4-H Property Purchase Complete, Open House Planned; Groudbreaking Set For New 4-H Building

June 4, 2014

The purchase of two parcels of property in Molino for Escambia County 4-H has been completed, and a new Escambia County 4-H Center on Stefani Road has reached the groundbreaking stage.

In 2012, the children and teens on the 4-H County Council voted to sell their 240 acre Langley Bell 4-H Center to Navy Federal Credit Union. Navy Federal paid $3.6 million for the property next to the credit union’s campus in Beulah, and the Escambia County Commission agreed to construct a new 4-H Center on Stefani Road.

Escambia County has now closed on the purchase of two parcels totaling about 108 acres on or near Chalker Road. The county made the land purchases to house the 4-H’s animal science and outdoor education programs with reimbursement to come from the Escambia County 4-H Foundation.

One parcel is 79.5 acres in the 5600 block of Chalker Road and includes about 20 wooded acres, a pond and a 5722 square foot barn. The second property, located at South Highway 99 and Chalker Road, is about 28.7 acres and allows the main property to have road frontage on South Highway 99.

A few residential lots border the east side of the proposed 4-H site along Chalker Road, while the north side is bordered by a 50 acre improved agricultural lot. The southern and western sides of the site are surrounded by hundreds of acres of timber belonging to La Floresta Perdida, Inc.

An open house will be held at the new 4-H property on Saturday, June 14 from 10 a.m. until 1 p.m. with free hotdogs and hamburgers while they last and property tours.

“We are also asking our youth to help us prioritize educational projects they would like to see on the property,” Escambia County Extension Director Pam Allen said in an email “For those that attend the Open House on June 14th, there will be tours and a survey to complete.  We will also ask others who cannot attend to give input at a later time as we plan out the structures over the next 1 to 3 years.”

“A critical component of using the property is to have restroom facilities constructed as soon as possible.   Restroom construction, along with the livestock facilities, will remain a top priority as we move along in the process,” Allen continued.

On Friday, June 13, at 3 p.m., a groundbreaking ceremony will be held for a new Langley Bell 4-H Center building at 3740 Stefani Road in Cantonment, the current location of Escambia County Extension.

The new 4-H Center will be a single story building just under 10,000 square feet that will include a multi-purpose room/auditorium with stage, kitchen, offices, reception area, life skills room, science room with wet lab, volunteer room with technology lab, county council,club meeting room and storage.

Pictured top and bottom: An existing 5,722 square foot barn on one of two parcels that may soon be home to Escambia County 4-H. Photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge. Pictured inset: Two parcels will provide 4-H about 108 acres near Barrineau Park. NorthEscambia.com graphic, click to enlarge.

Comments

7 Responses to “4-H Property Purchase Complete, Open House Planned; Groudbreaking Set For New 4-H Building”

  1. sue on June 5th, 2014 4:43 pm

    Two quotes from the article:
    “and the Escambia County Commission agreed to construct a new 4-H Center on Stefani Road.”
    “a groundbreaking ceremony will be held for a new Langley Bell 4-H Center building at 3740 Stefani Road in Cantonment, the current location of Escambia County Extension.”
    Didn’t the current Escambia County Extension Office Building on Stefani just flood for the third time?? And we are building another newer county owned building there? And, since they are determined to build it there, it should appropriately be called the “The Pam Allen Building” or the “Master Gardener’s Building”, since they both fought SO hard to get it.

  2. david lamb on June 4th, 2014 4:13 pm

    I have a question! Why should the new building or any building/property be called
    Langley Bell. The Matt Langley Bell era is over! Move on to Gindl or some other 4H alumni name! Cunningham, Godwin, Gilmore,Barrineau or other names come to mind.

  3. Gator Fan on June 4th, 2014 4:03 pm

    Lets watch these people that gave the kids the shaft, rumor has it that they want to name the new property Langley Bell. I am of the opinion that the Langley Bell land was sold. We need another name than that. Lets let the kids name it not the people at the extension office.

  4. Southern born on June 4th, 2014 1:50 pm

    It is a waste of talk. We have the power in our hands now if you DARE. Come ELECTION DAY they can all be voted out for lieing and cheating the 4-Hers out of the land that was FREELY given to them by Matt Langley Bell. Use your power at the polls and take them out.

  5. c.w. on June 4th, 2014 11:38 am

    Why can’t or won’t the CC in EC give the 4-H kids a fair deal? Its a complete case of lying to the kids to get their approval. Only a politician has the ability to do something like this.

  6. tolee on June 4th, 2014 8:05 am

    In 2012, the children and teens on the 4-H County Council voted to sell their 240 acre Langley Bell 4-H Center to Navy Federal Credit Union. So you’re saying they voted to give themselves the shaft? Really?

  7. northender43 on June 4th, 2014 4:52 am

    Our kids got the short end of the stick again. 240 acres taken, 104 given back… not even close to being fair. The Bayer property is still For Sale but leased. That property is better and already has buildings appropriate for the needs of our kids. The local, state, and federal governments take away from our children. What kind of message are they sending out. It seems to me that instead of shafting our children they should be trying to give them something comparable to what they gave up.

Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under News