USPS Publication Number 16300
T h is C o m mu n i t y N ewsp a p er is a pu bl ica t ion of E sca m bia / S a n t a Rosa B a r Assoc ia t ion
Se r v i ng t he Fi r st Jud icial Ci rcu it
Section A, Page 1
Vol. 19, No. 2
Visit The Summation Weekly Online: www.summationweekly.com
January 9, 2019
1 Section, 12 Pages
Bruce Beach Reopens: A historic slice of Pensacola’s waterfront is once again open to the public after sitting dormant for nearly 50 years. A historic slice of Pensacola’s waterfront is once again open to the public after sitting dormant for nearly 50 years. Plans that had called for a $19 million fish hatchery and research center have been scrapped, and the 10 acres of waterfront property known as Bruce Beach have been reopened to the public. Despite initial pushback at the demise of the hatchery plan, local leaders now saw the future of Bruce Beach is one that will ensure public access to the only stretch of beach in downtown Pensacola. Located between Maritime Park and Joe Patti’s seafood, Bruce Beach was once home to a bustling dry dock in the city’s early history and later a public swimming pool for the city’s black and immigrant communities. The construction of the former Main Street Wastewater Treatment Plant caused the Bruce Pool to close in the 1970s and the land has sat unused ever since. The city embarked in 2013 on a partnership with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission to build a $19 million fish hatchery at the site, and Mayor Ashton Hayward called the plan a “huge win for Pensacola.” Roughly $1.7 million was spent
on planning and site cleanup. But public sentiment for plan soured in 2017 when Quint Studer pulled support for the project and began advocating that the hatchery be moved. Two local residents, Jerry Holzworth and Dan Lindemann, sued the FWC claiming that it had voided its lease of the property on a technicality. Sensing the waning public support, the FWC terminated its lease of Bruce Beach in June. With the hatchery project dead, Hayward quickly pivoted and directed city staff to prepare the property for public access. The improvements made to the beach are sparse, but a ribbon-cutting and reopening ceremony was held on Nov. 3. “Public access to our waterfront is incredibly important,” Hayward said at the ceremony. “We all want our community to be able to visit our beaches, visit our waterfronts and get down on the water … Today is just the beginning of what Bruce Beach is going to look like.” Returning Bruce Beach to public access recalls the history of the property when thousands of the city’s black and immigrant residents sought refuge from the summer heat at the Bruce Pool. It’s believed the beach was man-made as a result of dredging operations at
the turn of the century. The area takes its name from the Bruce Drydock Company, which serviced ships at the beach starting in the early 20th century. The company ceased operations at the outbreak of World War II and the beach went unused for a decade. Beginning in the 1950s, the beach was among the only recreational areas open to black residents under segregation. Following advocacy from within the black community, The Bruce Pool was built at the site in 1956 and served throughout the 1960s as a gathering place for the city’s black residents. “The beach started, really, as a swimming hole for black people and people in this area, so it is really reflective of all of us,” said local historian
Dr. Marion Williams. “… In this area, blacks swam, they crabbed, they fished; but they did not do that alone. The Pols, the Italians and the Greeks created fishing industries and this area boomed.” The pool was eventually closed following the construction of the Main Street Wastewater Treatment plant and Bruce Beach fell into disuse. Developing the property once again into a valuable public asset could prove a boon to the ongoing development of downtown. City Administrator Keith Wilkins said the city has plans for further improvements at the site and will apply for $1.5 million in grant funding from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission for improvements
WE’RE SOCIAL
to Clubbs Street and the gravel path leading to the beach. “Phase 1 is what you see now,” Wilkins said. “The concept for Phase 2 would be to come in and do some restoration with native species, so taking out some of the invasive species and putting native species in there. Phase 3 would be the rest of the property. We want to leave it as natural as possible, but it needs a lot of vegetative restoration work.” It will be up to the newly elected mayor, Grover Robinson, to guide future development of the beach and surrounding property. Robinson said on the campaign trail that seeking state funding to construct additional amenities at Bruce Beach would be a legislative priority for his administration.
CONNECT WITH US ON SOCIAL MEDIA