GULF SHORES – City officials are making plans for a 127-acre site that includes a new park and connector road off Coastal Gateway Boulevard north of the Intracoastal Waterway.

The Gulf Shores City Council was scheduled to vote Monday, Oct. 24, to approve a professional services proposal with Dix.Hite + Partners for design services and planning for Coastal Gateway Park.

Under the proposal, the Birmingham company would receive almost $1.77 million to create a master plan for the park, design a north-south connector road and design the first phase of the project.

"This first item is a very long time coming and it's a very important part of our community, particularly for residents living in north Gulf Shores," Grant Brown, city recreation and cultural affairs director, said.

He said the project began about six years ago with the donation of 46 acres along Coastal Gateway Boulevard. In June 2021, the city began a public planning exercise – "Let's Build a Park," to allow residents to express opinions about how the property should be used. At the end of 2021, the city had an opportunity to buy another 81 acres at the site, creating a total of 127 acres for public use.

He said the proposal will allow the city to develop a master plan for the entire 127 acres.

"The elements that would include would be a road, a north-south connector from Coastal Gateway Boulevard to Oak Road East, or County Road 6, elements for an elementary school, potentially a fire hall, utilities company, a location for a north water tower, plus all the wonderful city amenities and recreation opportunities that we would like to see over the many years as we would build out with this 127-acre park," Brown said.

Mayor Robert Craft said one priority could be the connector road.

"I would suspect that the first thing that we decide we need is the road," Craft said. "Just having an alternate access north and south other than 59. Any time we can do that, it provides another way to get from Point A to Point B and so that may happen first, but to build that road, you've got to make sure you've got a master plan and the road is appropriately positioned so you've got the pods of development for the different things you want to build."

Brown said the city has $10.9 million budgeted for the park project through 2025. The total includes $300,000 budgeted for community park development in the current fiscal year and another $10.6 million between 2023 and 2025.

He said that total does not include $6.9 million in city funds put together for the north-south connector road that would link Coastal Gateway Boulevard to Oak Road East.