It's been over two years since Ivan rumbled through and rendered the Gulf State Park Hotel and Convention Center uninhabitable. Now that the insurance matters are finally settled, the building will finally be demolished. Its remains will be hauled off shore and deposited on the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico where the resort will become a resort of sorts for the fishes.
Resort to sleep with the fishes
GULF SHORES -- After 30 years of hosting tourists at one of Alabama's most popular state parks, and two years of decaying as a testament to the strength of Hurricane Ivan, the Gulf State Park Hotel and Convention Center will find new purpose in attracting fish.
With the resolution of a two-year insurance dispute last month, the crumbling resort is slated for demolition starting next week. Its pulverized remains will be strategically sunk in the Gulf of Mexico and back bays of Orange Beach to act as artificial reefs.
"We're very excited to see the ruined state park (resort) come down," said Mike Foster, vice president of marketing for the Alabama Gulf Coast Convention and Visitors Bureau. "It's kind of the last reminder of Ivan, and we're excited -- as the whole beach has moved on -- that finally that beautiful stretch of beach will be cleaned and pristine."
Since Ivan's storm surge blasted the resort and its 144 modest hotel rooms in September 2004, the stretch of sand where it sits between Gulf Shores and Orange Beach has stood in sharp contrast to the rest of Baldwin County's 32-mile beach, which has long been cleared of hurricane debris and rebuilt.
The site was considered such an eyesore and safety hazard that Gulf Shores officials even tried to condemn the property last October, telling the state that if it wouldn't raze the resort, the city would be glad to do so and send the bill to Montgomery.
"I'm tickled to death," Gulf Shores Mayor G.W. "Billy" Duke III said when told the structures would be torn down soon. "We've made everybody else clean up, and (the state) should set the standard."
Demolition was delayed by a dispute between the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, which runs the park, and its insurers. Those insurers include the state insurance fund, which is administered by the Risk Management Division of the Alabama Department of Finance.
While the Conservation Department claimed the facilities were wrecked beyond repair by Ivan, the insurers disagreed.
Last month an arbitrator appointed by Gov. Bob Riley to resolve the dispute ruled that the Conservation Department was owed about $900,000 in addition to the $10 million it already collected from insurers and federal relief funds.
Conservation Department officials had wanted to collect about $30 million more, estimating that the park suffered $41 million in damage from Ivan. Department officials have said they based their estimate not on the cost of replacing the aging facilities but on the expense of rebuilding new ones to more stringent building codes.