City unveils Hollice T. Williams Park design
David Williams stared admiringly at the map sprawled across the gymnasium floor Tuesday night at the Cobb Center.
The Escambia County School Board member lifted his eyes briefly and smiled as he pondered what his father would think if he were alive to see the updated design for the Hollice T. Williams Park.
“He was a very humble guy, gave a lot to the community,” Williams said of his father, the first Black city councilman in the post-Civil War era. “I just think he would be elated. He wouldn’t think people would name something like this after him because he never did things for a big accolade or recognition.”
He continued, “He would think this is great for the community and great for the kids because he loved children, loved our community and I think this brings the community together, which is something he really tried to do when he was on the council.”
The City unveiled the updated design for the park and Long Hollow Stormwater Pond during the final public meeting before construction begins in early 2026. Phase one of the park will transform 34 acres and make Hollice T. Williams the largest park in Pensacola.
The park is located beneath the I-110 overpass, an area once home to hundreds of Black families, churches and businesses. Construction of the interstate displaced the neighborhood, leaving behind an enduring legacy of lost homes, community and culture. The project is intended to restore vibrancy to the historic area.
The City will cover the $18.5 million expense for the first phase of the project through three grants. The updated design includes $8 million devoted to three miles of pathways, three resurfaced basketball courts, a multi-purpose field the size of a football field, 72 parking spaces, 50 benches, 45 bike racks, two bike repair stations and 70 light poles.
“I’m an outdoors person,” said Vivian Lett, who lives near the park. “I like the walkpaths, but I also like that we still have the tennis courts and basketball courts. There’s more area for the children to practice and I like that.”
The remaining $10.5 million will be invested in stormwater management to improve water quantity and quality conditions and reduce flooding within the watershed. The project includes a new pump station with underwater storm infiltration chambers, the removal of the impervious area adjacent to Palafox and demolition of the radio tower.
- The unit can hold about 1.3 million gallons of water, according to project manager Katie Fox of Geosyntec.
“We need it because the water situation is really bad, and their improvements for us to do things are great,” Lett said.
The City heard from Lett and others throughout the design process. The City sought public input during five public meetings this year and turned the voices of the community into action.
“I feel like we’ve tried to deliver on what we said we’re going to do,” Pensacola Mayor D.C. Reeves said to the crowd.
“We were going to listen to our community and then we were going to bring you something that’s going to be transformational for this community, and I don’t just mean the surrounding area. We’re talking about acres and acres of property neglected for now, going on five decades. All of us have gotten to play some part in bringing back
I find it problematic that Commissioner Kohler wants to restrict private property rights based on what other property owners would want, in theory, a subdivision with restrictive covenant can do that, if it was in the covenant, but a metes and boundaries property, or just straight up property, it is not the job of the state to try and put such restriction on private property when the owner holding the deed wishes to do something on their own private property.
The reality is, that is not really the job of government, now when there is a restrictive covenant in place, that can be enforced, when a homeowner’s association is entered into the plat book, it is, when a deed is just a deed, that is not the job of government.
The truth is someone owns 10 acres and believes they can fit 100 tiny homes on it, and is willing to establish it in the platbook as a subdivision, the county commission cannot refuse that as an entry, and if what they want is to take the 10 acres and put 100 tiny homes on it, where these are single occupancy where they take 10 acres that on the market might sell for $150,000 and where they putting in 100 of these homes sell them at a price of $10,000 each where then they make $1,000,000 in sales off of the tiny home subdivision, where then perhaps they either own the mortgage company or provide owner financing, again, that is their right as the private property owner, an ordinance is not needed to actually allow this on property, a developer can always enter in a subdivision where their restrictive covenant “limits house size” and establishes specific plat boundaries, a new ordinance is not needed, one doesn’t have to define a tiny home to build such a subdivision.
And so my concern is for private property rights, and that it seems as if Kohler doesn’t necessarily believe in the market, and so my question is, Kohler as a political leader who extols the market, who extols private property rights, why is it that he wants to oppress private property rights, because he acts like if the ordinance is rejected that someone who owns land in the county can’t still establish a subdivision of tiny homes and immediately put them on the market if they want, a tiny home ordinance is not needed in order to allow construction of a property.
Without an ordinance, its still possible for these developments to be built, I hope Kohler is not suggesting he intends to try and interfere with private property rights, to prevent developers from developing such neighborhoods to put these homes on the market, that Commissioner Kohler would seek to interfere in private enterprise in such a manner.
Ultimately, an ordinance is not needed, I will say as it pertains to School Board Member Williams, Reverend Hollice Williams would support the tiny home project and would take the view that the best way to honor his legacy, that this park is being built to honor, you cannot honor the legacy of Reverend Hollice Williams and oppose the construction of the tiny homes, if a developer wants to develop tiny homes, they get to do so, and Reverend Williams would make clear it is a moral imperative to allow them built, this is how we build the best Hollice Williams Park.