On Tuesday, the Fort Walton Beach City Council approved the demolition bid for the old Bluewater Zoo building and public restrooms in downtown Fort Walton Beach.

• The property is located at 159 Miracle Strip Parkway SE and is adjacent to the City’s Indian Temple Mound Museum site.

Back in May 2020, the Fort Walton Beach City Council accepted the donation of the Bluewater Zoo building and property from the Chris Gibson estate. The building was to be used as the new Heritage Park & Cultural Center gift shop and office space.

Gibson served two terms as a Fort Walton Beach City Council Woman and was a long-time benefactor of the Heritage Park and Cultural Center. She was a Charter Member of the Friends of the Museum and served on its Board of Directors for many years.

• She was active in archaeological interests in Fort Walton Beach and worked to preserve the local history.
• She passed away in 2017.

“They had a vision of connecting the Bluewater Zoo building to the museum and it would become the gift store,” said interim City Manager Jeff Peters. “Over the years, the building has gotten worse and worse.”

After a thorough evaluation of the building, it was determined that the cost to renovate outweighed the overall value of the building. City staff contacted the Gibson family to discuss demolition of the building rather than renovating it. Both parties were in agreement that it would be best to demolish the building and build a new addition.

As part of the agreement between both parties, the city had to show that they had a funding source to build the addition before they could tear it down.

As part of the City’s 12.5% allocation for FY 2022-23 from the Okaloosa County Tourist Development Council, $390,000 was included for the demolition and construction of a new 4,800 sqft. museum gift shop and office building.

• The overall project amount is $800,000.
• The balance of the project cost will be funded through the City’s Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) Fund.

“The plan is to demolish that building along with the old bathrooms and build a nice two-story museum addition that will be the entrance into that facility,” said Peters. “It will be beautiful when it’s done.”

• The addition will include a large lobby area, gift shop, public restroom, classroom area and office space.

The Heritage Park and Cultural Center Museum has remained a popular tourist destination, as well as a field trip opportunity for local schools. Last year was a milestone for Heritage Park, as they brought in $102,000 in revenue. Their previous best was $92,900.

• As for the museum’s gift store, the previous best was $49,300 in revenue.  In 2021-22, they made $51,150.

“You are probably thinking that is a small achievement in the big picture of the City of Fort Walton Beach, but remember their admission is $5.00 and the most expensive thing in the Museum Store is $350.00,” said Gail Meyer, Museum Manager for the city. “That is a ton of $1, $2 and $5 dollar items!”

Meyer says that she and her team are looking forward to what a new store with a Highway 98 presence will be capable of bringing to the Downtown District.

The City hopes to have the building demolished by the end of the year with construction on the new building beginning mid-2023.