In What Ways might Pensacola's Port Lands Evolve to Meet the Economic and Social Opportunities of the Next 50 Years? This is the central question posed by the City and its consultants as it embarks on the creation of a vision plan and reinvestment strategy for the Port of Pensacola. We invite you to be a part of this important conversation.
THANK YOU TO EVERYONE THAT PARTICIPATED IN THE OUR FIRST SURVEY EFFORT!
The first community survey effort for the Port of Pensacola Vision Plan and Reinvestment Strategy is complete, with raw outputs available at the downloads section found at the end of this webpage . Over the course of the three-week survey, 654 individuals responded to one or more questions presented, generating over 9,000 responses and 766 unique comments. We see this as a teriffic response rate and thank each of you for helping spread the word.
Initial review of the raw survey results provides several key insights for the planning process moving forward. When asked “Which statement [about the Port] is most aligned with your point of view?” over one-third of respondents (36%) indicated that “The Port is a local and regional asset supporting trade and commerce” followed by 22% aligning with the statement “The Port’s best days have passed and we should think about other uses for the site.”
Under Question 3, Respondents felt strongly that “The Port is a strategic community and regional asset” and “Investment in Port and maritime dependent industries provide benefit to our community and Northwest Florida,” with both generating over 70% agreement. There was less alignment with the statement “The Port of Pensacola manages and operators cost effective facilities supportive of trade and commerce,” with only 36% of respondents agreeing with this statement. Respondents were split on the statement “Some or all that land occupied by the Port should be engaged in some other use aligned with Pensacola’s Downtown and Bayfront,” with 45% of respondents disagreeing with this statement and 44% in agreement.
When asked to rank the uses people would like to see at the Port, “Maritime dependent and related use” was ranked first, followed by “Marine tech industries and related use,” “Marina facilities and related technical use” and “Education and research.” Residential use was ranked last.
There is still a lot of analysis to be conducted on the data. For example, when we cross tabulate statement 3G—”Some or all that land occupied by the Port should be engaged in some other use aligned with Pensacola’s Downtown and Bayfront”—against where respondents live, a majority of people living in Downtown agree with this statement (56% in zip code 32501 and 61% in 32502). We also have a tremendous amount of good information provided in the comments sections of the survey. Full results will be presented as part of Community Work Session Two scheduled for August 13-15.
We will keep working for you to keep this a useful project for the community!
QUESTIONS ABOUT THE PORT OF PENSACOLA
Since its establishment, the Port has served as a transportation and trade gateway in Northwest Florida. It’s provided employment and been part of the daily fabric of Pensacola’s Bayfront. Over the last decade, the Port has faced strong economic headwinds in its efforts to remain a self-sustaining enterprise. The success of Pensacola’s Downtown and Bayfront renaissance have also brought into question the Port’s continued compatibility and relevance. The next few questions deal with the Port and its land area.
QUESTIONS ABOUT PENSACOLA'S WATERFRONT
The next few questions deal with the Downtown and Bayfront area.
DEMOGRAPHIC QUESTIONS
Almost done. Just three simple demographic questions to help us better get to know you.
ABOUT THE PROJECT
Since its establishment, the Port has serverd as an important transporation and trade gateway in Northwest Florida. Early on, goods shipping through Pensacola included regionally harvested lumber, locally made bricks and sailing ship masts. As Pensacola and the region evolved, so too did the Port's cargoes. Manufactured paper, wind turbines, power plant components and services supporting offshore industries all became part of the Port's increasing specializatioon within the broader network of Florida and Gulf seaports.
The Port, however, faces strong economic headwinds in its efforts to remain a self-sustaining enterprise. The Port’s 50 acres of facilities and infrastructure requires continual maintenance and upgrade to remain competitive in its areas of specialization at a time when local, state and federal resources remain harder to rely upon. And these headwinds have gained strength at a time of renaissance along Pensacola’s waterfront and throughout the downtown and surrounding neighborhoods. Thus, “how best should Pensacola’s port lands evolve?” is an appropriate question to ask as we continue to plan for the future.
