Realty Executives Gulf Coast
Last May, Alabama unveiled a new Interpretive Center and East Pedestrian Bridge, a $7 million project that is only the first of many Gulf State Park enhancements to come. The center and bridge is nicknamed the “gateway” into the park, which boasts 6,150 acres of sunshine and beauty. Part Two of the $140 million “enhancement project” is a new conference center and Hilton Hotel, adding 350 rooms for sun-and-sand seeking vacationers, anticipated to open November 1.
Chris Blankenship, commissioner of the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, hopes that the Interpretive Center will give insight to visitors and highlight the many things to appreciate about the area. “The Interpretive Center will help explain what makes the State Park so great,” Blankenship said to AL.com.To Blankenship, Gulf State Park is more than just a beach. It holds personal sentiment. “I’ve been coming here since I was 3 years old, when we moved to Mobile from north Alabama,” Blankenship said at the bridge opening, West Alabama Watchman reports. “I have such great memories of the campground, the beach, the old pavilion and the old lodge and conference center. This is a great place. My daughter was married right out here on the beach. But this park is more than just the beach.At Gulf State Park, we have dunes, lakes, marshes, maritime forests, uplands, pine tree groves, oak bottoms, deer, raccoons, alligators, beach mice, insects like butterflies, and birds of all kinds, including birds of prey.”
Visitors can expect to be blown away with all that the Interpretive Center has to offer. General purpose rooms, a covered porch featuring interactive exhibits, amphitheater seating and benches with a fantastic view of the beach, restrooms, and more. It is the best starting point for trails that loop throughout the park – all 28 miles of them. The center will also vividly describe the park’s natural history and evolution of the park’s ecology. Not only is the Interpretive Center meant to educate visitors, it is also environmentally friendly. The building has been certified as a “Living Building”. “The building is made from materials that are safe for the planet, safe for the people and are all sourced here,” explains Bill Bennett of Valor Hospitality, the company under contract to facilitate the park’s new additions. “The Living Building designation is very significant. In January of 2018, there were only 16 Living Buildings in the entire world, and we’re lucky to have one here on the Gulf Coast of Alabama.”
The pedestrian bridge, which crosses over East Beach Boulevard, is a feature that piqued Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey’s enthusiasm. “It will serve as an entrance for our neighbors and partners in Gulf Shores,” Gov. Ivey said. “Let’s be honest,” Gov. Ivey added. “On a day like today, this is where everybody wants to be – in Gulf Shores. There’s no other place on the Gulf Coast that is more perfect and beautiful. That’s the reason we want to protect and continue to grow this part of our state.” The East Pedestrian Bridge is one of two bridges included in the enhancement project, and is intended to vastly improve the safety of beach passage and increase ease of beach access.
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