FORT WALTON BEACH, Fla. (WKRG) — The Fort Walton Beach City Council is paving a new path for the Northwest Florida Fairgrounds on Lewis Turner Blvd. The city owns the 26.28 acres lot and looked at options during the Nov. 15 council meeting.
Options:
- Deem the property surplus to conduct a new appraisal and put the lot out for bids and project proposals.
- Keep the land as is and look for internal partnerships to enhance the property.
The city has deemed lots surplus in the past, such as the Chester Pruitt Recreation Center (Carson Drive SE) sold to Gregg Chapel AME Church for use as a life and community center and the FWB Senior Center (Memorial Parkway SW) sold to the Emerald Coast Science Center.
The fairgrounds location is currently on a month-to-month lease after the tenants’ contract expired. Under that contract, the rent is $6,400 a year.
The last appraisal, conducted in 2021, reported the value of the property at $5,450,000 in “As Is” condition. The “As If Vacant” value was listed at $5,925,000.
Residents that use the fairgrounds for annual and long-term events spoke at the city council meeting asking the city to keep the fairgrounds available for use.
The council has been approached by Okaloosa County for a negotiation of the property. Board of County Commissioner officials said they want to add to events held at the fairgrounds, not take away from the current experiences brought to Fort Walton Beach.
“What we would hate to see happen is it be developed, go out of public use, and all of the events that are out there to not occur there,” said deputy administrator Craig Coffey.
The council decided to direct staff to bring more ideas and details of what the County wants to do before making a decision to deem the property surplus.
The next discussion will be held on Dec. 13 at City Council.