Mobile County To Reopen Bayfront Park On March 9

The Mobile County Commission will reopen Bayfront Park at 15961 Dauphin Island Parkway in Coden on March 9 with a free community celebration from 2 to 4 p.m. Visitors can expect to see a newly constructed, approximately 900-ft-long pocket beach, a new nautical-themed playground, new parking areas, new pavilions, new walking paths, a new restroom and park office building and generally enhanced park infrastructure. The protected sandy beach is conducive to swimming, paddling, fishing and crabbing. Park gates will open at noon, and once reopened, park hours will be 8 a.m. to dusk. The improvements are funded with Deepwater Horizon natural resource damage settlement funds provided by the Alabama Trustee Implementation Group with the support and participation of the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. The project cost is approximately $9.5 million. Bayfront Park has long been an observation point on Alabama’s Coastal Birding Trail, and designated wetland conservation areas within the park will continue to be protected. Areas within the park posing safety concerns will be marked or closed as needed. Construction to rebuild Bayfront Park’s boardwalk should begin later this year, but that activity will not require the park’s closure.