East Milton's AGRI-PLEX just keeps on growing. Here's what's coming next

Santa Rosa County is expanding and upgrading its AGRI-PLEX with plans to bring more events, opportunities and education activities to the area.

The AGRI-PLEX was developed as part of an effort to make the county an an agricultural hub in Northwest Florida. In November 2021, the county unveiled the AGRI-PLEX's exhibit hall, capping off a final piece in a project which includes the June Ates Arena, a livestock barn and 25 acres of land for the fair.

Moving forward, the county is looking to utilize both county and state funding — potentially including $552,000 from the Florida Departments of Agriculture and Consumer Services — to allow for greater capacity at the East Milton location, with plans to build another structure on the property.

According to Santa Rosa County Fair Board volunteer project manager Kyle Holley, funding will pay for expanded vendor hookups and water lines to support events like the Renaissance and agricultural fairs, as well as support animal trailers.

Then there is the goal to add in the new Program Support Building.

"It's programmed to really build capacity for both the (agricultural) education events, but also disaster recovery. So, it will provide some additional storage for emergency management and staging of state-wide supplies," Holley said.

The AGRI-PLEX project has been a long time coming, starting with the June Ates arena that was built in 2013. Then, $643,000 in grants from the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services was designated for the clearing and fencing of 25 acres, and the exhibit hall and a livestock barn were approved in 2017. A combination of multi-year planning and the coronavirus pandemic slowed down construction of the exhibit hall.

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Even while pieces have been under construction, the AGRI-PLEX took on the role of expanding the exposure to agricultural culture in the community. At the livestock barn, middle and high school age kids can partake in 100-day livestock projects by overseeing a cow or pig in order to get it to "showing weight" before it is auctioned off during the spring fair.

Now those opportunities and access are expanding even further with the upcoming upgrades, which Holley said have always been the "dream" when imaging what the AGRI-PLEX could become.

"We just kind of had some sort of a hope on (the next phases). But now we've gotten to the point where it really is more of a reality," Holley said.

The East Milton Park — which houses the AGRI-PLEX — sits near Santa Rosa Industrial Park East. County Economic Development Director Shannon Ogletree told the News Journal there is a plan to connect the industrial park and the East Milton Park with a new road.

"It will give our tenants the ability to come out to different entry points just in case there was ever a train stoppage or to just get out to the light a little bit easier," Ogletree said.

Ogletree said design is wrapping up now and will then go to bid. Once a company is chosen, construction is expected to take about a year. The roadway will bisect the industrial park and help provide access throughout the property.

"There's additional property out there ... (and) this road will help us get to everything," Ogletree said.

Holley also stressed how important agricultural land is to Florida, and especially communities in Santa Rosa County.

"It's very important that we attract small farm and large-lot lifestyles into and underneath where our military flies," Holley said. "So, from a growth perspective, we need the kind of growth in and underneath where our military mission is because it's the most compatible."

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: AGRI-PLEX at East Milton Park to expand with new building