and New Orleans, but many more complained about the process and lack of any contact from City Hall over the past two years since Baptist Hospital abandoned its hospital.
One resident complained that the recommendation was considered “without the public’s knowledge, all of this before a single community meeting was held. That’s not leadership. That’s a setup. Y’all should be ashamed of yourselves.”
- He added, “Every one of y’all should call for the resignation of this mayor, who has sold out this community just like his daddy did.”
Sarah Brummet said, “D.C. Reeves and his clique of developers who run this city predetermined that they wanted this company to do the work. And so that’s why in 2023, our mayor invited Gerry Barousse to a private meeting with local developers. That’s why in 2024, our mayor took Pensacola’s powerful over to New Orleans to tour Columbia Parc.”
- She continued, “That’s why in 2025, y’all have ignored at every single turn the real and justified concerns of this community because the city already has a plan, and you think you can manipulate us into buying that plan. But it wasn’t rushed, and it wasn’t murky. It was just shady and sneaky and totally undemocratic the way this city does business.”
Community activist Hale Morrissette sounded the alarm about the redevelopment of Pensacola’s Baptist Hospital Legacy Campus. On my podcast, she discussed the city’s lack of communication about the project for the December council meeting.
- She wanted a pause so the community could be heard. “The demand and the hopeful outcome is that we get something on the calendar that says, as a community, we’re taking feedback, and we’re actually going to see that feedback show up.”
Strategy Mistake
Mayor Reeves decided not to engage the community living around the old Baptist campus until after he received funding from the Florida Legislature, accepted the property from Baptist, negotiated with the Escambia County Commission on its contribution to the project, and hired the demolition company and Bayou District Consulting.
- In April, he pledged that demolition would not begin before community input was gathered. “We will not send a wrecking ball through anything until we have started a conversation about what the community wants.”
Instead of having those “conversations,” the plan shifted to hiring Bayou District Consulting to hold them after the demolition work begins.
- The mayor had Baptist officials and GeoTech, who did the environmental assessment, speak before the Escambia County Commission, but not to the residents.
Baptist shut down its old campus on Sept. 23, 2023. The residents have reason to feel left out of the process.
Unexpected Solution?
What if Councilman Wiggins doesn’t submit to the pressure? What if he follows through with the commitment he made at the CRA meeting “to listen to my constituency and make sure that their voices are being heard”?
- Instead of holding a city council meeting solely focused on Bayou District Consulting, Councilman Wiggins could hold a few town halls in his district to listen to residents’ concerns so that he can ensure their voices are heard before any council workshop or vote.
The community could develop and present to Mayor Reeves and the Pensacola City Council the points it wants included in any redevelopment plan.
Stay tuned.