A Different Approach to Safely and Securely Offering Public Access to Public Portions of NAS Pensacola?

 

Ever since the terrorist attack of December 6th 2019 and then the subsequent COVID 19 Pandemic which followed the next year---access to NAS Pensacola by the public at large has been severely limited and all but curtailed.

There are many good reasons why-- and the decisions to do so are made largely via higher headquarters and are not made locally.

The Navy has a training mission which is the priority.  Everyone understands this.

The tourism opportunity provided by the National Museum of Naval Aviation, the Lighthouse, and the National Seashore are important to the local community as a vital revenue generating source--but the mission of the base is the priority.

Protecting the various missions on the base is the most important factor because this alone provides our area with a tremendous influx of dollars for the economy--the size of which is only rivaled by seasonal tourism and the beaches.

So is it possible to provide access to the base safely, securely, while not jeopardizing missions here?

That has been the question, several options have been studied.  The most recent idea was to have the Florida Department of Transportation take over and improve the roadway all the way through the base which would have allowed for the station's security posture to be maintained while also allowing for visitation to the Museum, cemetery, golf course, and national seashore by the general public and tourists from around the country.

Unfortunately, this option does not appear likely due to the tremendously high costs associated with implementation.

Other ideas are being explored (e.g. busing visitors aboard the station to tour the museum after such persons are vetted off the station).

This past week I was invited to participate in a conference call with  NAS Pensacola CAPT Terrance Shashaty and multiple folks from FDOT.  The reason for the call was primarily an introduction and to

alert me as Commission Chairman to a new funding source for a potential project to provide access to public areas of the base.

My biggest concern, expressed on the call, was to protect the existing training missions and to make sure anything the county does to assist in such a project would not jeopardize future missions.  I left the call feeling the latest proposal would not harm the station in any way.

This latest proposal--a loop, cul de sac, or "enclave"--would simply take a portion of the base and send tourist (visitor) traffic that is accessing the golf course, the cemetery, the museum or the national seashore in a "loop" which would allow access to these four base features-- while simultaneously segregating and preventing access to the active, training areas of the base by non DoD visitors.  

I'm told the plan to do this is achievable at a cost of between $30 and $40 Million Dollars.  And the big reason for the call was to alert me to a forthcoming grant opportunity for us, as a county, to apply for such funding which could cover up to 90% of the costs to complete this enclave project.

Obviously coming up with match money would be a challenge.  It would cost the county between $4-$12 Million in match dollars--to pull down the full $40 Million necessary to complete the project.  In addition to this--any such project would necessarily require approval and authorization from the US Navy. (More than likely from multiple levels above the local area)

So it's a heavy lift, all the way around.

But if it could come to be that we could do this----the benefits of having the base's premiere attractions once again open to the public--particularly the museum-- would be extremely transformational to the community, the county and frankly--to the entire region.  

It would also greatly benefit the Warrington community which suffers from a lot of blight----particularly on Navy Blvd heading onto the base.  Lots of eyesores, lots of problems.   Having the museum closed and access limited over the last several years has definitely been a blow to Warrington.  

Getting this project to reopen portions of NAS could really do a lot to assist Warrington.

So as I stated at last night's meeting--there will be an important teleconference call this month on the 26th where grant specifics will be laid out.  Staff from the county will be on the call.  I will be speaking to the members of the state delegation over the next few weeks about this potential project.

And I look forward to working with the next District 2 commissioner on this once that individual is chosen in the upcoming primary in three weeks.

Hopefully if we all work together we can successfully provide access while protecting missions and keeping security tight for the training areas.  If we can strike that balance--I belive this would be beneficial for all.

So we are working on it