A funeral procession led by a Patriot Guard motorcycle honor group made its way carrying a proud veteran to his final resting place at Barrancas National Cemetery on Oct. 20.
Escambia County District 2 Commissioner Mike Kohler and I stopped talking and stood at attention as the procession made its past us as we stood at a closed and derelict former service station at 200 S. Navy Blvd. The veteran’s final trip to glory was down a South Navy Boulevard stretch that features empty lots, overgrown lots, shuttered businesses and other eyesores heading across the Sam A. Lovelace Bridge that spans Bayou Grande crossing over to Naval Air Station Pensacola and to Barrancas National Cemetery.
The last journey, one of many weekly funeral processions that travel through the Naval Air Station, is less than glamorous.
“There are family members and loved ones (in the processions) of people that have served and died for this country, and you want them to go to Barrancas with some dignity,” said Kohler, a former Navy sailor, then officer. “There’s a bunch of blight that has taken place here, but it’s important to revitalize this area for the residents and the whole area. This (westside) is an extension of downtown. Everything is moving either to the west or north, which is way out of downtown obviously.”
It’s where thousands of enlisted men and women, from seaman to admiral, and civil service workers cross daily to and from their work aboard the historic naval base, home to the Blue Angels, the U.S. Navy’s legendary flight demonstration team.
And as bad as it might seem, it’s been worse. And a silver lining?
It’s going to get better with the implementation of Escambia County’s South Navy Boulevard Improvement Plan, which will include a turnaround at the foot of the bridge to cut down on traffic and delays caused by people trying to visit the base through the main gate without proper clearance, and who must be turned around; shared-use walking and biking lane; lane improvements; bike connections to side streets; video messaging at strategic sites; rain gardens and trees planted in different areas. The plan also includes a small park near the bridge on Bayou Grande.
The U.S. House of Representatives recently approved millions of dollars in federal funding for projects in Pensacola, including $12 million to restore the hangar used by the Blue Angels at Naval Air Station Pensacola and another $3 million for improvements to South Navy Boulevard. Kohler said he hopes to use Restore funds and potential state appropriations to complete the plan.
A step in the right direction, neighborhood residents said, is the removal of rundown structures on South Navy Boulevard such as Marchelos Italian Restaurant, a once-beloved eatery that had fallen into disrepair after closing long ago.
“It’s much better than when we first moved in,” said Patrick Weston, whose family moved to Bayou Davenport, the quaint little neighborhood on the east side of South Navy Boulevard, in June 2021. “They removed some of the deteriorated and abandoned structures, though there are still some left. But you can see the progress.”
Weston is president of the Bayou Davenport Neighborhood Watch group.
Bayou Davenport features some waterfront homes and longstanding Civitan Park, which nestles up to the bayou. (Fond memories. As a student at St. John’s, my first school field trip was to the park. We walked and I’ve always remembered it.)
“It’s a great neighborhood and a little hidden gem,” Weston said. “But there’s still work to do.”
Sure, there are features of South Navy Boulevard that are already beloved and integrated into the community, including St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church and school and Warrington Presbyterian. There is also Wings Aviation Gifts & Supplies, a few insurance agents, a gun shop along with a few local businesses such as tattoo shops, vape shops, the tiny Gateway Inn and a few others. Homes in many neighborhoods have gone from septic to sewer. There are vacant lots where buildings once stood, ready for new development.
“It’s going in the right direction,” Weston said. “I’d rather look at a vacant lot than (an eyesore). But there are still run-down properties, houses that need a lot of attention. It’s great that they’re planning all the plantings, and the great median and colored crosswalks, but then you have houses that need repair, or homes with RVs, old cars and boats like a salvage yard, I don’t know how beautiful it can be.”
Escambia County has been working to deal with dilapidated properties. On Oct. 7, Escambia County Special Magistrate DeWitt Clark issued an order to the owners of the run-down, shutdown Checkers burger joint near the Barrancas Avenue/Navy Boulevard intersection to either clean-up, fix up, or tear it down.
“The vision is to revitalize this whole corridor,” said Kohler, who has spearheaded the Navy Boulevard improvements, along with other improvements across Warrington, including adding features to Lexington Terrace Park such as pickleball courts and a disc golf course. “South Navy Boulevard leads directly into the base and there should be a sense of pride there.”
Navy Boulevard was named Admiral Murray Boulevard originally to honor Navy Adm. George D. Murray, a celebrated World War II hero who earned his flight wings in Pensacola in 1914. and who would later command Naval Air Training at NAS Pensacola.
In 1950, Escambia County Commission passed a resolution to rename the county portion of Admiral Murray Boulevard to Navy Boulevard, with the city renaming its portion of the road to Navy Boulevard a month later. County commissioners said at the time they wanted the artery to the main gate to honor all U.S. Navy service members and veterans.
Through the 1950s and 1960s, Navy Boulevard traffic grew, as did the neighborhoods that grew around it, including Navy Point and Bayou Davenport, as military families moved into the area.
Since then, the area has experienced ups and downs, with various businesses showing up, shutting down over the years, neighborhood demographic change and hurricane upheaval.
It’s a road that dignitaries have traveled, including President George H.W. Bush in 1992 during a Pensacola visit in route to NASP. I remember standing at corner of Rue Max and Barrancas—I lived on Rue Max at the time—watching the massive motorcade drive by, Escambia County deputies and Pensacola police cars blocking off every side street along the route. I’ve seen school children from St. John’s standing outside with hands over heart as the processions of heroes killed in Iraq and Afghanistan drove by. Civilians joined them too, saluting those who sacrificed as they went on their final journey to Barrancas National Cemetery.
Westsiders want Navy Boulevard better for themselves, sure. But they want it better for them too—the heroes and their survivors.
“There’s a lot of funeral processions,” Weston said. “You have family members in the processions who come to the area from out of state and Navy Boulevard is what they see.”
Anyone who lives on the westside or travels there frequently can see it’s getting better, despite the many obstacles and work to be done.
At a recent community meeting to discuss the Navy Boulevard Revitalization plan, more than 100 people showed up, most voicing approval for improvement measures. A study asking for public comments drew more than 600 online comments from folks voicing their hopes and concerns for the area.
“Usually, they only get 50 or so,” Kohler said. “So that was pretty impressive to me. This is a community project. People care about the base and know it’s a big driver for our economy, so this is important to them. A lot of people live in District 2 and a lot of people work at the base so there’s a lot of support for something to be done.”
Work continues, with constant pressure and fines for the Checkers owners, a demolition of a former flower shop, where a new Circle K is currently being constructed at Barrancas and Navy Boulevard.
The Circle K is being constructed by Pensacola businessman William Van Horn, who also owns other Warrington properties. Though he noted many achievements, including septic to sewer conversions, the area still has problems.
“There’s a lot of stretching of the dollar in that community,” Van Horn said. “The dollars are just not there because of the socio-economic trends of the last 30 to 40 years. Base personnel transit through the community, there’s more stuff in the Mobile Highway corridor now, and the demographic center of population has shifted. But I still live in Warrington, born and raised, and I’m always trying to push it forward. We are going to continue to be bullish on Warrington.”
This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Imagining a better Navy Boulevard is fine, but changes are already happening
Reporting by Troy Moon, Pensacola News Journal / Pensacola News Journal
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