Parking Paradise

It's a hallowed tradition on Pensacola Beach for developers to name monstrosities they build after the scenic or environmental jewel they've just destroyed. White Sands, Beachside, Sea Horse, Palm Beach, Emerald Isle, etc. etc.

So if this isn't a tardy April Fool's joke, it should be named "Most Beautiful Beach in the World" Parking Garage:

Gulf Breeze Naval architect and regular beachgoer William Preston... has submitted plans to the Santa Rosa Island Authority for a 600-space, five-deck, floating parking garage that would cost about the same as building a land-based parking garage: $8,000 to $12,000 per parking space. Using that formula, a 600-space floating garage could cost between $4.8 million and $7.2 million.

Preston makes a lot of extravagant claims for his idea. Most of them, interestingly enough, involve towing it somewhere else. For example: "It could be moved out of harm's way during a hurricane," he promises.

Yeah, right. They said the same thing in Mississippi about floating casinos. That worked out well, right?

Someone by the name of Jim Cox is quoted as exclaiming, "Wow. Thanks for a great out-of-the-box thinking."

Either Mr. Cox is a master of bitter irony or he's badly confused. The notion of plopping a floating parking garage down on Pensacola Beach isn't out of the box. It's out of the lunatic bin.