Pensacola Updates

[SouthSky]

This is the area around Atmore I believe they are considering:
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=e...,0.057335&z=15

[Muskavon]

Originally Posted by SouthSky

This is the area around Atmore I believe they are considering:
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=e...,0.057335&z=15

Thanks. I asked in the VW thread last week if anyone knew a specific site down here that was being considered and I didn't see a reply. So you have the casino expansion going on at one Atmore I-65 exit and a possible (ok...I gotta keep my hopes down) auto plant at the other Atmore exit. And it would be great in such a high visibility spot near the interstate.

And in my Pensa-centric mind, maybe that would quickly require the little Highway 21 (97 in Florida) that connects to Hwy 29 to expand lanes shortly after, further helping get traffic out of Pensacola during evacuations since an interstate extension apparently won't happen in my unborn grandkids lifetime.

Oh, I should throw in that maybe, just maybe all this stuff will help the floundering port in P'cola to get a few Mobile leftovers. I hope we can hold on to it long enough to find out. But there are always pressures to do away with it.

[SouthSky]

Something I just whipped up:

[Muskavon]

Hey I love your I-265, I can dream.

I think your I-67 would go to Panama City most naturally. There is currently a study going on about yet another one that would head south from Columbus, GA (I-185) and probably end up in Tallahassee but obviously anything (or nothing) could end up happening with it. Get all 3 of those concepts to reality (ha ha) and we're set on corridors out of here across the panhandle.

Hell, lets go ahead and send a spur off of your I-210 to Hattiesburg!

[Port_of_Bama]

Originally Posted by Muskavon

Here is a Pensacola News Journal snippet that I guess coulda been in the Mobile thread or the VW thread, or no thread at all.

http://www.pnj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/art...NESS/805040322

Basically Mobile County Commissioner Stephen Nodine drumming up support for the tanker deal, etc by pointing out the potential benifits to NW Florida. An interesting part for the VW watchers was his mention of a site near Atmore that VW is considering. I guess that was already known by many around here but I'd never seen anything in print from any conventional "source" before this.

Good read man !! With Mobile and P-cola working togother as one huge economic engine on the Guld Coast, the effects can be beyond our imagination.

[10101000]

Originally Posted by SouthSky

This is the area around Atmore I believe they are considering:
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=e...,0.057335&z=15

It is off of Woods Rd. I lived there when I was a kid, and still know some people that live there. They do not want it at all.

[Port_of_Bama]

Why not ?

[10101000]

They just don't want it. Polution I have heard.

[Port_of_Bama]

Oh ok, I have noticed that Coastal /South Alabam haven`t been talking about the plant. I told my parents about the Mobile area being chosen for a VW plant and they were like "ahh realy ok what ever", lol.


I wanted us to have because all of the other metros have one.

[fvcrew22]

New Cancer Center planned
Sacred Heart's $31.5-million facility to open in late 2009

Sara Rabb • srabb@pnj.com • May 23, 2008

Sacred Heart Hospital officials say their new $31.5 million Cancer Center will put doctors, researchers and patients under one roof, increasing expertise and cutting delays in treatment.

Construction of the four-story building at Airport Boulevard and College Parkway is expected to begin in August and continue for about 13 months.

"It's a wonderful addition to the arsenal of things we use to fight this disease," said Patrick Madden, president and chief executive officer at Sacred Heart.

The new building will consolidate Sacred Heart's existing cancer services, which are scattered throughout several buildings. The hospital also is adding more staff and doctors, with two new oncologists scheduled to arrive in July.

For more than two years, Sacred Heart has been affiliated with M.D. Anderson Physicians Network, a subsidiary of the renowned University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center.

Part of the affiliation includes teleconferences that allow physicians in Pensacola to discuss individual cases and cancer research with M.D. Anderson physicians and researchers in Texas. The new building will provide more space for those conferences and for professional training.

Sacred Heart will continue to offer cancer services in other locations in Northwest Florida, including its oncology offices in Crestview, Milton and Opp, Ala.


