10 big Pensacola-area projects in Florida's $117B budget
Florida legislators are set to approve a $117.4 billion state budget Friday to end the 2024 legislative session.
Sen. Doug Broxson, R-Gulf Breeze, was chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee during his last regular session in office, and he led negotiations for the Senate between the Senate and House.
The budget includes several Pensacola area projects that will receive funding over the next year if Gov. Ron DeSantis doesn't veto them before the new budget goes into effect on July 1.
Here are 10 notable projects in the 2024-2025 state budget for the Pensacola area:
$7 million for Live Local Pensacola – legacy Baptist Hospital campus
This funding is for the city of Pensacola to use toward the demolition of the old Baptist Hospital on the city's westside and construction of affordable housing on the site. The issue has been a top priority of Pensacola Mayor D.C. Reeves' administration since he took office in 2022.
Reeves recently led a delegation of local leaders to New Orleans to tour the Columbia Parc at the Bayou District development to see a model of the type of mixed-income development that is envisioned for the former Baptist campus.
If the $7 million survives DeSantis' veto pen, the last missing piece of $16.4 million needed for funding will be $2 million from Escambia County. The Baptist Healthcare board recently approved putting an additional $3 million toward the project on top of a $2.9 million pledge from a potential land sale of part of the campus to the affordable housing developer the Paces Foundation.
$1.2 million for the Northwest Florida Community Land Trust
The Northwest Florida Community Land Trust, created in 2022 by Pensacola Habitat for Humanity, will use the funding to buy up to 30 lots for affordable housing. The land trust sets up a model for permanent affordable housing through a system that only allows the homes to be sold to buyers whose income levels qualify them for affordable housing.
$2.2 million for Conservation Florida for Bay Bluffs Park
The funds will allow for removing the condemned boardwalk at Pensacola's Bay Bluff Park and creating nature trails. Conservation Florida, a statewide land conservancy dedicated to protecting Florida's natural and agricultural landscapes, will take an interest in the park that will prevent any future city administration from selling the park on the private market.
$500,000 for Santa Rosa County East River Preserve Nature Trail
The funds will be used to design and construct a nature trail to provide public access to Santa Rosa County's 500-acre East Navarre Preserve along the East River.
$1 million for the South Santa Rosa Soccer Complex
The funding will go toward a $6 million construction project for a long-planned soccer complex at the Pensacola State College Gulf Breeze campus, which is funded by Santa Rosa County. PSC and Santa Rosa County did a land swap deal in 2019, so the county became the owner of 7 acres at the PSC Gulf Breeze campus to build the soccer complex.
$13.4 million for the Pensacola State College Training and Conference Center
The funding would go toward the construction of a 10,656-square-foot conference center on the main campus of Pensacola State College.
PSC would use the facility to host business and industry trainings, professional development for PSC students and job fairs. When not in use by the college, the space would be open to be booked by the community for events, according to funding request forms submitted to the legislature.
The facility would also be a place for PSC hospitality and culinary students to get "hands on" experience.
PSC Foundation fundraising materials say a meeting space for conference, ballroom or banquet-type meetings of more than 300 people are needed in Pensacola, especially since the closure of New World Landing in downtown Pensacola.
$500,000 for Santa Rosa Center for Innovation
The funding would go to pay for equipment for the Santa Rosa County District School's Santa Rosa Center for Innovation.
The project was awarded $9 million in Triumph Gulf Coast funds last year. The center will provide students with training in the areas of aviation, cybersecurity, aerospace and defense as well as manufacturing, distribution and logistics.
$5 million for Pensacola International Airport terminal expansion
The funding will go toward the $70 million project to expand the passenger terminal at the Pensacola International Airport. The city is already in the design phases of the project that aims to keep up with the explosive growth in travel at the airport.
The city is seeking both state and federal funding for the project. The more funds it can get in from state and federal grants, the less it will need to bond out against airport revenue.
$500,000 for Chumuckla Highway, Woodbine and Quintette roads Intersection Improvements
The funding will go to a $5.9 million project to improve the congested intersection at Chumuckla Highway, Woodbine and Quintette roads in Pace.
$3 million for the Santa Rosa County Wastewater Treatment Package Plant at I-10 Industrial Park
The funds will go toward the construction of a wastewater treatment plant to serve the tenants at the Northwest Florida Industrial Park at I-10 in the Milton area.
The total project cost is $4.2 million, with most of the funding coming from Santa Rosa County.
The mini-waster water plant will help relieve pressure on the overtaxed Milton water treatment system.
This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Baptist campus, PSC, Pensacola airport get big bucks in Florida budget