SPANISH FORT, Ala. (WKRG) — An overgrown property is prime real estate along Mobile Bay and the City of Spanish Fort is ready to give it new life. 

“We’ll do parking and picnic areas along there so the residents can enjoy the waterfront,” Spanish Fort Mayor Mike McMillan said.

Plans for the property, just west of Felix’s Fish Camp on the causeway, were announced last year, but once the proper permits are secured, the project will go to bid and work on a new waterfront park will begin.

“It will be very nice,” McMillan said. “What a view. You look to the west and you see the battleship. You look to the east, and you see the shorelines of the Eastern Shore. South, you’re looking out over the bay. It’s a beautiful area.”

$3 million of Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act funding, known as GOMESA, will pay for much of the project, but it’s not the only public park planned for the causeway. Mayor Mike McMillan said they hope to close on another property soon.

“It’s a tract of land formerly known as Shell Bank,” McMillan said. “We haven’t even acquired it yet. We’re in the process of doing due diligence to get the property acquired to bring in the city.”

Once land on the far east end of the causeway is acquired, the city will draw plans for the second park. Just up the road on Highway 225, a third waterfront park on property known as Cypress Point will likely be the last on the list of projects to complete.

“144 acres on Bay Minette Creek,” McMillan said. “Pristine, beautiful views looking at the skyline of Mobile.”

That property was purchased last year with GOMESA money. Plans include a nature center and a public park.