Studer Community Institute

Community Maritime Park is evidence of Pensacola's promise

November 30, 2013
/ Brian Hooper
/ community-dashboard

In his piece “Pensacola’s Economy: Present and Future,” Dr. Clarence C. Elebash discusses the current economic climate in Pensacola and his assessment of our future prospects. In the spirit of promoting civil public discourse and a respectful intellectual climate, I will address a few points on which Dr. Elebash and I disagree. Dr. Elebash is a friend and mentor who contributed much of his time and expertise to helping the members of the Urban Redevelopment Advisory Committee understand some of the key issues facing Pensacola. Dr. Elebash’s central thesis is that regional economic development depends on population growth, which in turn requires local government to provide “an attractive, clean and safe community—coupled with high quality public education. . . . [t]hese ‘quality of life’ basics are the sine qua non of progress.” On this point, I wholeheartedly agree. In fact, I agree with most of Dr. Elebash’s analysis, which is why I must challenge his underlying assumptions related to the Community Maritime Park. My main qualm with Dr. Elebash’s recent paper is his contention that the City’s investment in the Community Maritime Park was a mistake because “sports stadiums have proven to be poor municipal investments. . . . [t]he big investment in the waterfront/baseball park will limit new City projects for years to come.” To the contrary, I contend the Community Maritime Park has had a significant positive impact on Pensacola’s economy — in particular on those intangible elements of citizen satisfaction related to aesthetics, social offerings, and openness — that will continue to promote the revitalization of our city. It is not my intent here to rehash the city’s financial obligations vis-à-vis the Community Maritime Park, nor second-guess the city’s use agreement with the Blue Wahoos. In the final analysis, an independent, objective review of the facts and underlying legal instruments show that these agreements were negotiated over a long period of time — at arms-length and in good faith — and result in a fair and reasonable outcome for all of the parties, including the taxpayers. In fact, with the strong support of their loyal fan base, the Blue Wahoos generate the second-highest total use fee in the Southern League, after Birmingham, and the highest total use fee in the league on a per-seat basis. But more importantly, when you go beyond the financials to measure the Community Maritime Park’s economic and cultural impact, success can be measured by multiple metrics. Specifically, extensive research from hundreds of cities and thousands of citizens has shown the importance of these intangible factors in promoting economic development. In his book Who's Your City?: How the Creative Economy Is Making Where to Live the Most Important Decision of Your Life (Basic Books: 2009), Richard Florida cities three key factors — aesthetics, social offerings, and openness — that determine citizens’ attachment and community satisfaction. Florida found that higher levels of citizen attachment and community satisfaction result in more capital investment, private entrepreneurship, and the creation of new job opportunities — despite the overall state of the economy. For Pensacola, the completion of the Community Maritime Park has been a true catalyst for positive change downtown. Once an undeveloped and unusable tract of waterfront property, the Maritime Park stadium, amphitheater, and surrounding grounds have become a great asset to the community that will further thrive with private investment. This type of redevelopment is essential for the continued growth and sustainability of the entire community and should serve as a model for other projects. As I recently wrote in a Viewpoint for the Pensacola News Journal, completing the Community Maritime Park has spurred a great deal of the private development downtown—beyond and in addition to Quint and Rishy Studer’s $52 million investments. New small businesses, private entrepreneurship, building, producing, buying, selling, expanding, and the creation of new job opportunities of all sorts—all are due in part to the Community Maritime Park. Dr. Elebash and I share a commitment to revitalizing downtown. I’m extremely optimistic. As the South itself becomes more prosperous, we’re increasingly attracting well-heeled vacationing and retiring Southerners to our white-sand beaches and pleasant, inlet-dotted bays. But we’ve also become a leading spring break destination for college students and the site of a large annual gay Memorial Day weekend party. We’re also beginning to attract a more skilled workforce of young professionals. I am confident in the future of Pensacola. Our future holds tremendous promise and possibility, and we should all look forward to it with great enthusiasm.

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Community Maritime Park is evidence of Pensacola's promise

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