ORANGE BEACH, Ala. (WKRG) — For more than a decade the Bama Bayou property, just off the Foley Beach Express as you enter Orange Beach, has sat unfinished and vacant. What was once going to be a resort destination is now rusted, broken and an eyesore. But, by the end of the year, it could all be demolished.
“The headline is the entrance to Orange Beach is finally getting cleaned up,” says Orange Beach city administrator Ford Handley.
The property was recently purchased by The Wharf owner Art Favre. An economic development agreement with the city allows for the demolition of almost half a dozen buildings.
“In six months’ time basically what we will have done is The Wharf is going to be able to bring down these structures and then bring a plan to repurpose this entire area into an extension of what they have done on the south side,” says Handley.
The city will also get 25 acres on the northwest corner of the property for a nature interpretative center.
What the property will eventually look like is still in the design process, but in the coming months, the buildings that have long welcomed folks to Orange Beach are expected to finally be gone for good.
“I’m very excited for everybody to see what this new entrance to our city will look like,” says Handley.