Fort Morgan Fishing Pier Remains Closed as Repair Costs Mount
The historic Fort Morgan fishing pier stays closed indefinitely as officials weigh a repair bill that could top $250,000.
The popular fishing pier at Fort Morgan State Historic Park remains closed indefinitely, and no agency has stepped forward with a plan to pay for the repairs needed to reopen it.
The pier along Mobile Bay has been shut down since early September after a diver confirmed what officials had suspected for months: the wooden pilings supporting the structure have deteriorated to the point where they can no longer be trusted to hold weight. Stephen McNair, historic sites director for the Alabama Historical Commission, said the decay is especially severe near the waterline, where sections of wood have eroded away entirely.
Commission staff estimate repairs will cost around $250,000, money the agency does not have in its current budget. McNair said reopening the pier will likely require finding an outside partner willing to fund the repairs and take on long-term maintenance responsibilities.
Fort Morgan receives roughly $300,000 annually in lease tax revenue from Baldwin County, but McNair said he doesn’t believe that funding can legally be redirected toward pier repairs, since it is intended specifically for preserving historic elements of the site. A separate legislative effort to redirect related funding was vetoed by the governor earlier this year.
The Alabama Department of Conservation, which maintains the boat launch adjacent to the pier, told the Historical Commission it could not afford to take on the repair costs either. That has left the question of funding largely unresolved, even as several Baldwin County officials have expressed a willingness to get involved.
Baldwin County Commission Chairman Skip Gruber said he personally supports the county taking financial responsibility for repairing and maintaining the pier going forward, since no other agency appears positioned to do so. Commissioner Tucker Dorsey voiced similar frustration, noting that the county already contributes heavily to state coffers and now faces an additional financial ask on top of existing road and infrastructure needs.
County staff have visited the site and found the pier in worse shape than initially expected, with repair costs potentially exceeding the $250,000 estimate. County Engineer Cal Markert said the next step involves sending a diver underneath the structure to inspect each piling individually for rot.
The pier’s troubles didn’t start with September’s closure. It was shut briefly over the summer for partial decking repairs, then closed again during the event marking the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Mobile, held in early August, out of concern that it could not safely support large crowds.
The closure has struck an emotional chord with longtime visitors. Janet Kynard, founder of a local event website, started a Facebook page and a GoFundMe campaign called the Save the Fort Morgan Pier Project after learning of the closure. As of this week, the campaign had raised less than $800, a total Kynard called disappointing given how many people say the pier holds sentimental value tied to memories with family. She said she is weighing whether to refund donors if broader public interest in funding repairs doesn’t materialize.
About Fort Morgan
Fort Morgan is a five-sided masonry fort built between 1819 and 1834 at the mouth of Mobile Bay. Confederate forces held it during the Battle of Mobile Bay on Aug. 5, 1864, and the fort surrendered to Union forces later that month after a siege. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1960 and is operated as a state historic site by the Alabama Historical Commission.
