Bayfront Park Grand Reopening Community Celebration

Posted on: Feb 28th, 2025 | Announcements Press Releases Featured News

MOBILE COUNTY, Ala. – The Mobile County Commission will reopen Bayfront Park on Sunday, March 9, with a free community celebration from 2 to 4 p.m.

Mobile County’s Bayfront Park is located at 15961 Dauphin Island Parkway, Coden, AL 36523.

The free community celebration will include a brief ribbon-cutting ceremony, music, face painting and other activities, plus free goody bags and food while supplies last. Visitors can expect to see:

a newly constructed, approximately 900-foot-long, pocket beach (protected sandy beach), conducive to swimming, paddling, fishing, and crabbing
new nautical-themed playground
new parking areas
new pavilions
new walking paths
new restroom and park office building
generally enhanced park infrastructure.

Community Celebration attendees are encouraged to be prepared for fun in the sun and on the new public beach, though pop-up tents are discouraged. Paddlers are welcome to bring their own kayak or canoe and launch from the beach. Park gates will open at noon on Sunday, March 9. To remain family-friendly, please note that alcohol is not permitted in Mobile County parks.

The brief program to reopen the park will feature special guest Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources Commissioner Chris Blankenship, District 3 Mobile County Commissioner Randall Dueitt, who has spearheaded the renovation of Bayfront Park, as well as Commissioners Merceria Ludgood and Connie Hudson.

Once reopened, Mobile County’s Bayfront Park hours will be 8 a.m. to dusk.

Mobile County’s Bayfront Park 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. The renovation of Bayfront Park helps the Mobile County Commission meet its goals for Deepwater Horizon funding: to repair and enhance coastal resources while ensuring that Alabama’s beautiful shoreline is stable and flourishing for future generations’ enjoyment.

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.

Mobile County’s Bayfront Park temporarily closed March 31, 2022 for construction as part of the Commission’s Parks Initiative. Construction was expected to last about a year. There were multiple sources of delay, such as supply chain delays and increases in materials costs stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic, which made it difficult to award bids, and some replanning was necessary.

Mobile County has multiple simultaneous adjacent projects in the area:

Dauphin Island Causeway Shoreline Restoration Project to restore approx. 3.3 miles of shoreline to its 1917 location and create about 100 acres of salt marsh from Bayfront Park to Cedar Point. More info: www.mobilecountyal.gov/dauphin-island-causeway-shoreline-restoration-project.
Cedar Point Pier will be closed for approximately four months beginning March 5 for accessibility and sustainability upgrades. More info: https://www.mobilecountyal.gov/latest-news/cedar-point-pier-closed-for-construction
Cedar Point Boat Ramp, funded by a 2023 $4.3 million State GOMESA grant provided by Gov. Ivey. The project will create a new launch on the west side of SR193 at Cedar Point with 50 boat parking spots. It is in the design and permitting phase of project development and construction could begin later in 2025.