Panama City Downtown Vision & Neighborhood Plan

Horsley Witten Group collaborated with Dover, Kohl and Partners on the Panama City Strategic Vision for Downtown and its Waterfront; Neighborhoods Plan for Glenwood, Millville, and St. Andrews; and Retrofit of Harrison Avenue – all as part of the city’s Hurricane Michael Recovery Plan.

Opportunity

The Downtown Vision and Neighborhoods Plans direct future growth while also preserving the city’s history, connection to the waterfront, and strong sense of community. Our staff led the plans’ sustainability and resilient infrastructure elements, including watershed analysis, coastal adaptation design, urban green infrastructure design, and design of public open spaces.

Solution

Implementation of the plan is underway, including a retrofit of Harrison Avenue, the city’s main downtown commercial street. A shared plaza is proposed at the downtown center, to give a signature look to the city’s heart. The first phase of retrofit has been constructed, including a flush pedestrian street experience and extensive tree planting including systems to provide runoff filtering and root zone structural support.