Group ask court to block demolition of Malcolm Yonge Gym as it seeks city-wide referendum

A group of citizens is seeking to block the city from tearing down the Malcolm Yonge Gym.

Pensacola activist and former 2018 mayoral candidate Jonathan Green filed a petition in Escambia County Circuit Court on Thursday seeking an emergency temporary restraining order to halt the demolition of the Malcolm Yonge Gym.

The Pensacola City Charter allows citizens to challenge any non-budgetary or pay decision by the City Council by forming a committee of 10 voters who collect at least 10% of registered city voter signatures in 60 days.

Vote: Pensacola City Council stands by its decision to tear down the Malcolm Yonge Gym

If enough signatures are collected, the charter requires the City Council to reconsider the decision. If the council upholds its previous decision, then the group can force a city-wide referendum on the issue.

No previous attempts to challenge a City Council decision since the charter was adopted in 2010 have been successful.

Green asked the court to issue a temporary restraining order for at least 60 days to give the group enough time to organize the committee and collect the needed petitions to force a city-wide referendum on the issue.

The City Council voted 6-1 last week to ratify its decision as the Community Redevelopment Agency to tear down the old gym despite a public outcry over the loss of indoor recreation space.

The 63-year-old building was deemed unsafe last year by city engineers. The building was under a 20-year lease with Lighthouse Christian Academy.

The lease was canceled, and the city determined that bringing the building back to be usable by the public would cost more than $3 million.

An organized effort to try to save the gym was launched with supporters of the basketball and tutoring organization James B. Washington Education and Sports Inc. arguing they had quotes from experts that the building could be saved for less than $240,000.

City engineers disputed those numbers, and the council approved the demolition.

Pensacola Mayor D.C. Reeves told the News Journal the city is aware of the petition and will respond accordingly.

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Malcolm Yonge Gym demolition could be on hold as group seeks to block