An upscale resort and convention center on Alabama’s Gulf of Mexico beachfront sounds swell.
Most of us Alabamians, I think, like to be able to tell the world that we know how to do things well. We’re proud of the reputation that the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail has earned, even if we don’t play golf. We’re proud of the Grand Hotel’s legendary status, even if we can’t afford to stay there.
A $100 million hotel and convention center, complete with a spa, on the powdery sands of the Gulf could go right on that list. It just reeks of luxury and exclusivity.
All we would have to do is turn over a hunk of Gulf State Park to private enterprise. Technically, the park land would remain in pubic ownership while being leased long-term to Auburn University, which would then have a private developer build and operate the center.
Anyway you slice it, though, the public would lose something it once had.
You may remember the lodge that the state operated at the park. It was, well, pretty plain, and it had already fallen on hard times before Hurricane Ivan finished it off. Even in its decline, though, the lodge was right on one of the loveliest stretches of beach that you can find anywhere. And the price for lodging meant that a vacation at the beach was within the reach of average Alabamians.
Some of the folks who want to see a luxury resort rise on the site use the derelict condition of the old facility as a reason for building something grander. But the condition of the old lodge was the result of years of shameful neglect, a neglect that affected most of the state’s parks. Those same parks had once been among the finest in the nation – something else that we once would point to with pride.
The parks are among the things (some would argue the few things) the state provides that benefits ordinary citizens. Yet the state – or at least Gov. Bob Riley’s administration – wants to shut ordinary Alabamians out of a prime part of the park system and make it the haunt of the well heeled. (Any time you talk about the increasing disparity between the incomes of the few at the top of the heap and the vast majority, Republicans accuse you of fomenting class warfare. Actually, the war is over. They won.)
I don’t know Charley Grimsley, the former conservation commissioner who has led the effort to derail the deal, but I applaud him.
Ruling in a suit that Grimsley and others brought, Montgomery Circuit Judge Gene Reese ruled against the Riley administration. He found that the plan violated the constitutional provision that any facility at the park be operated and maintained by the state Conservation Department. He said state law sets the longest lease at 12 years and stipulates that a lease be competitively bid (Riley’s plan calls for a lease up to 99 years with no competitive bidding). Reese also ruled that the plan violated a state law that requires the state to take into account the average per capita and family income of Alabamians in planning lodging at the state parks.
Grimsley said, “Gulf State Park was built so that the working people could have a place to enjoy the beach. Long after I’m gone, I want the poorest man in Alabama to be able to take his child or grandchild to Gulf State Park.
 The governor is appealing Reese’s decision. “We can’t continue to lose millions of convention dollars to our neighboring state of Florida because we don’t have adequate hotel and convention facilities at Gulf State Park,” he said.
Well, that is disingenuous at best. State parks were created for all of the people, not just the privileged.
If there is a market for a luxury hotel and convention center (and spa), isn’t that an opportunity for private enterprise? Aren’t the Republicans supposed to be the party of free enterprise? It’s interesting to note that among those suing to stop the state plan is a hotel operator in Orange Beach, presumably one who is operating without a state subsidy.
I think Bob Riley is the best governor Alabama has had in a long, long time. But in this case, I think Bob Riley is dead wrong.
 If he really wants to be governor for all Alabamians, he ought to drop the appeal.
You can contact Bill Brown at billatthelake@gmail.com
