The Escambia Board of County Commissioners appears open to tearing the aging Pensacola Bay Center and replacing it with an indoor sports facility. Well, at least, there are open to having Visit Pensacola and Pensacola Sports study the possibility.
A feasibility study has already shown that a new facility would bring 50,000 room nights a year, a direct spend economic benefit of $30 million annually, and create 450 direct and indirect jobs.
The problem has been agreeing on the site for the facility. Before a final decision is made, Visit Pensacola wants to do series of studies on the cost of demolition, annual maintenance, financing options and revenue projections.
The BCC asked for Visit Pensacola to present the proposal to the Pensacola City Council so that it can be added to the joint City-County meeting in January.