Appleyard: Who was Roger Scott?
John Appleyard
News Journal correspondent
Each day, hundreds of motorists traveling north on 12th Avenue toward the airport pass a direction sign which identifies entry to the Roger Scott Sorts Complex. The sign is weathered, suggesting that it has present for some time, and that is correct. However, nothing nearby tells the motorist (or others who might be interested) who Roger Scott was, and how his name became associated with a city sports facility. That story is different, and goes back in time.
In the mid-20th century, Scott held major responsibilities with Gulf Power Company, overseeing many details of the company's physical expansion and maintenance of several types. Such work placed Scott in charge of many materials, including power poles. His company peers said that Scott did an exceptional job.
Roger Scott also loved sports, just about any variety, and into the post-war world, the city of Pensacola was in the process of broadening its sports programs. The same was true of other community programs at the YMCA, Salvation Army and growing communities. On occasion, the needs of those groups and the willingness of Scott to be helpful made good things happen. When a used power pole was needed, Scott usually could provide an answer. The same was true of needs involving lighting fixtures. However, Scott always made certain that his own company's needs did not suffer. Overall, Gulf Power's people, too, were interested in seeing the sports programs progress. Scott became a member of the YMCA's board and he was an adviser to the City Recreation Board. Year by year, good things happened, which encouraged Little League and similar programs.
In time, Roger Scott left us, and not long after, the city began a new, significant sports facility. This was to be near the airport, where for years, a landfill had been a focus of criticism from airport officials and residents of the growing Cordova Park. In 1963, the city council, Mayor Charles Perry Mason and City Manager Homer Reed took steps to implement a plan which initially had two phases. Once the landfill had been cleared, a tennis center was put in place, a facility which would later be enlarged. The second phase on site was to be a par-three golf course. However, the departure of Manager Reed sidetracked that effort. However, a part three was to come.
Over time, the city had been served by a succession of able recreations directors: Julian Olsen, Jimmy Hitzman, "Red" Vickery and Jody Skelton. Collectively, these men laid plans to substitute a series of baseball diamonds for the golf links. To the present, this series of beautifully prepared fields are the stage for teams of many ages. In the spring, family cars by the hundreds park nearby to watch young players from T-ball through teenagers and more. At times, the fields are used also for soccer. And as the original plan had foreseen, more tennis courts have been added, some beautifully lighted, as Roger Scott would have wished.
As the first stage of the 1960s plans finalized, city leaders agreed that it was appropriate that it be named for the man who had done so much in the early days to encourage sports. Happily, the landfill is long gone and forgotten. What is now in place serves many every week, young and not so young. Roger Scott is remembered today by only a few; what he did for city sports helps us remember what one person's works can mean.