Gulf Shores Pushing State to Raze Ivan-Battered Resort

Friday, December 02, 2005
By RYAN DEZEMBER
Staff Reporter

GULF SHORES -- In their quest to get rid of buildings damaged beyond repair by Hurricane Ivan, city officials have sent letters to the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources -- which runs the Gulf State Park Hotel and Resort -- urging it to demolish the park's hollowed surfside structures.

Conservation Commissioner Barnett Lawley said that he has tried since shortly after Ivan to tear down the buildings, but the state's insurance carriers contend that the resort isn't a total loss. The city's letters urging demolition give his argument more weight, he said.

"That's been a big help... I'm getting something going out of there which I haven't been able to do in a year and a half," Lawley said this week. "It's sending a strong message of what the community wants."

In October, after the City Council voted to condemn and remove two badly damaged waterfront homes, Councilman Robert Craft suggested that Gulf Shores look into taking similar steps with the beat-up resort. City building officials said there are no shortage of problems with the structures and the entire site would qualify for condemnation if it weren't the state's.

Some of the resort's structures, which were decaying even before the September 2004 storm, were loosened from their foundations in the hurricane, and the first floors of each of the hotel buildings are blown out. In the larger main building there is other structural damage, including crumbling concrete. But in researching the situation, city officials found that municipal laws that allow the city to tear down damaged structures deemed safety hazards don't apply to state property.

"The state's immune," said City Administrator Ernie Smith. "But they want to tear it down."

Lawley, who has been supportive of a redevelopment plan proposed by Gov. Bob Riley, insists, like Gulf Shores, that the old park buildings must be razed.

"We can all look at it and tell it needs to be torn down," he said. "It is an eyesore, it is a danger, and it needs to come down."

The City Council has condemned about 12 storm-damaged properties this year, demolishing most of them and billing the owners.

In some cases, the owners were glad for the city's action because it had secured a good price for the work through competitive bidding, Mayor G.W. "Billy" Duke III said. Others, such as the owners of the Landmark East condominiums, which was condemned along with three houses by the city this week, were torn down just prior to the council's vote.

In condemning and razing hurricane-damaged structures, city officials are hoping to erase memories of Ivan and project an image that matches their message that Baldwin County's beaches are open for business and tourism. Having the crumbling state park resort on display doesn't help convey a sense of recovery, city officials said.

"You can't ignore it when you drive down the street and it pops right out at you," Craft said. "I understand legally that we can't tear it down, but we can compel them to tear it down."

Damage from Hurricane Ivan can still be seen in the resort building at the Alabama Gulf State Park in this Aug. 17 photo. The resort and hotel have been closed since the storm. Gulf Shores officials have sought to have the building demolished, but municipal laws don't apply to state properties. City officials have now sent letters to the state urging the razing of the resort.