When the Community Maritime Park referendum was forced on the City by Councilman Marty Donovan and Save Our City, all parties agreed to stand by the results of the vote.
I remember interviewing Quint Studer the weekend before the vote on September 5, 2006. He already had his concession speech ready and planned to thank his supporters and congratulate Donovan, Elebash and Fairchild.
He would have saved $2.25 million in donations for the maritime museum, $250,000 in contributions towards the CMPA and $600,000 in life insurance premiums. He wouldn’t have to build an office building on the property – est. $12 million investment. Total savings if the referendum failed: $15 million.
The CMP did pass, 9,684 (56%) to 7,701 (44%). It’s support was widespread throughout Pensacola. Five of the city’s seven districts overwhelmingly approved of the park. The two districts that voted against it did so by a combined margin of 38 votes.
There was no concession speech from Donovan and many of the SOC folks. However, Charles Fairchild did speak to the News Journal and told their reporter that there would be no more opposition.
“This will decide the issue,” Fairchild said before the return of the referendum results.
He said the real winners are Pensacola residents.
“They asked for a referendum and were able to cast their vote to decide the issue,” he said.
The remnants of Save Our City are still around and now want to redefine what they voted against. They want the City Council to renege on the deal with the voters.
The park has always been about public access to the waterfront, a stadium, classrooms/conference center (to be rented to UWF) and maritime museum (that was to be built with private donations). The building would be done in phases as any large project is done. It wasn’t about lighthouses or certain color bricks.
The stadium is critical because its the anchor that draws people to the property. It gives value to the commercial and retail portion. It would be cheaper to build if it was only a baseball park, but the design is much more versatile – and could even accommodate UWF football.
Those who think the stadium isn’t important —and that’s a much smaller number than the naysayers want you to believe— haven’t done any research. I talked with mayors in Montgomery (Ala), Springdale (Ark), Greenville (SC), Memphis (Tn) and Grand Prairie (Tx). They told me why their ballparks are so important. The stadium is THE key economic component of the CMP…not some lighthouse or a group of park benches overlooking the water.
People point to the recent success of Mobile (Ala.). Former Mayor Mike Dow told me that the Bay Bears ballpark was an important of their revitalization.
It’s time we remember what the CMP fight was all about.
