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Alabama
Gulf Shores Grants Initial Approval to Mixed-Use Downtown Plan
The most popular stretch of the 32-mile Baldwin County coast, the beaches just south of the route 59 and 182 intersection in Gulf Shores, still show scars from Hurricane Ivan of 2004, but the city's long-term Envision plan will make them better by turning the intersection area into a dense, mixed-use, pedestrian-friendly downtown, with WHL Architecture Design Director Rex Cabaniss saying, ''Good design and smart growth builds on and enhances the inherent strengths of a site such as this.''
Earlier this month, reports Mobile Press-Register writer Ryan Dezember, the Gulf Shores City Council granted initial approval for the first Envision Gulf Shores implementation project, the 23-story Park Place tower, with hundreds of hotel rooms, street level stores and restaurants, and enclosed parking.
Proposed by HSK Properties LLC, the tower was designed by WHL Architecture, a regional firm -- with offices in Fairhope, and in Biloxi, Mississippi and Baton Rouge, Louisiana -- also working for local entrepreneur and developer Shaul Zislin, who owns three of the intersection's corners and is considering similar mixed-use development.
Given the firm's unique opportunity to reshape the area, The Press-Register has recently interviewed Director Cabaniss, who stressed that public involvement is ''the key'' to success of the Envision Gulf Shores plan, including the relocation of part of coastal highway 182 two blocks north to reroute traffic around the future town center. Its architectural style will be ''coastal temporary,'' to capture the best of traditional character and introduce modern innovations.
''The streetscape is a prime focus, with shaded colonnades, galleries, fountains, plazas, shop fronts and gathering places to enrich the pedestrian access, comfort and enjoyment,'' he said. He also pointed out that since much of the intersection's daily traffic goes somewhere else, its rerouting ''will clear the way for the desired destination traffic that will stop and do business downtown.''
Asked about the city's turn toward mixed uses along the beach and the prospect of wider changes, he replied as follows. ''These are big steps in the right direction. It will raise the bar on public expectations, as a benchmark for future growth. The long-range goal to enhance the entire Gulf Shores community will gain momentum when the aesthetic, cultural and economic benefits are easy to see in built form. The Envision plan is all about the power of positive change, by utilizing smart growth principles to optimize the quality of the built environment.'' -- Press-Register 10/19/2006
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