Improving the Quality of Life in Panama City

PANAMA CITY, FL - Keith Mefford, Panama City Quality of Life Director, spoke to Kiwanis Club about what we has been focusing on since being hired as Director of the Panama City Quality of Life Department. He likes to refer to it as, “All things fun.” He said that he has an amazing team of about 65 to 70 people, who are responsible for 52 parks and about 30 other public spaces and marinas. He is also responsible for the rebuilding of the MLK Recreation Center, and the Martin Theater Renovation project which he hopes to kick off very soon.

Mefford brought youth sports back in-house because he loves to support children. He mentioned how important to the success of these programs are the small businesses who sponsor and support them.

The city is working on making Daffin Park beautiful with the work being done in-house by the public works team for about $550,000. The sidewalks and buildings look nice and fresh, with 11 loads of sod for new fields, along with 2 yards of dirt to raise the elevation of the slanted football field. Mefford said they can help with some of the stormwater issues nearby by diverting some of the stormwater pressure to this storm water system but also have a nice pond.

MLK Recreation Center is on schedule with foundations and electrical completed. The contractor is shooting for completion next July or August.

Mefford aims for the quality to be unmatched at the Martin Theater. The theater package alone is $4.8 million, with state-of-the-art acoustics. The estimated amount of funds required for all three buildings is several million dollars higher than the target budget of $32 million, so they are working with the architect, engineers and estimators to remove the contingencies on contingencies and reduce the current estimate, without sacrificing the look and the feel which are desired.

Regarding the Civic Center, the city has explored every viable option and, due to the current lack of a funding source to restore it, have made the troubling decision to demolish it. The Bay County Board of Commissioners supports working together to bring something else in its place.

The free events that were held on Thursdays will be moved to Fridays at 2:30 pm, starting in October. People will be encouraged to take off a half day of work on Fridays and come downtown to participate in the new street experience with the restaurants and businesses down there. There are planned spectacular evening events August 23 and December 27 at 6 pm.

Mefford wants to outsource the overall management of events to include the Performing Arts Center, the Civic Center, the Barbara Nelson Center and First Baptist Church, which are all within about 11 or 12 blocks of each other. He is excited about the possible events that could be held by properly programming those spaces together. Great idea!