BIG PLANS FOR OKALOOSA ISLAND (FORT WALTON BEACH) WITH A GULF COAST MARINE LIFE CENTER AND ADVENTURE PARK

It looks like Fort Walton Beach and the surrounding areas are coming alive. Tourist have been in abundance with new visitors experiencing for the first time what the Emerald Coast has to offer.


Ideas hatching for Okaloosa property
=By KARI C. BARLOW 315-4438
@KariBnwfdn kbarlow@nwfdailynews.com  

OKALOOSA ISLAND — The county has received proposals to build a fish hatchery and an adventure park on a portion of the old Island Golf Center property. Okaloosa began advertising in January for revenue-generating ventures that would benefit the public and cover the cost of maintaining the property. Up for lease are a 2.8-acre tract along U.S. Highway 98 and a 4.4-acre parcel just east of the Emerald Coast Convention Center. The Destin-based nonprofit AquaGreen said they want to build the Gulf Coast Marine Life Center on the larger parcel. Dominion Capital, a partnership of three Destin area businessmen, has proposed building Wild Willy’s Adventure Island on the smaller tract. “We’ve had great success in the restaurant industry, and we feel like we can carry that over to this concept,” said Blake Rogers, manager of business development for Dominion Capital. According to the documents submitted to the county, Dominion plans to invest about $1.5 million in the development of the “family-oriented” entertainment center. Wild Willy’s would feature an almost 300-foot zip line over a lagoon, a ropes course, a hamster ball pool, a 30-foot rock wall and a Euro trampoline. “We’d leave the (existing) golf course,” Rogers said. “We’d remove that building. … We just want to build something that’s new and fresh, make some upgrades to the putt-putt.” Dominion also would build a 3,000-square-foot complex to house a Salvati’s Pizza Factory and a separate 600-square-foot facility for Moogurts, a frozen yogurt shop. Wild Willy’s could employ up to three full-time managers, 15 fulltime staff and up to 30 part-time workers. “We want to hire locally so that theoretically all the money that’s paid out … would be spent back in the community,” Rogers said. “It’s always good to hire locally.” Dominion has proposed paying the county $65,000 a year to lease the 2.8 acres for 10 years with two 10-year renewal options and an annual 3.5 percent increase every five years. Dominion is composed of Rogers, Paul Barcus and Bruce Morriss. The Gulf Coast Marine Life Center would include a fish hatchery with a proposed multiyear, 5,000,000 juvenile fish stock enhancement program of a variety of species, including cobia, Florida pompano, flounder, mahi-mahi, amberjack, red drum, speckled trout and sturgeon. The center would construct shellfish reefs to improve water quality and sea grasses and the use of re-circulated water and fish nutrients. The facility would be open to the public, offering aquatic exhibits, classrooms and research labs. The center would work in conjunction with several leading universities including the University of Florida, the University of Miami’s Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science and the University of New Hampshire. “It’s a huge opportunity for this area to get that kind of expertise,” said Patrick Barcus, director of business development for AquaGreen. Patrick Barcus and Paul Barcus are brothers. Barcus said the old Island Golf Center property is well-suited to a hatchery because it’s close to Santa Rosa Sound and the Gulf of Mexico. “For a hatchery to work, you’ve got to be close to a pass,” he said. “The farther you get away … your water quality goes down.” Barcus said the 4.4-acre parcel is among a handful of properties AquaGreen is considering for its marine life center and hatchery. The project “is not contingent” on leasing the Island Golf Center land, he added. “Hatcheries, if managed properly, are job incubators,” Barcus said. “I look at the hatchery as the start of the aquaculture industry in this area.” AquaGreen has proposed paying the county $75,000 a year to lease the 4.4 acres for 10 years with two 10-year renewal options and an annual 3.5 percent increase every five years. Dominion Capital also has pledged to donate a percentage of its profits — a market value of $36,000 — annually to AquaGreen. Both development proposals must be approved by Okaloosa County Commissioners. AquaGreen and Dominion Capital representatives will make presentations to commissioners at their June 5 and June 19 meetings.