Mayor Reeves Talks About Birdon Shipbuilding Project, Conference of Mayors Honor, MLK Boulevard and More

Penascola, FL (NewsRadio 92.3) -- Pensacola Mayor D.C. Reeves joined Pensacola's Morning News Tuesday with a wide-ranging update — leading with major progress on the Birdon shipbuilding project and closing with news of a national honor that is already paying dividends for the city.

Birdon Shipbuilding — Term Fee Round This Month

The Birdon shipbuilding project at the Port of Pensacola is entering its second round with Triumph Gulf Coast — a term fee meeting scheduled in Panama City this month. Reeves says the three-way negotiation between the city, Birdon, and Triumph took about a month longer than hoped but the project is firmly on track. At full operation the project would bring 2,000 jobs averaging $80,000 in salary — making Birdon the largest employer in the city and sending $160 million in annual payroll into the regional economy. Two more rounds with Triumph remain after the first was completed successfully.

US Conference of Mayors Board of Trustees

Reeves has been appointed to the Board of Trustees of the United States Conference of Mayors — one of just 15 trustees representing mayors across the entire country. The bipartisan appointment is already producing results. While chairing the Jobs Education Workforce Committee at the conference Reeves connected with a Department of Labor official who agreed to send federal representatives to Pensacola for a workforce development workshop with Birdon, ST Engineering, and other project partners. Reeves says that connection would have been a cold email from a small city before the appointment — now it is a warm relationship with significant federal funding streams attached.

MLK Boulevard Two-Way Conversion — Dead for Now

The long-discussed plan to convert Martin Luther King Boulevard to two-way traffic is not moving forward. Reeves says FDOT ultimately determined it was not comfortable proceeding with the design without a clear funding path for the $6 million construction cost — and said if the city wanted to move forward it would need to find the money and take over maintenance of the road. Reeves says that decision made little sense given the current property tax conversation. He says he generally supports the two-way conversion to slow traffic but says the chips didn't fall the right way and the city is moving on to other priorities.

Baptist Hospital Redevelopment

The Baptist Hospital redevelopment process is getting another attempt — with essentially the same RFP that was before the CRA ten months ago returning under the leadership of CRA Chair Delarian Wiggins. Reeves says he supports Wiggins leading the process and says the focus this time is strictly community engagement — finding out what residents want before development proposals are finalized. Reeves says he would have loved to have started community engagement ten months ago but says the second best time is now.

Fricker Center Groundbreaking

The Fricker Center groundbreaking originally scheduled for Tuesday has been postponed due to rain. The ceremony has been rescheduled for Friday June 26th at 9:30 a.m.

Resident Satisfaction Survey

The latest Pensacola resident satisfaction survey shows 66 percent of residents believe the city is going in the right direction — down slightly from 70 percent last year but dramatically higher than the 28 percent recorded in 2007. Reeves says sustaining two-thirds approval over multiple years is a meaningful benchmark. The survey found waterfront access is the top amenity residents value about living in Pensacola — a finding Reeves says directly informs the city's investment in projects like Sun Trail and Palafox Street.