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Pensacola State College celebrates a major gift

PSC Gift
Bob Barrett
Pensacola State College staff and representatives of four local families present a million dollar gift to P.S.C.

It was all smiles at Pensacola State College Tuesday morning as the school celebrated a major gift from four local families.

“Between my brother and me, we probably spent 20 years in college,” said David Bear. He and representatives of the other families announced a combined gift of $1 million to Pensacola State. “We appreciate the other families, we appreciate Jim Reeves bringing this opportunity to us, to be part of this. I think this is a big deal for our community” said Bear.

“I’ve been assured this is going to be a beautiful building, and it’s going to have a long side so it can get all those names on it," said Jim Reeves, a Pensacola attorney, former city councilman, and state representative.

In addition to the Reeves family and the Bear Family Foundation, the Pete Moore family and the Jo and Bill Jones family have each contributed $250,000 to make up the million-dollar gift. It’s all part of a major construction project going on at P.S.C.

"This facility will be state-of-the-art,” said Pensacola State College President Dr. Ed Meadows. “The ‘Bear, Jones, Moore and Reeves Building’ is under construction right now. It is about 20 months away from completion. It is a cyber-security, mathematics and computer science building, so a STEM building.”

Construction on the 45,000-square-foot building began in January and will replace the Baars Building, the oldest on the Pensacola State College campus.

The gift will support scholarships and certificate programs in I.T., computer science, and cybersecurity in the new facility.

Bob Barrett has been a radio broadcaster since the mid 1970s and has worked at stations from northern New York to south Florida and, oddly, has been able to make a living that way. He began work in public radio in 2001. Over the years he has produced nationally syndicated programs such as The Environment Show and The Health Show for Northeast Public Radio's National Productions.