Mobile Advances Plan To Develop Waterfront Parks

AL.com reported that the master plan for Mobile’s Peninsula area, which lies south of Interstate 10 along Dauphin Island Parkway, was recently updated. Its name comes from its boundaries: Mobile Bay to the east and Dog River to the west. The COVID-19 pandemic put the original plan on the back burner, and little progress has been made since. Attendees at a recent public meeting were encouraged to look at some preliminary options and express their preferences. Design work is to begin after a final concept is complete and the master plan has been updated. While there is no timeline for when construction will start, the immediate goal is to deliver a “shovel-ready” plan to the city, which will then line up funding and schedule the work. As before, the effort includes three distinct properties: McNally Park, an established city park that has a boat launch on the bayside and another boat launch on Perch Creek on its inland side; Perch Creek Preserve, a 96-acre tract protected by a conservation easement agreement between the South Alabama Land Trust and the city; and the Ziebach property, which was home to a water treatment plant on the bayshore north of the Dog River Bridge. This zone includes Helen Wood Park, a city property at the foot of the bridge that has been closed pending revitalization. Together, the three areas add up to approximately 190 acres with extensive waterfront. The general goal for the Perch Creek Preserve Parks District is to maximize natural access within the three zones by adding features such as nature trails, boardwalks, fishing piers and shoreline coves. Planners also want to develop walking, biking and water trails between the three zones.