The full article- http://pnj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article...NTPAGECAROUSEL

[Muskavon]

I just drove around town to check out various projects (and waste some of this really cheap gas) and didn't snap a single photo (sorry). Since my day-to-day doesn't require me to use I-10/I-110 hardly ever...I'll admit I hadn't really taken in all the road construction over the past year as this stuff is slowly coming together.

I must say that heading east on I-10 once you get past the Hwy.29 exit...it just doesn't look like Pensacola. 6-8-10 lanes, flyover bridges, exit ramps going everywhere, sound walls, etc. It's quite a different look through that little corridor. I was a bit dissapointed that it doesn't stay 6 lanes to the new 6-lane bridge, but maybe that will soon happen. It really should 6-lane all the way to the Avalon exit as that gets busy in the afternoons with all our Santa Rosa commuters heading home. Heading south and north on 110 the ongoing widening is exposing more development (for better and worse) that used to be hidden behind a layer of pine trees. Again, quite a different scene for driving. I can't imagine them being done with it by fall as claimed, but once it is, I think it'll be pretty impressive.

[10101000]

Very nice.

[BigBird9]

That's pretty sweet about the cancer center. Is it going in actually on that intersection? I thought Sacred Heart was going to expand on the empty land near the intersection of 9th and Airport?

But yeah, 10 and 110 are starting to look pretty good. And I really can't wait until the exit on Airport is finished!

[Muskavon]

Originally Posted by BigBird9

That's pretty sweet about the cancer center. Is it going in actually on that intersection? I thought Sacred Heart was going to expand on the empty land near the intersection of 9th and Airport?

But yeah, 10 and 110 are starting to look pretty good. And I really can't wait until the exit on Airport is finished!

I'm confused about the exact spot too. Looking at satellite maps of that spot, it seems like it has to be on the corner of Airport & 9th on the old footprint for the apartments that finally ended their days with Ivan. The long, narrow look of the building seems to fit that spot and there doesn't appear to be enough room anywhere else there. Maybe they call it College Prkwy/Airport because the main entrance will wind thru those oaks off College Prkwy behind the new "Airport Medical Park" and back to the building. Unless the building is shorter in length than the rendering perspective makes it appear. I guess it could be on the new parking lot for the recently completed Airport Medical Park if they are planning something even bigger at the main corner.

And yeah, the new Airport exits will be nice. I imagine the remaining residential between Davis and Old Palafox will give way to commercial stuff soon. Next...a 9th Avenue exit one of these years.

[BigBird9]

Originally Posted by Muskavon

I'm confused about the exact spot too. Looking at satellite maps of that spot, it seems like it has to be on the corner of Airport & 9th on the old footprint for the apartments that finally ended their days with Ivan. The long, narrow look of the building seems to fit that spot and there doesn't appear to be enough room anywhere else there. Maybe they call it College Prkwy/Airport because the main entrance will wind thru those oaks off College Prkwy behind the new "Airport Medical Park" and back to the building. Unless the building is shorter in length than the rendering perspective makes it appear. I guess it could be on the new parking lot for the recently completed Airport Medical Park if they are planning something even bigger at the main corner.

And yeah, the new Airport exits will be nice. I imagine the remaining residential between Davis and Old Palafox will give way to commercial stuff soon. Next...a 9th Avenue exit one of these years.

Yeah I don't know of any place on College and Airport that could be big enough for that building plus parking and everything. But who knows, maybe they will squeeze it in there. Oh... and I forgot to mention, that is a really nice looking building!

Man.... a 9th Ave. exit would be awesome! However, I don't think it will ever happen because of the resedential areas all around the exit. And it would be awesome if 10 were 3 lanes from Pine forest or 9 Mile all the way to Avalon Blvd. in Milton..... so I guess I will keep dreaming

[Muskavon]

Regarding the sorry state of University Mall:

http://www.pnj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/art...NESS/806010324

Sounds like typical Pensacola movement. Much like the ballpark/maritime park downtown it sounds like waiting for something to be re-developed at University Mall is a fruitless and frivolous pastime.

And the quote of truth which I really didn't want to hear again:

"Capri Williams, owner of the JaDesRon clothing store, said while Simon has given some tenants a break on rent, it "overstepped itself when it announced plans for the mall makeover.

