Foley acquires property north of Heritage Park for public use

Foley acquires property north of Heritage Park for public use

The Foley City Council recently approved the purchase of more than two acres on East Violet Ave. north of Heritage Park. Known as the Gatlin Property, the parcel is east of the Wilbourne Antique Rose Trail and south of the current site of the Foley Public Works Dept. The family that owned the property also donated a third of an acre southeast of Heritage Park to the city.
Foley officials are studying uses for the acquired property that include the site of a new civic center and a city museum.
City plans call for the current Civic Center to be replaced with a larger facility. Mayor Ralph Hellmich said the current facility, built in the 1970s, no longer meets the needs of the city.
“Our Civic Center was built when I was in high school, a long time ago, and when our city was 5,000 people,” Hellmich said. “We have outgrown it. It is not big enough, and so we’re going to build one that will hold somewhere around 800 people. We want to build it over on this site, and we’ll be able to preserve the majority, if not all, of the big oak trees