Visitors to the Foley Event Center and the Sports Tourism Complex are set to experience enhanced parking facilities following the approval of plans by Foley City Council.

The approved projects entail the paving of current parking sites and the addition of more spaces for vehicles, aimed at addressing current inadequacies in parking infrastructure.

During a recent council meeting, design work for the parking lots at the Event Center received unanimous approval. David Thompson, Foley's executive director of leisure services, outlined the proposed phased approach, prioritizing the repaving of existing parking spaces.

“We're trying to do it in phases where we'll do the north parking lot and then the south parking lot,” Thompson said. “The north parking lot is in a little worse shape.”

Thompson said the design work will also include planning additional parking spaces for the center.

“We are asking them to look at potentially adding some spaces as well for when we have large events,” Thompson said. “We had people parking on the grass last weekend (March 9-10). So we're looking at potentially adding another 20 spaces on each side as we go through this process. This will actually do the design process for both of them.”

According to Thompson, the current plan outlines improvements for the north parking lot within the current fiscal year, with work on the south lot slated to begin next year. Mayor Ralph Hellmich emphasized the urgency of addressing the north lot's condition, indicating its need for immediate repair.

“The northern one is one that most critically needs to be done,” Hellmich said. “They determined that neither one of them are to the point where there's going to have to be additional base work done, but that one's getting a little closer to potentially needing that. So we definitely know that we want to do the north side first and foremost.”

In addition to the Event Center's parking overhaul, the council also approved paving and drainage enhancements for the gravel parking lots at the Foley Sports Tourism Complex. Thompson highlighted the persistent issue of muddy conditions in these unpaved areas following heavy rains, impacting the visitor experience during sporting events.

“Our last four soccer events have been met with rain, which created a mess,” Thompson said. “I would like to go ahead and do some design work to actually make those asphalt parking lots as we move forward to something for five years. We have not had actual asphalt in the parking lot. I think it's something that needs to go with our fields.”

The comprehensive project involves paving the gravel lots, improving drainage systems and incorporating stormwater retention infrastructure to manage increased water runoff resulting from the new asphalt surfaces.