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Okaloosa Extension Service could get new home
Destin Log ,May 2, 2010
CRESTVIEW — The City Council has tentatively agreed to allow the Okaloosa County Extension Service to move to a city-owned lot adjacent to the Crestview Area Chamber of Commerce.
County Commissioner Wayne Harris, flanked by Extension Director Gerald Edmonson and University of Florida District Extension Director Pete Vergot, asked the council at a recent meeting to consider the move.
The council voted 4-1 to approve the request. Councilwoman Linda Parker voted no.
"As a location goes, I think it is a win for the city," Councilman Ben Iannucci said.
The lot is part of a parcel on Commerce Drive east of the post office donated to the city to allow for expansion of government services and facilities. The Crestview Community Center sits on a portion of the property.
Harris told the council that the Extension Service has grown too large for its headquarters, a refurbished 1950s former county fair building on Old Bethel Road. Another portion of the building houses a satellite office of the Supervisor of Elections. A third part includes a county maintenance facility.
Harris presented letters from state Reps. Greg Evers and Brad Drake supporting the move.
"We thought it was a good match with the community center and the library," Harris said. "We're running out of room over there (on Old Bethel Road). We've got people in hallways, we've got them in closets for their offices."
The council's approval was conditional upon approval of the property's donors.
Operated by the University of Florida's Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, the extension service offers programs and services to local farmers, landowners and home gardeners, as well as family and consumer sciences skills and support.
The new headquarters would boast 50 parking spaces that also could accommodate overflow from events at the community center and Chamber of Commerce, Harris said. The project would be bid in phases.
Harris said a $750,000 grant is available for construction but is probably not quite enough for the entire facility. However, because construction costs have gone down with the economic slump, Harris believes the money will bring the project close to completion.
"I can't tell you we'd finish it in total, but we can get pretty darn close to it," he said.
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