Community Maritime Park
Sunday, Sept. 11, was the 20th anniversary of the passage of the referendum for the Community Maritime Park.
- The transformation of Pensacola’s waterfront from an industrial wasteland to a vibrant community centerpiece wasn’t just about building a park—it was a pivotal battle for our city’s future.
Last year, I published “Right Idea Right Time,” which chronicles the struggle to pass the referendum, a campaign that altered Pensacola’s trajectory and challenged decades of economic stagnation and resistance to change.
Here is an excerpt from the chapter covering Sept. 6, 2006, when we waited to see the outcome of all our efforts:
Friends of the Waterfront Park and the Pensacola Young Professionals manned all the city polling places, waving signs and making one final appeal for votes. Juanita and Jeff had poll watchers assigned to monitor who voted.
Jeff’s (Deweese) spreadsheets came in handy. He explained, “We tracked all our votes when we walked the neighborhood. I still have the sheets. It was green if you were for it, red if you were against it, and yellow if you were undecided. And we knew who all of our green votes were in every single district. The poll watchers would periodically go in and see who had voted and who had not voted.”
The poll watchers would call Juanita (Scott), who ran the campaign’s call center. Jeff said, “Her team called those who hadn’t voted: ‘We noticed that you haven’t made it to the polls yet. We’re counting on you for the maritime vote.’ Some people received as many as three calls.”
Getting Out the Vote
At 11 a.m. on September 5, PYP president John Hosman sent an email to his membership:
“I have voted, have you? This is our time to make a difference in the community by voting yes for the Maritime Park. Your task today is to vote and let your voice be heard! Please pass this email on to everyone you know and ask them to vote! Pass it on…make and be the difference!!!”
Supervisor of Elections David Stafford reported steady crowds at the city precincts. He expected voting to pick up from 4 p.m. until the polls closed at 7 p.m. as voters headed home after work.
The Friends call center hustled to get those few remaining voters to the polls. Jeff said, “We had some people call us back and say we could stop calling them; they had made it to the polls.”
Seville Quarter Victory Party
Park supporters gathered at Apple Annie’s in Seville Quarter to await the election results. Two weeks earlier, Mort (O’Sullivan) had called Quint (Studer) to discuss a possible victory party, but his friend refused to talk about it, fearing he might jinx the referendum.
“He was very superstitious and got really upset about it,” Mort recalled. “He didn’t want to be overconfident and let up. He said, ‘Don’t talk about these things.’ We realized we just had to have a party, so we made the plans, and we just didn’t talk to him about it.”
Quint shared, “I would have been disappointed if the project lost, but I knew I could wake up the next day knowing I just wanted to make Pensacola a better place to live.”
When the polls closed, Quint sat nervously with Mort in the O’Sullivan Creel offices, a block away from Seville Quarter. Mort said, “He was just a basket case. He refused to get joyous or angry. We were constantly checking the election supervisor’s website and constantly getting updates from Buzz Ritchie over the phone.”
Quint called Juanita several times. She tracked what (Buzz) Ritchie saw at the Supervisor of Elections office and the results posted at the various city precincts. She recalled, “We wanted to know which precincts were in and those precincts that we didn’t have results from yet. We had to know how many possible votes were out there that we don’t know about.”
Juanita said, “Quint would call and ask, ‘Did we do it?’ And I said, ‘Well, wait a minute. Wait a minute, wait a minute.’ Then finally, ‘Yes, we got it.’”
By 7:30 p.m., it was clear that they had nothing to worry about. The “yes” side had earned 51 percent of the early vote, and the Community Maritime Park started to win narrowly in the Save Our City strongholds of Cordova Park, Scenic Heights, East Hill, and North Hill. The young vote had successfully nullified the opposition’s elderly power base.
Still, Quint refused to celebrate until all but two of the city precincts had reported their results. Mort said, “Finally, I told him, ‘C’mon, we got to go.’”
As they walked across Ferdinand Plaza, we got the results for the predominantly black precincts, and it was all over for Save Our City:
- Mt. Zion Baptist – Yes: 493; No: 258
- St. John Divine – Yes: 129; No: 68
- Mt. Olive Baptist – Yes: 271; No: 130
- Macedonia Baptist – Yes: 606; No: 479
When all precincts were tallied, the park won resoundingly, 10,297 to 8,140. Save Our City received 3,716 fewer votes than in 2003 when Fairchild and Donovan defeated the first Trillium plan. The Maritime Park won twenty-two out of twenty-nine precincts. Two precincts were lost by fewer than three votes combined.
Jeff recalled, “Honestly, I was shocked. I did not think it would win by that much. I thought we would be up all night waiting for the results.”
Juanita was exhausted but jubilant. “I was ecstatic, absolutely ecstatic.”
Quint and Mort found over 200 supporters celebrating the victory when they walked into Seville Quarter. Many of the partygoers had walked neighborhoods for the park and had begun chanting Quint’s name when they heard he was coming. However, Quint faced a problem. He said, “I had prepared remarks in case voters turned down the proposal, but I didn’t have a victory speech.”
Never truly lost for words, Quint told the cheering crowd, “We will never again hear people talk about visiting cities with better downtowns. From now on, people will say, ‘You should go to Pensacola.’”
Mort hugged supporters. He said, “We will never be the same in the city again.”
The results held special significance for architect Miller Caldwell, Jr., who worked on several of the project’s elements. Miller initially assisted Adm. Fetterman in realizing his dream of establishing a maritime museum on Pensacola Bay, and later, the architect aided Studer in finding a location for a baseball park in the downtown area.
“I first worked independently with both, but as the opportunities came to fruition, as well as the size of the Trillium site, the overall concept began to take form,” Miller recalled. “I was pleased to work with each of them to promote the partnership in the development of a diverse and exciting public/private community park.”
He regretted that (Jack) Fetterman and (Vince) Whibbs hadn’t lived to see the referendum’s passage. Years later, he shared his emotions from that night.
He said, “I was filled with pride for my hometown, thrilled for Jack, Quint, and Vince, excited for all the community leaders, and eager to be part of the beginning of the redevelopment of downtown Pensacola.”
Quint’s attorney, Bob Hart, delayed a family trip to be at Seville Quarter. He had seen how the naysayers and negative thinkers had stymied progress in Pensacola for years, but the Community Maritime Park project was different.
“The effort led by Quint Studer and joined in by people from all walks of life was something the naysayers had never seen before,” Hart recalled. “I will never forget the genuine sense of pride I felt for our community. I was convinced it was a pivotal moment for progress and a bright future for Pensacola.”
I received an email from Jim McClellan, a close friend:
In my opinion, IN and your blog made a tremendous difference in this race. You’ve gone from fighting the “man” to being “da man.” This is a great night and a new day for Pensacola and Escambia County.
This is truly a time to celebrate and take a victory lap, but they should know this is also an opportunity to lead by example. The young professionals have shown they are serious, motivated, and ready to take this city to the next level. Now, they bear some responsibility for what the city will be like when it reaches that level.
As it turns out, there is an excellent role model to follow in that regard. Vince Whibbs was as gracious and good-hearted a person as there ever was. I guess that he would have been thrilled with the outcome, but I’m sure he would have urged civility and reconciliation afterward. Fortunately, I believe most of these younger people are inclined toward graciousness anyway. Real winners typically are . . .
Right Idea Right Time is available at the Bodacious Bookstore and online.