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Market Spotlight: Panama City, Rebuilding After Hurricane Devastation
Debris piles line Harrison Avenue and Baldwin Road in Panama City after Hurricane Michael in 2018. All photos courtesy of the City of Panama City.
By Thomas Ehlers, Staff Writer
Hurricane Michael devastated Panama City on Oct. 10, 2018, as a Category 5 hurricane, bringing sustained winds of 160 mph to Bay County.
Nearly 90% of structures in Panama City were damaged or destroyed, and the city had lost 75-80% of its tree canopy by the end of the storm. While other parts of the Southeast felt Michael’s wrath, Panama City and Bay County were ground zero, sustaining 1.3 million more cubic feet of debris than all other 50 counties with damage combined.
Less than two years later, Hurricane Sally stirred area waters. The storm brought weaker winds, but the city received over 14 inches of rain, plus additional storm surge, which caused Panama City’s sewer system to fail. Raw sewage entered waterways, leading to a swim advisory to keep individuals out of affected bodies of water.
The combination of outdated utilities and historic hurricanes created a problem, but Panama City officials found a solution: the #RebuildPC initiative.
In between the cyclones, the city started the initiative to guide recovery planning while promoting economic development and completing elements of Panama City’s master plan. #RebuildPC began as a single vision and framework for the city, but it has grown to encompass a spirit of growth and potential as new projects across the city continue to improve Panama City’s infrastructure and way of life.
Putting The Community First
The City went straight to its citizens for their input on how the rebuilt Panama City should be shaped.
City officials hosted more than 30 stakeholder meetings with help from consultant partners where citizens could engage in planning. This planning included a few unique aspects, including a bus tour where citizens traveled the town and stopped at certain areas to discuss the future.
The big thing we wanted to know is, we have this opportunity to rebuild, so what do we want our city to look like,” said Caitlyn Lawrence, Panama City’s public information officer.
"That unique bus tour being one of those meetings, we were able to get together with citizens, go around and get their feedback. Consultants were able to take everything they received in stakeholder meetings and compile it into reports.”
The city partnered with Mott MacDonald to develop a heat map of the city’s existing infrastructure, which plotted aging problem points. City officials took the heat map and developed a way to distribute funds that were allocated based on the needs of all county wards. A number of agencies and grants helped fund projects, including FEMA’s Hazard Mitigation Grant Program and the U.S. Housing and Urban Development’s Community Development Block Grant Programs, in addition to local surtaxes and State Revenue Funds.
Panama City faced a number of challenges during the design and funding processes, including a highly engaged public with different opinions and the COVID-19 pandemic. Initially, officials drafted plans for the city’s downtown and waterfront area, but a later effort led to an additional plan for some of the city’s neighborhoods, including Glenwood, Millville and St. Andrews.
There are limited resources,” said Panama City Public Works Director Jonathan Hayes.
"Unfortunately you can’t rebuild a city with its underground infrastructure overnight. It takes time, it takes a lot of planning, it takes a lot of money, and it takes partners from both the state and federal governments in order to move us in the direction you want to go.”
Panama City landed on four focus areas to guide rebuilding efforts – Safety and Security, Infrastructure, Economy and Quality of Life. These focus areas translated into certain goals, strategies and actions for recovery.
Panama City’s infrastructure plans centered around enhancing roadways, modernizing water, wastewater and stormwater systems, restoring sidewalks and parks, and bolstering resilience in existing power and communication infrastructure. For safety, the city planned to create street lighting and comprehensive signage programs, hurricane-proof facilities and stabilize soils for future weather events.
Plans also included the development of assistance programs and ways to increase property values and revenue generation in a rebuild while attracting new business and visitors to the city. Quality of life improvements centered around investing in the housing market, providing accessible community services and restoring its artistic identity.
Finished Products
The initial plans of 2019 and 2020 have led to results across Bay County, but none is more visible than the rebuilding of Panama City’s downtown corridor. The streetscape project spanned from the downtown marina to U.S. Business Route 98 and saw the removal of the existing sidewalk. Roadway lanes were narrowed, angled street parking changed to parallel parking and newer, wider sidewalks were repaved to expand foot traffic, allow businesses and restaurants to service patrons on the streets and introduce trees, benches and other amenities.
While many of the other projects aren’t as flashy, they are vital to improving the city’s infrastructure long-term. Recent projects on Harrison Avenue and Cherry Street are wrapping up, both focusing on underground utilities and roadways.
An Eye on Tomorrow
With six infrastructure projects ongoing or about to begin across Panama City totaling nearly $450 million, rebuilding efforts aren’t ending anytime soon.
Future plans include dredging local lakes and marinas, improving parking lots, and revitalizing parks and other lower-priority areas. Lawrence noted an effort by the city to bring projects in-house for the future, allowing city employees to apply for grants and more actively participate in the design process.
During the summer months, the city commission identified five major projects it wishes to prioritize in the coming years. Two marina projects – a rebuild of the Panama City marina and a rebuild of the St. Andrews marina – are important to the commission, while a rebuild of the Martin Luther King Jr. Recreation Center, the heart of Panama City’s Glenwood community, is currently out for bid. A rebuild for the Martin Theatre, a historic venue serving the community for over 30 years, and a rebuild of the Marina Civic Center, a 2,500-seat performing arts center, are moving forward.
Outside of upgrading the infrastructure itself, the city looks for ways to beautify the community. The city created stronger partnerships with organizations like Destination PC after the hurricanes to add artwork to every block, utilizing local artists to add character to the area’s traffic boxes and crosswalks as well as the creation of several murals around town.
Standing the Test of Time
First installed in 1926, a historic clock stood on the corner of Harrison Avenue and Beech Street before it moved to Harrison Avenue and 7th Street in 1957. The clock, like most of the city’s structures, took a beating during the hurricanes – so much so that many of the individuals involved in clean-up efforts from outside the Panama City area didn’t know its significance and nearly tossed it away.
We were able to dedicate it on Oct. 10, 2023, the five-year anniversary of Hurricane Michael, back where it originally started nearly 100 years ago. — Jonathan Hayes
Citizens recognized the waterlogged and damaged clock, and the city and its citizens partnered to refurbish the timepiece. The city found a company in Missouri that picked up the artifact and restored the clock to its original working order. Earlier this year, Panama City hosted a ceremony to christen the clock, which serves as a beacon of the city’s ongoing efforts to rebuild.
“We were able to dedicate it on Oct. 10, 2023, the five-year anniversary of Hurricane Michael, back where it originally started nearly 100 years ago,” Hayes said. “It’s pretty exciting. Sometime in the new year we will have it chiming again and lit up at right. It is really something that has become the iconic focal point of downtown Panama City.”
It is really something that has become the iconic focal point of downtown Panama City. — Jonathan Hayes
