Readers are curious about what will happen to the Grand Hotel, which towers over the Pensacola Bay Center. For months, we have heard rumors that a deal was imminent. Commissioner Lumon May mentioned it in passing during a joint workshop between the Escambia County Commission and the Pensacola City Council at the Bay Center in July.
Gov. Ron DeSantis’ overhaul of Pensacola State College is meeting resistance from the business community.
Inside the Plan to Redevelop Grand Hotel
Developer George Hawthorne envisions remodeling the Pensacola Grand Hotel into an upscale establishment worthy of its name. He proposes to acquire, renovate, equip and furnish a 210-room full-service hotel in the 15-story Grand Hotel tower. Other project proposals include rehabilitating the adjacent 1912 Louisville & Nashville Railroad Station into a 14,000-square-foot food hall and creating a co-working space.
Just one problem. The City is balking at his financing proposal.
Former Trustee Calls Out New Pensacola State College Board
In a viewpoint published by the News Journal, Pensacola business leader Julian MacQueen calls out the four new trustees who believe have altered the college’s successful 77-year trajectory.
- “I expect that MJ Menge is rolling over in his grave to see this deeply committed institution, separating itself from 35% of our population and 39.1% of the student body of minority members, and 63% of the female population at PSC, and interrupting the last 13 years of progress ushered in by President Meadows.”
Little Support Tiny Homes Ordinance
District 4 Commissioner Ashlee Hofberger wanted to gauge the support among her colleagues for a Tiny Homes ordinance. Not much…