Pensacola stormwater expansion to displace local radio tower, search for new site begins

PENSACOLA, Fla. -- The Long Hollow Stormwater Pond in Pensacola is officially expanding. The radio tower there will be torn down.

City council approved this Thursday in an effort to increase storm water capacity as part of its Hollis T. Williams storm water park project.

Now, there has to be a new location for the radio tower, and it can’t just go anywhere.

It holds one station, one AM radio station, and six FM stations, which are vital in emergencies.

"When the chips are down, like when we had a hurricane last week and we saw the tremendous devastation, it was local radio stations that kept in touch with what they could do to help their families," said Dave Hoxeng, owner of ADX Communications.

"When we have a really big storm, this bowl does fill up with water," he added. "So the city's thought is if they can dig it out bigger, they can store more water, and less water will flow downtown, which is a great idea."

Hoxeng and Robert Hill, who owns WRNE-AM 980, have no problem with the project itself. But it does bring up the question of where their stations will go, because the tower can't just go anywhere.

They say location and height of the tower are everything when it comes to broadcasting.

"It has to be a comparable height or we lose a tremendous amount of listening area," Hoxeng said.

"Especially FM broadcasters," Hill said. "That height is everything."

The city has identified a city-owned tower called the Edgewood Tower as a possibility -- but nothing is set in stone yet.

"Our concern has been that there's been no commitment from the city, other than to work on it, look at it, hope for it, to commit to getting us on that tower on the right height," Hoxeng said.

If they can't move towers, they'll have to build a new one, which will more than double the amount of time they need to relocate.

"The worst case and most expensive case is having to build another 400-foot tower," Hoxeng said. "To build a new tower, easily it would take a year because of all the permitting and all the stuff that's necessary."

The city hopes to tear down the tower in the next 12-18 months.

"We wouldn't want to be without a good place to broadcast from, when the next hurricane comes for instance," Hoxeng said.

Both Hoxeng and Hill say they feel good about the city's plans. They believe it will either move them or build them a new tower before this one is torn down.

"At the end it's gonna take time to do that and I just simply left it up to them to do the planning," Hill said.

Because this is a federal project, Hoxeng says that 100% of the funds to relocate would come from the federal government.