The City of Fort Walton Beach and Ajax Building Corporation will host a ribbon cutting and grand opening event for its recently completed Field Office Complex located at 7 Hollywood Boulevard NW (corner of Jet Drive) on Wednesday, December 18, 2019.

A ceremonial ribbon cutting will take place at 11 a.m. followed by lunch provided by the Fort Walton Beach Fire Department. Tours of the facility will be available until 4 p.m. The public is invited and encouraged to take part in the celebration and view the facility.

“This new facility has been a long time coming,” said City Manager Michael Beedie. “We have been looking at the replacement of our current aging buildings for many years, and we are fortunate that the City Council agreed that it was time to move forward. Construction of a new field office was listed as a priority in the City’s 2017 Facilities Master Plan Phase 1 Recommendations. This new facility will be an asset to our community.”

The Field Office Complex is located on the City’s nine-acre site where the old Jet Stadium once stood at the corner of Hollywood Boulevard and Jet Drive. The project consolidates multiple buildings located throughout the City on various properties.

According to the City, the lack of continuity between facilities and the patchwork of building types, ages and conditions have long caused problems with efficiency and sustainability for the Public Works & Utility Services Department.

The new facility will house:

• Water and sewer functions
• Streets and stormwater
• Geographic information systems (GIS)
• Engineering
• Solid waste and recycling
• Facility maintenance
• And fleet services.

The goal with the consolidation is to lead to greater operational efficiency, shared resources, on-site training, a higher level of protection of City assets, and increased employee safety.

“Our staff is excited about the new complex. We appreciate the investment that past and present City Councils have made in the Public Works & Utility Services Department. The new facility will bring new operational efficiency and allow us to better serve our customers both inside and outside the City,” added Public Works & Utility Services Director Daniel Payne.

The project broke ground in September 2018 and was completed on schedule. The facility totals 48,493 square feet and includes three buildings.