PANAMA CITY The twisted wreckage of Jinks Middle School s gym was an early example of Hurricane Michael s devastating wrath to millions of Americans.
As of Monday, it s a sign of Bay County s endurance and recovery since the historic storm in 2018.
Bay District Schools officials unveiled Jinks new $7 million, 30,000-square-foot gym on Monday, a little more than two years after Hurricane Michael destroyed the previous one. A combination of insurance money and federal recovery aid will cover the cost.
After the Category 5 hurricane devastated the county, national media quickly used photos and videos of the crushed gym to illustrate the storm s power. Drone footage of the demolished top of the gym and the blown-apart walls circulated all over the country.
december 14th, 2010, the bay district school board in panama city, florida, is in the middle of its regular meeting. we d been talking about head lice. some of the mundane things we have to deal with. we were making really bad jokes like, this is nitpicky or this bugs me. i mean, we made really bad jokes. but the lighthearted mood is about to change. a man walks over to the wall and spray paints the letter v inside a circle. at first, the board members aren t quite sure what s happening. we were just all kind of in shock. i mean, we i didn t know what to think. but when the man turns to face the board, revealing a gun in his hand, there s no mistaking his intentions. i motion that everybody in this room except those behind the counter, hit the road.