'Bigger, better and way beyond': PC to soon break ground on new $14 million MLK Rec Center

PANAMA CITY — A new, almost $14 million recreation center is around the corner.

Panama City Commissioners on Tuesday approved a request for the city to begin accepting construction bids to build the new and improved Martin Luther King Jr. Rec Center, which will sit off East 14th Street in Panama City.

This is the same location as the old facility that was destroyed by Category 5 Hurricane Michael in October 2018.

"We're going back bigger, better and way beyond what was there before," said Jared Jones, assistant city manager of Panama City, said. "There's not going to be a rec facility like this anywhere else in Bay County."

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Jones noted the old MLK Rec Center featured a single-court gym, with a recreation center that housed a few classrooms and activity rooms. It also had a splash pad, volleyball courts and outdoor basketball courts.

The new center will boast a 12,000-square-foot community center, 18,000-square-foot two-court gym, lighted outdoor basketball court, soccer or football practice field and playground. It also will include a STEM lab, art room, recording studio, teaching kitchen, reading rooms and a large multi-purpose room.

Jones said he expects construction of the new center to begin in January 2023 and take 18 months to two years to complete.

The almost $14-million project will be paid for by extra Federal Emergency Management Agency and insurance funds from other city projects.

"It's going to (provide) unique opportunities," Jones said. "I think this is going to be exactly what the community would like to see there."

Along with providing additional recreational opportunities, it is important to reopen the MLK Rec Center because it has always been a staple part of the local Black community, said Commissioner Kenneth Brown.

Brown also credited the younger generation as being a crucial driver in the project to not only rebuild the amenity, but give residents an even better center of which they can be proud.

"This is one of the historical (amenities that) every (local) African American came to it one time or another all the way back from when I was 3 or 4 years old," Brown said. "The younger generation that has stepped forward is doing a tremendous job ... and I can't say enough about how welcoming and how surprised I am that we are getting as much done as we can with that group."

This article originally appeared on The News Herald: Panama City MLK Rec Center will be big improvement over former center