City, county to host joint workshop on Field of Dreams

The City of Port St. Joe and the Gulf County Board of County Commissioners will be hosting a joint community-wide workshop for a proposed new sports and recreation facility that would be built on a designated lot off of Highway 98, near Gulf Coast State College.

The workshop will be held Thursday, August 25 at 5 p.m. EDT in the Commission Chambers. 

The city is hoping for the community’s feedback on the project before next steps are taken. Public comment will be encouraged.

In April, Port St. Joe city commissioners voted to set aside $1 million federal Covid-19 recovery dollars for the project. They asked the County to make the same financial contribution, citing the number of out-of-city children who would utilize the new complex, but the county declined to do so at an initial public workshop on the subject in June.

Instead, the county recommended seeking alternative funding sources, such as grants or legislative appropriations that would cover a larger chunk of the project’s overall budget.

The city’s initial plan is to construct four baseball and four softball fields on the site, along two concession stands – one serving each type of field.

But the city plans to find funding to construct additional features at a later date, which Buzzett said could include indoor gymnastic facilities, pickleball courts and other recreational facilities to be determined in future community workshops.

“Our plans are what you saw here this evening, but they’re not set in stone,” Buzzett told the Star following the June workshop. “They can be tweaked and will be tweaked.”