After more than six years and a string of delays, Fairhope’s long-planned Working Waterfront project is finally advancing. The Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Council approved a $5 million increase to the project’s estimated cost on April 1, clearing the way for repairs to the deteriorating seawall along the city’s pier.
Time and weather have not been kind to the seawall at Fairhope Pier, and the damage has become increasingly visible. Built roughly 50 years ago, the structure’s anchoring hardware has failed over time, allowing sections of the wall to shift out of place. In other areas, water has worked its way in behind the wall, eroding the soil that supports the walkway above it.
“It takes the sand that’s underneath that walkway out and leaves a void, and that walkway will settle and possibly leave a sinkhole,” said Fairhope City Engineer Richard Johnson. “That’s happened pretty regular after especially tropical storms, so part of that is just the serviceability of the walls, so that’s going to get fixed in this project.”
City public works crews inspected the damage April 2 and determined that at least a portion of the walkway needed to be blocked off, even if only temporarily. The stretch closest to the pier has worsened noticeably after recent storms sent waves washing over the walkway.
Settling sidewalk panels have also created tripping hazards in several spots, prompting the city to mark the problem areas with bright yellow paint as a stopgap measure. Regular visitors to the park and pier say they’ve noticed the deterioration and are relieved that repairs are finally on the way.
“I have noticed it and I also know that if you’re this close to the water, if you don’t maintain it, it’s going to do nothing but get worse and worse and more and more expensive,” said Fairhope resident Pete Olesky.
“Anything’s better than just seeing it fall to nothing, you know,” added Willie Walsworth, another regular at the pier. “I’d like to see them do something about boats and restaurant and all that. It’s a nice pier.”
The seawall fix is just one piece of the broader Working Waterfront plan. Beyond the repairs north of the pier, the project includes upgrades to the South Beach seawall and construction of a new bathroom facility there, along with an overhaul of the park’s iconic fountain and a new staircase at The Bluff.
“Lots of just hardscape and amenities that just make the park more usable, as well as a good freshening of the pier,” Johnson said. “Handrails, human-scale lighting, remodeling the bathroom — just things that really need to be done.”
The Fairhope City Council is expected to sign off on accepting the additional Restore Council funding within the next week, after which state and federal agencies still need to give their approval before construction can begin. Johnson said he is hopeful work can start before the end of the year, beginning with the seawall itself, and the full project is expected to take about 18 months to complete.