Century Backtracks On Community Center Rental Rate Hike

December 4, 2025

The Town of Century backtracked on a community center rental rate hike after public pushback and reported decreased usage.

In June, the town council raised the rental rate for a community center to $500 for everyone, including a $150 refundable cleaning deposit, up from a low of $200 with a $100 refundable deposit for churches and nonprofits.

After that, the town reported that usage went down. As we reported last month, organizers of the annual Century-Flomaton Improvement Association (CFIA) told the council that the future of their annual Martin Luther King, Jr. ceremony was at risk due to cost.

After discussion at a workshop this week, the council dropped the rental fee to $350 with a$150 deposit that will be refunded if the facility is clean and undamaged. Security, provided by either the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office or a Florida-licensed security company, will be required at the renter’s expense for all events with more than 75 attendees. All renters will be required to sign a hold harmless agreement.

The council also voted to waive the rental fee for the MLK Day event, but still require the $150 refundable deposit and security.

In the future, the town council will consider other rental waivers on a case-by-case basis for nonprofits and governmental agencies, but they’ve decided the deposit and security requirements won’t be waived.

Pictured: Improvements inside the Century Community Center on West Highway 4. The bottom photo shows the yellow walls and moldy ceiling tiles in January 2025. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.

Comments





Have a comment on this story?

We welcome your comments on this story, but there are some rules to follow::

(1) Be Nice. No comments that slander another, no racism, no sexism, no personal attacks.

(2) No Harrassing Comments. If someone says something bad about you, don't respond. That's childish.

(3) No Libel. That's saying something is not true about someone. Don't do it.

(4) Keep it clean. Nothing vulgar, obscene or sexually related. No profanity or obvious substitutions. Period.

(5) NorthEscambia.com reserves the right to remove any comments that violate our rules or we think to be inappropriate. We are not responsible for what is posted. Comments may not appear right away until they are approved by a moderator.

(6) Limit your comments to the subject in this story only, and limit comments to 300 words or less. Do not post copyrighted material. Comments will not be added to stories that are over 30 days old.

(7) No posts may advertise a commercial business, political candidate or political group, or link to another commercial web site or political site of any kind.

Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under News