DAPHNE, Ala. — Daphne has received a $5 million GoMESA grant to build a new pier at Bayfront Park, adding another major piece to the city’s larger waterfront redevelopment push along Mobile Bay.
Mayor Robin LeJeune said the pier still has to be designed and permitted, but the hope is to extend the structure further out into Mobile Bay and connect it to a sand bar that ties into the park’s walking trail.
“So then you can actually make a full loop with the ability to walk and really enjoy the bay, and so that’s the initial concept that we have,” LeJeune said. “If you go out there now with all the improvements we’re doing to Bayfront, the pier kind of gets lost. It’s very small.”
Phase One Already Underway
Construction is already underway on the first phase of the Bayfront Park overhaul, which includes a new amphitheater, a restroom building, a splash pad, and boardwalk connections from the Daphne recreation building to the amphitheater area. When complete, the amphitheater is expected to offer lawn or folding-chair seating for about 2,500 people.
“We are right on schedule. We look to open in April 2027,” LeJeune said.
How the Project Is Funded
The new $5 million award builds on $7.2 million in earlier GoMESA funding that helped pay for the first phase. LeJeune said the city is covering the remainder of the roughly $16 million total cost, and that Daphne had already invested about $3.5 million in waterfront streetscape work before it ever sought GoMESA dollars.
GoMESA — the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act program — sends Alabama a share of revenue from offshore oil and gas leases, which the state directs toward coastal restoration and community projects along the Gulf Coast. Baldwin County and its municipalities have used the funding stream for everything from beach nourishment to parks and public safety facilities.
LeJeune credited that early local investment with helping Daphne stand out when it competed for the state funding.
“The governor’s office saw that we were invested in actually making this project work. So that’s when they started really helping us out with GoMESA funds and seeing the vision what we had for Bayfront,” he said. “We’re so appreciative of Governor’s Office, Commissioner Blankenship for seeing that vision.”
A Growing Eastern Shore Waterfront
Bayfront Park sits on Daphne’s eastern shore of Mobile Bay and has become the centerpiece of the city’s effort to turn its waterfront into a regional destination. The amphitheater is designed to host concerts and community events, while the boardwalk connections are meant to link the park’s amenities into a single walkable loop for residents and visitors.
The planned pier expansion would give anglers, sightseers, and families a larger vantage point over the bay — a feature LeJeune said the current, smaller pier no longer delivers.
With phase one on track for an April 2027 opening and design work on the pier ahead, city leaders say Bayfront Park is positioned to become one of the Eastern Shore’s signature public spaces, funded largely by offshore energy revenue that flows back to the communities closest to the Gulf.