Pensacola is looking to engage the community in new ways to help write the first-ever equitable development framework plan that will shape the by hosting a two-day event called "Party in the Park." Rachel Bennett, an urban design planner for the Pensacola Community Redevelopment Agency, told the News Journal that the event aims to bring as many people together as possible to learn about the plan and get their feedback and ideas for it. "This is the first (equitable development framework plan) that we've ever done in this city for a major infrastructure project, and we are approaching this project differently than we have traditionally," Bennett said.
The city is working with a tight timeline to meet the deadlines from the $25 million Rebuild Florida Infrastructure Repair program that is funding the project, according to Bennett. The timeline has led to some nearby residents expressing skepticism over the project. "We're not necessarily working at the speed of trust that I think we would have preferred to work on, and I completely understand their skepticism," Bennett said.
The Hollice T. Williams Park project helps address flooding in downtown Pensacola but also looks to reconnect and restore vibrancy to the historically Black and working-class neighborhoods that were split apart by the construction of Interstate 110 in the 1970s. The area has been dubbed the "lost neighborhood" that was .
A preliminary park but when Pensacola Mayor D.C. Reeves attended the Mayors' Institute .