How can Niceville best utilize old Mullet Festival site? City manager discussing with Eglin

NICEVILLE — Based on recent direction from the City Council, City Manager Lannie Corbin soon plans to talk with Eglin Air Force Base officials about whether the city can better utilize the Eglin-owned property that for decades served as the city’s Mullet Festival site.

The roughly 45-acre property is on the northeast corner of East College Boulevard and North State Road 85.

The annual Boggy Bayou Mullet Festival premiered in 1976 at the White Point military recreation area near what is now Bluewater Bay. A few years later, the fest began taking place at the property by SR 85 and College Boulevard and continued to be held there until its final year of 2019, when it became known as Boggy Fest. The annual celebration featured a traditional fish fry served up with big-name country entertainers such as Kenny Rogers and Tanya Tucker.

In late 2020, Corbin and other festival leaders decided to hold no more festivals after citing declining revenues and attendance in recent years, as well as struggles tied to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Corbin on Tuesday said that a ball field and other fields at the old festival grounds often are used by local baseball, football and soccer programs. Otherwise, the overall site has been underutilized since the annual mullet fest ended, he said.

The city has managed to renew five-year leases of the overall site with Eglin since the festival first began, Corbin said.

“Recreational-type activities are the only things that can go on there,” Corbin said about the current lease stipulations. “I would be surprised if Eglin would allow anything more than additional recreational properties (such as additional ball fields) on that property. Eglin would probably be more open to having more organized activities like sports, but probably not for permanent buildings or anything like that.”

He said he plans to talk with base officials sometime after Memorial Day about utilizing the overall property better, possibly with a longer-term lease. That conversation, he said, might take place after Eglin undergoes its change in command next month.

Brig. Gen. Scott Cain became the commander of the 96th Test Wing and Eglin’s commander in the summer of 2019. The change in command is set for June 30.

When he meets with Eglin officials, Corbin said he also plans to ask whether a large Eglin-owned property bounded by State Road 285 to the west, the State Road 293 bypass to the north, East College Boulevard to the south and Forest Road to the east could be leased by the city for recreational purposes. Corbin estimated that this property covers about 300 acres.

Last month, the Niceville City Council unanimously agreed to a motion by Councilwoman Cathy Alley to have Corbin talk with Eglin officials on exploring the potential greater use of the old festival site and the possible use of the much larger property east of SR 285.

Alley made her motion after noting she had recently read a newspaper story on the Freedom Beacon Tech Park project on Eglin-owned land in Fort Walton Beach.

In late 2017, 52 acres of Eglin-owned land north of Lewis Turner Boulevard and west of the Okaloosa County Courthouse Annex were annexed into Fort Walton Beach from an unincorporated part of the county for the mixed-use project, which is led by local developer Jay Odom.

Odom secured a 50-year lease from the Air Force for the property so he can use it for his $250 million project. Last month, Fort Walton Beach officials approved the building permit for 312 luxury apartments that will be a major part of the development.

The project also will include a 126-room Home2 Suites by Hilton hotel and conference center, restaurants and other businesses, offices and a 4-acre park.

Alley on Tuesday referred questions about the potential future of Niceville’s old festival grounds to Niceville Mayor Dan Henkel, who could not immediately be reached for comment.

This article originally appeared on Northwest Florida Daily News: Niceville considers uses of Boggy Bayou Mullet Festival site at Eglin