PLANNING AND DESIGN SERVICES FOR A 50,000 S.F. ADDITION TO OKALOOSA COUNTY’S RIGDON CENTER

Background The proposed project is to build an approximately 50,000 s.f. addition as new event space to the current event facility, plus immediate site improvements/coordination necessary to support the new building and connect to existing facility. The current facility has approximately 47,000 s.f. of existing event space, plus another 20,000 s.f. of storage. It is intent of the County that the bulk of the new space built would be dividable, multi-purpose main event space of approximately 35K-40K s.f. capable of supporting a variety of events ranging from large round table seated events for at least 3,000 people to a variety of sporting events from cheer, dance, volleyball, wrestling, pickleball, and many others. It would have high ceilings (40ft plus), durable hard surface floors, a mezzanine, and elevator(s). Although it would be a metal building congruous with existing buildings on site, it would be hardened for resiliency and potential use pre or post hurricane disasters. Flexibility would be built into the interior space for adaptability with an eye towards minimizing operational costs, ease of setup/takedown, as well as durability and maintenance. Plans for a similar concept for a larger, 150,000 s.f. facility recently built in Gainesville, Florida are provided for reference (Attachment C). A tour of the existing Rigdon Center Facility will be provided on June 4, 2026, at 10am. An expanded Rigdon Center, with a new 50K s.f. multi-purpose event space, combined with the other amenities in the immediate vicinity, would create a complimentary symbiotic facility and environment like no other in the Florida Panhandle - positioning the destination to host an expanded array of events and elevate tourism's impact on the local economy. The existing recently renovated event space/buildings would be complementary and capable of being utilized to host vendors, pre-event space, breakout sessions, temporary storage, micro events, and other uses. Overall, the campus consists of 20.4 acres of outdoor space for events or parking and there is another 15.8 acres of other contiguous County property with parking (over 1,500 spaces) and open space. Additionally, the City of Fort Walton Beach has a large asphalt pad that if coordinated, on a limited basis, could host some events or overflow parking. Outside of the 36+ acres of County property, there is private adjoining property (Freedom Tech) with two new hotels (over 200 rooms total), Apartments, Office Space, and with up to 4 restaurants planned for the future. Across the street, there are two well-kept 18-hole city golf courses, with a public restaurant in the clubhouse. In comparison, the existing Destin-FWB Convention Center on Okaloosa Island is a finished masonry building with carpeted interiors. The Convention Center has a total of 32,000 s.f., with a dividable main room at 22,000 s.f. It can comfortably support about 1,800 individuals for a sit-down event like the annual "All Sports" Banquet. Although the Convention Center is a quality facility, it does have some notable limitations such as: limited parking (only 660 spaces), no connected or adjacent hotel rooms (across a busy street), a relatively small amount of useable outdoor event space, and it lacks many of the facility amenities to support most sporting events (was not designed with that in mind). Additionally, some of the successful military and sporting events the County currently host are outgrowing this venue strictly based on capacity/size limitations. A tour of this facility will be provided on June 4th, 2026, at 1pm.