Lighthouse Private Christian Academy stepping in to adopt and revitalize East Milton Park

Keith Whitfield's valiant three-year battle to pump life into Santa Rosa County's long neglected East Milton Park has concluded without the rousing victory the retired Army veteran had striven to achieve.

But the struggles Whitfield's Emerald Coast Sports Association endured to keep the park afloat led him to seek an alliance with Lighthouse Private Christian Academy. It is a partnership that county officials hope will pay dividends, as the academy has now stepped in to take over management of the park facility.

Academy President Joanne Johannas and her husband, Academy CEO Colin Hendrickson, appeared last week before the Santa Rosa County Commission to formally request that Lighthouse Private Christian Academy be permitted to take over for Whitfield and "adopt" the park.

Whitfield's contract with the county had been terminated in mid-November. A letter confirming the county's severing of ties to the Emerald Coast Sports Association indicated the decision to part ways was a "mutual agreement."

"Mr. Whitfield was trying really hard, but couldn't pull it all together. He didn't have what he needed to pull it all together," said Santa Rosa County Administrator DeVann Cook.

The academy can muster manpower and financial resources Whitfield never could for park upkeep.

Financial infusion needed

Whitfield told the Pensacola News Journal that in 2020 he had inherited management of the park from a group that hadn't conducted maintenance in at least 10 years. He reported that he and a group of six volunteers were overwhelmed trying to maintain 11 baseball/softball fields, a football field, a soccer field, a leaky gymnasium, two tennis courts and a playground.

Hendrickson told commissioners the Christian Academy had already invested about $25,000 for upgrades to some of the 25-acre park's baseball fields and brought in three baseball teams, varsity and junior varsity high school level teams and a college level team, to work out on site.

Johannas said Lighthouse officials will not hesitate to spend what it takes to beautify the park and restore its sporting facilities.

"Our balance sheet speaks for itself," Hendrickson told commissioners.

In a letter provided to commissioners that included financial statements, Johannas said the academy is looking forward to upgrading the gymnasium at the park.

"After losing our home gymnasium in 2022, our students have not been able to have consistent practice time and we have had to lease gymnasiums," the letter said. "By allowing Lighthouse to adopt the East Milton Park we will have the opportunity to practice and play games at the established gymnasium building.

In March, Whitfield had taken a reporter through the gymnasium, a massive concrete-floored structure that leaked when it rained and on which puddles formed if the HVAC system wasn't kept running.

In her letter Johannas said Lighthouse plans to paint the gym's interior, make repairs and put in a new gym floor.

"The gym needs some tender loving care to get it to the standard we need," Hendrickson told commissioners.

The search for a gymnasium

Lighthouse has been without a gym since being forced out of the Malcolm Yonge Gym in Pensacola in 2022 on short notice due to structural damage being found at the facility.

The gym had been owned by the city but leased to Lighthouse Christian Academy for $100 annually. It was used for for physical education classes, cheer practice, and middle school, high school and college basketball games.

The search for a gymnasium has been one Lighthouse officials have taken very seriously. In May, when Lighthouse embarked upon an ultimately unsuccessful effort to purchase, with the city of Milton, a building that once had housed the West Florida Community Care Center, Johannas told the City Council "when I saw the gym I nearly cried."

Efforts to reach Johannas and Hendrickson for comment were not successful.

The County Commission voted Thursday to accept the Lighthouse offer to adopt East Milton Park. Board members all spoke of looking forward to working with the school.

County Commissioner Kerry Smith said Lighthouse will operate East Milton Park much as Whitfield's Emerald Coast Sports Association had. It will work under lease with the county as a non-profit and facilities will be open to the public except when portions may be closed to accommodate tournament play or other special events.

Commissioner Colten Wright said he expects no effort on the part of Lighthouse Private Christian Academy to use its management of East Milton Park to promote a religious message.

"They're not an organization that would take a recreational facility and use it to push anyone's individual religious views on anyone else. I just don't see that happening with them," Wright said. "I know Dr. Johannas is really trying to right that ship."

During an earlier meeting Smith expressed his concern that improvements to a road going into the park site and an industrial park beyond could expose park guests to the fact that the facility lies next to a state prison. Cook said there has been consideration given to, at some future date, returning the park property to its original industrial designation and finding another East Milton Parcel to dedicate to recreation.

"We'd like to find the right property and move the facility completely," he said.

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Lighthouse Academy to manage Santa Rosa's East Milton Park