With the Baptist Hospital property closing scheduled for Monday, Sept. 29, Mayor D.C. Reeves announced that demolition of the main hospital and three towers will begin in December.
- Extensive remediation of toxic materials will occur well before any demolition begins.
“What you will not see is a wrecking ball going through the side of a building, the first day demolition starts,” Reeves said. “My guess is there’s going to be lots of very surgical, meticulous remediation happening on site well before you start to see large structures coming down.”
- He pointed out how the city chose to minimize neighborhood disruption, including crushing concrete off-site rather than subjecting residents to constant noise during the day.
Community Engagement Before Construction
Before any demolition begins, the city is planning listening sessions with two key constituencies:
Military Community Meetings: Sessions with Pensacola Naval Air Station leadership to discuss housing needs and how the development can best serve military families—both at the Baptist site and beyond.
Neighborhood Meetings: Town halls with area residents about their needs, from food access to healthcare, ensuring the neighborhood’s voice is heard before any major decisions are made.
Planning for Success
While negotiations with the county continue, Mayor Reeves announced a pragmatic two-track approach. The city will simultaneously pursue the community center vision while preparing alternative options to close the project’s $2 million funding gap.
Background: The county has offered to pay $500,000, using Community Development Block Grant funds, for one building to be used as a community resource center. As part of the deal, the city would agree to set aside a second building for healthcare services.
Dig Deeper: Mayor Reeves told Inweekly last week that he wants assurances that the county will not let the building it receives sit vacant for a long period. “If this perceived investment of today—this community center and this healthcare—doesn’t happen quickly, then why are we doing it?”
The mayor expressed the same reservations at this press conference on Tuesday. “We might start working towards what if something doesn’t come to fruition? We don’t want to put all our eggs in one basket for months at a time for something that does not happen.”
The city is moving forward with procuring two key positions:
- Development Representative: A community engagement specialist who will work with residents to develop the long-term vision and ensure the city gets the best deal in eventual partnerships.
- Owner’s Representative: A technical expert who will oversee the day-to-day demolition process on behalf of the city.
Mayor Reeves emphasized the importance of hiring professionals who have “been through those fires over a 10-15 year project like this” to ensure the city doesn’t make costly mistakes that have plagued other large-scale municipal developments.
It’s hard to believe that the 3 medical towers, the newest buildings in the old Baptist complex, can’t be repurposed rather than just destroyed.