• Home
• News
• Events
• Features
• Sports
• About
• Contact
• Advertise

Latest Headlines

• Burger, Fries And Meth: Molino Man Charged With Drug Trafficking
• Rain, Rain, Won’t Go Away
• One Person Injured In Cantonment Fire
• Cantonment Man Charged With Stealing $104K While Working As Brinks Driver
• Jim Allen Elementary Names Students Of The Month
• Beulah Christmas Parade Rescheduled, Century Tree Lighting Ceremony Canceled Due To Weather
• Escambia Man Sentenced To 15 Years On Federal Drug Charges
• Century Backtracks On Community Center Rental Rate Hike
• Escambia Public Schools Hiring Additional Campus Security Officers
• ‘Don’t Try Nothin Stupid’: Report Details Failed Bank Robbery Attempt, Desperate Plea By Woman, 63

$1.3 Million Federal Grant Awarded For New Community Center In Cantonment

Escambia County has received a $1.3 million RESTORE Act grant to construct a new community center in Cantonment.

The Cantonment community center will serve as a hub for workforce development, adult education, tutoring, senior services, and community gatherings. Seasonal programming trends indicate strong demand for health and wellness activities from January through May, shifting to youth camps and sports activities during the summer months. Once completed, the center will also co-locate essential social service providers, strengthening community support systems.

Cantonment does not currently have a county-owned community center.

The 3,250 square feet modular building will be located in Carver Park at Webb and Washington streets.

For nearly a decade, the very active Cantonment Improvement Committee (CIC) has operated from a much smaller 600-squar- foot building that was dedicated as the Carver Park Resource Center. They have used the small space for computer instruction, food distributions, after-school programs, and meetings.

The community center will be a single-story modular construction similar to a building dedicated at the Ashton-Brosnaham Park (pictured at bottom).

“I am so pleased to see this project finally come to fruition. It’s an exciting day for the CIC, the Carver Park community and the greater Cantonment area. I know the community center, with the help of the CIC, will change people’s lives. It’s going to be outfitted with leading-edge technology for community use,” District 5 Commissioner Steven Barry said when the design was approved. ” I can’t wait to see how it changes the futures and the trajectories of some of the young people in the community.”

The new facility will be located in the area of the existing Carver Park Resource Center and will be capable of accommodating a medium to large dividable meeting room, a warming kitchen, office space, a computer area and a storage room that can be utilized for food distribution, according to the county.

The current resource building will be moved and remain on site next to the parking lot for the new facility.

A date to commence construction has not been announced.

Pictured top: The new site design concept for a new Carver Park Community Center in Cantonment (click to enlarge). Pictured inset: The 2015 ribbon cutting of the current Carver Park Resource Center. Pictured below: U.S. Representative Matt Gaetz meets with local citizens inside the current cramped resource center in 2018. Pictured bottom: A similar building at Ashton-Brosnaham Park during last year’s SEC Women’s Soccer Tournament. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.