New Daphne Pier at Bayfront Park Would Stretch 1,200 Feet With $5 Million GoMESA Grant

DAPHNE, Ala. — A new Daphne pier planned for Bayfront Park would reach about 1,200 feet into Mobile Bay, more than six times the length of the pier it replaces. Most of the cost would be covered by a $5 million federal offshore-revenue grant awarded to the city this summer.

City officials went over the grant during a Public Works Committee meeting Monday, Oct. 5. The project, called the Jubilee Recreation and Fishing Pier, is estimated to cost about $6 million. Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act money, known as GoMESA, would cover $5 million, and the city would set aside $1 million for the rest.

The last step is for the Daphne City Council to approve the grant agreement and authorize Mayor Robin LeJeune to sign it. LeJeune said that should happen at the council’s next meeting.

A longer, concrete pier modeled on Fairhope’s

The new pier will be built as part of the larger Bayfront Park renovation, which broke ground last November. It will replace the park’s original pier, built around 2003, which is about 180 feet long. At roughly 1,200 feet, the new structure would extend much farther over the bay.

LeJeune said the pier will be made of concrete and will be similar in construction and width to the Fairhope Municipal Pier just down the shoreline. Fairhope’s pier stretches about a quarter-mile into Mobile Bay and is one of the Eastern Shore’s best-known landmarks, popular for fishing, walking and watching the sunset.

Concrete piers generally cost more to build than wooden ones, but they tend to hold up better to salt water, marine borers and storms, and they usually need less maintenance over time. On a coast that sees regular tropical weather, durability is a big consideration for public waterfront structures.

“It all continues to improve our bayfront, bayfront access, people to enjoy the bay and all that,” LeJeune said. “With what we’ve done down there with the amphitheater and really the expansion of Bayfront Park is just incredible. The current pier is dwarfed by the park now so it’s something that we know we want to do and continue to improve access for our citizens.”

How the project will be paid for

The pier was among the projects awarded GoMESA money in August. This year, more than 20 projects across coastal Alabama received a combined $52 million in GoMESA funding.

The city’s financial plan for the pier breaks down like this:

• Estimated total cost: About $6 million.
• GoMESA grant: $5 million.
• City share: About $1 million, which LeJeune said should not exceed $1 million.

Because the grant covers most of the cost, the city’s share is relatively small for a structure of this size. The council’s vote on the grant agreement is the step that formally commits the city to the project’s terms.

What GoMESA is

The Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act became law in 2006. It shares a portion of federal revenue from certain offshore oil and gas leases in the Gulf with the four oil- and gas-producing Gulf states: Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. Some of the money goes to the states and some to their coastal counties and parishes. Another portion goes to the federal Land and Water Conservation Fund for state outdoor recreation grants.

The law limits how the money can be used. Eligible uses include coastal protection and conservation, coastal restoration, hurricane protection, mitigating damage to fish, wildlife and natural resources, carrying out approved coastal management plans, and reducing the onshore effects of offshore energy activity. In coastal Alabama, GoMESA dollars have helped pay for a range of projects in recent years, including land conservation, restoration work and improved public access to the water.

Revenue sharing to the states increased significantly after the law’s second phase began in the late 2010s. That has made GoMESA a steady source of money for coastal projects alongside other programs, such as funding tied to the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

Bayfront Park’s transformation

Bayfront Park sits along Daphne’s Mobile Bay shoreline and is one of the city’s main public waterfront spaces. The renovation underway there has included a new amphitheater and a major expansion of the park. LeJeune said the park has grown so much that the old pier now looks small next to it.

The Bayfront Park project is on schedule to be finished in April 2027. The new pier is part of that larger effort to make the shoreline a bigger destination for residents and visitors.

The timing fits with a milestone for the city. Daphne is marking its 100th birthday with a yearlong centennial celebration, and its new centennial branding debuted this week. A new pier and a renovated bayfront park would give residents new places to gather during and after that celebration.

Why the ‘Jubilee’ name fits

The pier’s name nods to one of Daphne’s best-known traditions. The city calls itself the “Jubilee City” after the jubilees that happen along the Eastern Shore of Mobile Bay. During a jubilee, flounder, crabs, shrimp and other sea life crowd into the shallow water near shore, usually on summer nights or early mornings when conditions in the bay leave the deeper water low on oxygen. When word spreads that a jubilee is happening, residents grab nets, buckets and gigs and head to the water.

Jubilees are rare. Mobile Bay is one of very few places in the world where they happen regularly, and they have long been part of Eastern Shore life. Calling the new structure the Jubilee Recreation and Fishing Pier connects it to that history and to the fishing culture that still draws people to the bay.

What a longer pier means for residents

A pier of roughly 1,200 feet would give anglers access to deeper water than the current, shorter pier allows. It would also give walkers, families and sightseers a long promenade over the bay. Mobile Bay’s Eastern Shore is known for its sunsets over the water, and Fairhope’s pier draws crowds for that reason. Daphne leaders hope a similar structure will do the same for their bayfront.

Better public access to the water has been a theme of the Bayfront Park work, and LeJeune said the pier is the next step. “It’s something that we know we want to do and continue to improve access for our citizens,” he said.

What’s next

The next step is the City Council vote on the GoMESA grant agreement, expected at the council’s next meeting. If the council approves the agreement and authorizes the mayor to sign it, the city can move forward with the pier as part of the Bayfront Park project.

City officials have not announced when construction on the pier would begin or when it would open. Residents can follow the project through Daphne City Council and committee meetings, which are open to the public, and through updates on the City of Daphne’s website.

Key facts

• Project: Jubilee Recreation and Fishing Pier at Daphne’s Bayfront Park.
• Length: About 1,200 feet, replacing a roughly 180-foot pier built around 2003.
• Construction: Concrete, similar in build and width to the Fairhope Municipal Pier.
• Cost: About $6 million, including $5 million in GoMESA funds and about $1 million from the city.
• Next step: City Council approval of the grant agreement.
• Bayfront Park project completion: Scheduled for April 2027.