The City has retained the maritime and community planning expertise of Moffatt & Nichol to help with this visioning and strategy effort, with initial data collection and planning tasks already underway. Over the next four months, the consultants will explore innovative ideas, uses, and community priorities for some or all of the Port unearthed through thoughtful, focused engagement of Pensacola residents, port users and other stakeholders.
How can you stay involved in this important effort? The planning team has developed a series of interactive work sessions and survey efforts to help collect and channel community feedback into compelling ideas for the long term evolution of the Port. The first of these will be a community open house held June 26–27 at City Hall’s Hagler / Mason Conference Room (222 West Main Street, Second Floor). Specific hours and interactive sessions will be announced over the course of this week through various media outlets.
The planning team also invites you to stay in touch with all events and activities via the project’s website—www.portsidepensacola.com. The website will continually be updated with vision plan materials and news. Also delivered through the website will be two online survey initiatives designed to learn what Pensacola residents desire for their waterfront and Port, and later, to encourage community assessment of preliminary future visions of Pensacola’s port lands.
Draft and final versions of the vision plan and reinvestment strategy will be assembled during the month of September. The plan will include case study research, concepts, illustrations, strategies and other features that combined will offer community leaders a playbook from which to draw upon to guide the future of the Port and its facilities.
Project Schedule
Get... and Stay Involved
Your involvement is critical to the success of this planning effort and we have designed several ways for you to keep engaged.
Our project website will continually be updated with the latest information on the project, including links to all presentations and project materials (see below, Downloads). We will also host two community surveys designed to collect information about your use of the waterfront, thoughts of the future of the Port and other critical data. This feedback will be used to generate ideas and shape options for the Port and surrounding properties. The first community survey will be launched here on June 23.
We also encourage you to also take part in the scheduled public meetings. This is another great way to interface with the design team and share your aspirations, issues, and ideas
FIRST COMMUNITY WORK SESSION
Location: City Hall’s Hagler / Mason Conference Room (222 West Main Street, Second Floor).
Day 1: Tuesday, June 26th
11:00 AM – 2:00 PM*: Open House for residents to drop in. Formal presentation from NOON to 1:30 PM.
5:00 PM – 7:00 PM: Open House for residents to drop in. Formal presentation from 5:30 PM to 7:00 PM.
*please note, room is used for another meeting between 2:00 PM and 5:00 PM
Day 2: Wednesday, June 27th
8:00 AM to 11:00 AM*: Open House for residents to drop in.
1:00 PM to 7:00 PM: Open House for residents to drop in. Formal presentation from 5:30 to 7:00 PM.
*please note, room is used for another meeting between 11:00 AM and 1:00 PM
All presentations will be the same, so no need to take in multiple offerings.
(UPDATED -- SAVE THE DATE!) SECOND COMMUNITY WORK SESSION
We are working hard to make the next set of public meetings have even greater attendance and access to all Pensacola residents, and to this end, have added a third day and additional venue for our August meetings.
Day 1: Monday, August 13
Location: City Hall’s Hagler / Mason Conference Room (222 West Main Street, Second Floor).
4:30 PM – 5:00 PM: Open house and review of poster exhibits.
5:00 PM – 7:00 PM: Formal project presentation (Evening).
Day 2: Tuesday, August 14
*New* Location: Vickery Center (2130 Summit Boulevard).
8:30 AM – 7:00 PM: Open house and review of poster exhibits.
Noon – 2:00 PM: Formal project presentation (Lunch Hours).
5:00 PM – 7:00 PM: Formal project presentation (Evening).
Day 3: Wednesday, August 15
Location: City Hall’s Hagler / Mason Conference Room (222 West Main Street, Second Floor).
1:00 PM – 7:00 PM: Open house and review of poster exhibits.
5:00 PM – 7:00 PM: Formal project presentation (Evening).
All presentations will be the same, so no need to take in multiple offerings. Also, check back to this planning site to stay up to date on the latest project news and subscribe to our email service (see below).
AVAILABLE PRESENTATIONS AND DOWNLOADS
Please find below copies of posters and presentations offered as part of public outreach efforts.