In 2022, the city of Gulf Shores approved a contract to design and construct a brand-new justice center that would replace the current police station, and combine the police department, jail and municipal courts under one roof.

However, at last week's city council work session meeting, Mayor Robert Craft announced that the city has recently decided to retrofit the former Sacred Heart hospital building with the justice center, instead of building a new facility.

According to Craft, after the city received bids in December 2023 for a new building, all of the bids came in significantly over-budget, prompting the city to change course.

"It came in significantly over budget, and in an effort to get something done quickly we are working with the same architect that designed that building to retrofit the Sacred Heart building that we bought and we own, and put that in the same position we were planning on the other," Craft said. "Just move it to a site where we don't have to build a building and we take advantage of a building we already own."

Craft also said that more information and a new contract for the project are in the works, and should be presented soon at an upcoming city council work session meeting.

About the project:
In May 2022, the city of Gulf Shores approved a contract to design and construct a brand-new justice center that would replace the current police station, and combine the police department, jail and municipal courts under one roof.

At the time, former City Engineer Mark Acreman said city officials had already been working on the project for several years.

"This has been a multi-year process to get to this point," Acreman said. "In year one, which was 2019, we hired Matrix Consulting Group to perform a citywide staffing and facilities needs assessment. In their final report, which was received in 2020, the number one recommendation for new city facilities was a new justice center/police station facility. This was the highest recommendation out of the group, and it is the highest need."

He said that while Gulf Shores has improved many city buildings, the police station has not changed and cannot be expanded.

"The majority of the city's facilities are relatively new except for the police station," Acreman said. "That facility was built, I believe in the late '70s, early '80s and has not had much expansion capabilities in the past year. We've pretty much maxed it out probably 30 years ago and we've not been able to expand it since."

Additionally, Mayor Robert Craft added that the center has been needed by law enforcement and courts for many years.

"Obviously, it's an old, outdated facility and we've completed a lot of other things, but we're here and I know you've been patient and I appreciate that, and I know you deserve something like this and it's going to be a great opportunity for us to provide the right atmosphere for you to work out of, but also the right and appropriate way to deal with our courts," Craft said. "This is a big deal for the city. It's a big important process."

At the time, Acreman said the design costs were projected to be $2.97 million, however he believed that to only be approximately 10% of the final cost.