The Downtown Improvement Board, an agency that works to improve Pensacola's commercial business district, is considering a plan to expand its current 44-block area.

The expansion is necessary in order for downtown Pensacola to better compete and position itself to take advantage of new opportunities, agency executive director Frank Kimbrough said.

"The DIB believes that expanding the downtown district is one significant way to accomplish that goal," Kimbrough said.

Cemetery donation nixed

The expansion also is important to allow the agency greater participation across the city, said DIB board chairman Dan Lozier, who joined Kimbrough Monday in a presentation before City Council members at their Committee of the Whole meeting.

"When St. Michael's cemetery was recently vandalized, the board wanted to make a donation for the apprehension of the suspect, but we were told that we couldn't make the donation because the cemetery isn't in the district," Lozier said.

The current boundaries and definition of the downtown district have not been altered or amended since its designation in 1972, Kimbrough said.

"A lot has changed in our center city since that time, and significant additional change appears to be on the horizon," Kimbrough said.

Targeted areas include: Belmont- DeVilliers, Gateway, Seville/Aragon and Waterfront.

Additional property tax

If a majority of property owners agree to become a part of the DIB, they will be assessed an additional 2 mills on their property.

Pensacola developer Bob Montgomery was involved several years ago in the transformation of the former Aragon Court public housing site in downtown Pensacola into a residential community.

"I think a lot of property owners, particularly those who own a business at Aragon, would be pleased to join the DIB, because it's an agency that has been pretty progressive and has a long history of being proactive," Montgomery said.

A series of public hearings and a referendum will be conducted before the district can be expanded.