Parks and recreation are getting a boost in Spanish Fort.
The Spanish Fort City Council awarded a bid for phase two at Integrity Park and awarded a bid for master planning of the proposed Honor …
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Parks and recreation are getting a boost in Spanish Fort.
The Spanish Fort City Council awarded a bid for phase two at Integrity Park and awarded a bid for master planning of the proposed Honor Park Monday, Feb. 19 during the regular council meeting.
Integrity Park, on Jimmy Faulkner Drive, is a youth sports and recreation park. The first phase of the park was completed in 2018 and included two regulation-size sports fields, one smaller multipurpose practice field, a concession stand, restroom facilities, picnic tables and a maintenance building.
The council unanimously approved awarding the bid for phase two to Triptek Construction LLC. for just over $5 million.
“It’s a big step,” said Spanish Fort Mayor Michael McMillian. “It basically eats up the rest of that property up there on Jimmy Faulkner. I think this is a project worth doing. Soccer and football are exploding in our city and we need more fields.”
According to the bid documents, the contractor has 270 calendar days from the start date to achieve substantial completion of the project, but a start date is not listed on the documents within the press packet. Phase two will include:
The council also approved awarding Thompson Engineering, Inc. a contract to develop a master plan for the proposed Honor Park project.
Back in 2022, the city of Spanish Fort purchased just over 140-acres on the Mobile-Tensaw Delta. The property was purchased using a $8.5 million grant through the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act.
At the time of the announcement, McMillian was quoted as saying, “The plans initially are for it to be a family-friendly park that will have picnicking, walking trails, kayaks, fishing piers, those kinds of things, so the public will have access to the water in our city so that’s a beautiful thing that this city is moving forward to preserving that.”
The 140-acre property is divided by Alabama 225 with a 97-acre parcel and a 45-acre parcel. According to Thompson Engineering proposal, the focus of the master planning will be on the larger, 97-acre parcel.
“This is the first step of getting Honor Park moving in the right direction, designing something and the citizens having input on this project,” McMillian said.
Thompson Engineering’s proposal outlined four tasks they will complete at a cost of $115,000. The breakdown includes topographic and boundary survey, public engagement, pre-design phase and master planning phase.
The public engagement portion of the project will include two in-person meetings that will allow residents to weigh in with what amenities they would like to see at the future park.
“The council could draw up a park if we wanted to, but we feel it is important for the citizens of our city to have a big voice on what’s going on up there,” McMillian said.
