Escambia County and the City of Pensacola invite the public to give input on the new Hollice T. Williams Park design from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday, March 27. Visual displays, HDR engineering firm, county and city staff will be at the Hollice T. Williams Park Covered Pavilion located just south of where Avery Street crosses the park, north of the tennis and basketball courts.
Attendees can share their thoughts, ask questions and provide feedback on draft elements to include in the community park. Visuals of the draft concept and supporting information will be on display.
Staff will provide comment cards at the meeting and public commentary will be available for review at myHTWpark.com.
“Escambia County is very excited to partner with the City of Pensacola on this project,” said RESTORE Program Manager Matt Posner. “While construction of the I-110 overpass in the 1970s fragmented a once lively and historic neighborhood, our goal with this project is to recognize the lost neighborhood and transform the space into an iconic linear park that can serve to reconnect the community. The public’s participation in the design of the project is critical to making this a reality.”
While the Hollice T. Williams project’s primary focus will be to improve water quality and address community stormwater concerns, the park will include a variety of enhanced recreational, cultural, educational and aesthetic improvements. These improvements will create a place to play, reflect and connect with the surrounding community. A portion of the runoff from adjacent streets and the I-110 overpass will be captured and treated before being released into Pensacola Bay. The funding source for the design of the project is a RESTORE Direct Component grant.
The project has been awarded grant dollars to focus on stormwater management. Specifically, this project is focused on providing stormwater management from adjacent neighborhoods and the I-110 overpass, which has historically discharged into Pensacola Bay with no form of treatment. The new stormwater management will be addressed by multi-use areas utilizing low impact development practices including rain gardens, vegetated bio-retention swales, and shallow infiltration areas.
“We are excited to further engage with the public to garner their input and opinion on the conceptual design for the redevelopment to Hollice T. Williams Park,” said City of Pensacola Capital Improvements Project Manager David Forte. “This affords all of us the unique opportunity to artfully design the historic, linear park into a truly iconic, leisure urban green space with quality of life attributes that all can enjoy for generations to come.”
Hollice T. Williams Park will include two separate design and construction phases. The first phase consists of planning, designing and constructing the skate park, which will be located south of Jackson Street near the existing community garden and will begin construction later this year. The second phase will expand the existing park, which includes new amenities. Construction is scheduled to start in 2022.
For details and more information, visit myHTWpark.com.
