Pensacola, FL- The ECUA marked the development of a new water supply point Thursday with a groundbreaking and renaming ceremony, which will honor past ECUA Board member, Mr. Elvin McCorvey. Mr. McCorvey’s family, fraternity brothers of Kappa Alpha Psi, Inc., and ECUA representatives gathered at the site of the future well to honor Mr. McCorvey’s memory and officially dedicate this project as the Elvin McCorvey Memorial Well.

McCorvey served the ECUA customers of Escambia County from 1997 to 2019. In those 22 years, he served five years as the Board Chairman, three years as Board Vice Chairman, one year as Citizen's Advisory Committee (CAC) Chairman and four years as CAC Vice Chairman. A graduate of Florida A&M University, McCorvey earned a degree in Political Science and a Master's Degree in Educational Leadership, which led to a long and meaningful career with the Escambia County School District (ECSD) where he was the first African-American teacher at Workman Middle School. He later served the ECSD as an assistant principal at Woodham High School and as a principal at Wedgewood and Workman Middle Schools and Booker T. Washington High School. McCorvey was also Director of Staff Development at the school district, where he was responsible for the recruitment and retention of teachers while also overseeing the Principals' Pool.

Mr. Larry Williams, current ECUA Board member for District Three, spoke about McCorvey’s passion and contributions to his community. Williams said, “Mr. McCorvey did so much for so many in public, as well as personally. It is indeed an honor to commemorate his life of service to Escambia County and particularly District Three.”

ECUA’s West Well Water Treatment Facility has served its surrounding community reliably for 75 years and is currently located 1420 W. Cervantes Street, several blocks away from the existing elevated storage tank that supplies potable water to area residents. The well was scheduled for an overhaul but its existing site is too small for the needed replacement facility. An opportunity arose for ECUA to purchase the property adjacent to the nearby West Tank, located at 1313 W. Gonzalez Street and consolidate the well and storage tank facilities onto one site. This project provides the opportunity for a new water treatment facility that will include a Granular Activated Carbon (GAC) filtration system as well as a new, 3-million-gallon ground storage tank to replace the current elevated half-million-gallon tank, whose added capacity will amply serve the community’s future potable water needs.

The multi-phased project is expected to be completed in approximately 24 months at an estimated cost of $12 million.

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