"I think basically they had a grand idea," he said, "but the fact is, the larger corporations and higher class stores don't want to come to Pensacola."

Sounds familiar. Like Publix building all around the area, but not in this city.

It is scary to think that Mall and all the stuff developed around it is the high visibility stuff you see at the I-10/110 interchange. It already appears rough and under-developed. God knows how awful it will look to passer-bys when it caves in.

Geez we need a windfall company relocation here to up wages and get this town on track. Unfortunately, we don't have the leaders like Alabama to pull it off...so it really is gonna take some company doing it on a whim.

[Muskavon]

Alright BigBird, I stumbled onto this rendering at Sacred Heart's web site:



If you look at that closely, I guess it really is on the parking lot next to the newer clinic and not on the big lot at the main corner. Here's my theory based on the rendering above:

[Muskavon]

If anyone is really interested in digging through proposals for the Maritime Park/ballpark downtown...the final ones are in from Land Capital Inc and Trinity Capital at this link....

http://www.ci.pensacola.fl.us/live/p...sp?pageID=6112

They are about halfway down the page under the title "Community Maritime Park Documents (in PDF or PPT)".

Also so a rumor elsewhere that something may be going on with the port soon (as in no longer a port). Not sure how I feel about that possibility yet.

[Muskavon]

Where are ya BigBird?

Anyway, with hopes that Mobile's run of success will rub off on Pensacola I offer a copy of a post I just wrote in the Mobile thread (with a different ending)...

A couple weeks ago a Mobile councilman came to P'cola to speak about the tanker. Now there is this next Tuesday in Pensacola:

The Gulf Coast Economics Club will host Leroy Barnridge, vice president of
Northrup Grumman Corporation, at its next meeting at 11:30 a.m. June 10 at
New World Landing, 600 S. Palafox St.


Barnridge will discuss the $40 billion KC-45 tanker contract and the impact along the Gulf Coast.

As the vice president for state and local government regulations for Northrop Grumman's Air Mobility Systems market segment, his responsibilities include state and local support of existing contracts, in addition to sustainment and expansion of Air Mobility Systems business.

The meeting is free for Gulf Coast Economic Club members and $15 for guests.

A buffet lunch will be included at the meeting.

For reservations or details, call Belinda at 438-0335.

I intend to go unless something at work stops me. I'll report whatever he says. If anyone else is interested in going, I'd be interested in meeting you at the meeting. I will be the really sexy blonde girl getting drunk in the corner. No, no, no...I'll be the guy hitting on the really sexy blonde girl getting drunk in the corner...with no hope for success at all. Seriously though, give me a sign if you'd like to introduce yourself at this function. I've sorta become addicted to following what little development happens around the area in my spare time and would like to think I'm not alone.

[BigBird9]

Haha, I'm back. I was in Jamaica this past week on a missions trip and didn't have any internet access. Anyway...

Well I guess it looks like they really will build that new center on Airport and College. And your probably right about the location. Which makes me wonder what in the world is going to happen with that land you pointed out on Airport and 9th???? I mean, it's on one of the busiest corners in Pensacola, and is prime location for something big to go in. I remember reading something in the PNJ about Sacred Heart and there future projects. And I think it said that they may build a children's hospital there. So who knows.

As far as University mall goes, I sure hope the renovation goes through. That mall is an eyesore right now, but can you imagine what it will look like when it finally caves in completely?
You'd think Simon would be quick to renovate that mall considering it's great location. I can't think of any area in Pensacola as busy as the I-10, I-110, and Davis area. But even for all our problems, Pensacola looks much nicer now then when I moved here three years ago. When I moved here, I thought it was the ugliest city I've ever been to, but with the new completed roads, new retail, and other developments, the city seems to be cleaning up.

In other development news.... did anyone know that there is a Chili's going in next to Lowes and Home Depot down by Hwy. 90, Fairfield, and whatever other road is down there? I didn't even know until I was driving down there last week and saw it. And it's already completed! Also, I drove past the new development on Airport across from Sports Authority and Barnes and Noble, and saw that there is now a Staples going in there. So that will be a new one for Pensacola. Does anyone know what else is going in there?