The intersection of Barrancas Ave. and South Navy Blvd. is surrounded by empty lots these days, as more dilapidated buildings and defunct businesses are torn down.
Pensacola businessman William Van Horn recently had an old floral shop building demolished that long sat empty on the northeastern corner.
“We took down the old Flowerama, and we’ll put up a new Circle K there,” Van Horn said. “Hopefully, we’ll kick off new business there. We want to see that happen everywhere, but South Navy Boulevard’s always been a tough one.”
Over the past several years, Escambia County Code Enforcement has been canvassing the stretch of S. Navy Boulevard from Barrancas Avenue to the main gate and citing property owners for an array of violations including dilapidated structures, homeless camps and illegal dumping.
Since 2022, code enforcement has worked more than 60 cases on some 35 properties along S. Navy Boulevard., with some properties having more than one complaint.
Cars, boats and buildings that were once eyesores are now gone.
More derelict buildings are planned to come down, including Marcello’s, a waterfront Italian restaurant at the foot of the Sam A. Lovelace Bridge.
Once a popular and beloved business, the property is now beyond repair and the owner has hired a contractor to tear it down, possibly within the next few weeks, after asbestos abatement is finished.
Escambia County Commissioner Mike Kohler, who represents District 2 where the area is located, made cleaning up the main thoroughfare between Pensacola and NAS Pensacola a priority.
The historic area in Warrington has been plagued by blight in recent decades, and S. Navy Boulevard is lined with a mix of bustling businesses and quaint older homes, as well as shuttered businesses and other run-down properties.
Kohler is working to beautify the area, along with investing Community Redevelopment monies to enhance the safety and mobility of S. Navy Boulevard and make it more visually appealing with new lighting, landscaping and a more modern design overall.
“For me, that’s just important because the base is the biggest economic driver for the county,” Escambia Commissioner Mike Kohler said. “People are very happy about it, especially the people who live in Navy Point and Bayou Davenport. We’re doing a little at a time.”
Kohler said a new sign the county is making for the entrance to the main gate of NAS Pensacola should be done by the end of summer.
He’s also making other improvements to the Warrington area, like installing street lighting on Barrancas Avenue and additions to Lexington Terrace Park, which now has pickle ball.
Jane Birdwell is president of the Warrington Revitalization Committee. She is delighted to see the progress, which she hopes will open the door for new growth in the areas that are blighted.
She said the downside is that code enforcement liens can sometimes discourage investors if they’re too high.
“We have for too long let abandoned and neglected properties just go unattended,” Birdwell said, “and it hurts their neighboring property values and everybody suffers. We are just so proud to help them in any capacity to keep the work going because it’s well overdue.”
Van Horn, who owns several businesses and properties in the area, agrees the clean up is needed, and he’s also glad to see the progress.
He points out that attracting new businesses to the area is still a challenge because it’s a place most people drive through, and not to, as they go and back forth from NAS Pensacola.
“We need incentives to get businesses down there, which doesn’t really happen until you simply have the households in the area that have the expendable income to spend money in the area,” Van Horn said.
This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Eyesores coming down on S. Navy Blvd. Is cleanup enough to spur more growth in Warrington?
Reporting by Mollye Barrows, Pensacola News Journal / Pensacola News Journal
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