With concrete work complete, GSP Pier could open in Sept.

With concrete work complete, GSP Pier could open in Sept.

By David Thornton
Construction at the Gulf State Park Pier passed a milestone with the recent completion and certification of all the concrete work. Now all the attention can be focused on getting everything else ready.
Almost all of the decking has been put into place, leaving only the handrails around the octagon to be erected, plus getting the overhead lights and under pier lights installed and hooked up, and installing power outlets and water spigots along the railings.
The elevator for the observation deck is an issue that will be dealt with separately, and State Park Operations Superintendent Lamar Pendergrass stated that will not keep the pier from reopening as soon as it is ready, which should be sometime by the end of summer, sans any devious tropical interference.
The original plan was to celebrate the grand reopening of the 1,542-foot pier on Sept. 16, 2020, following a $2.4 million renovation. The pier had been open since 2009 after Ivan razed the previous pier in September of 2004.
But those plans changed when Hurricane Sally made landfall in Gulf Shores in the early hours of September 16 as a strong Category 2 hurricane with winds clocked at 105 mph. A wind-speed detector on a nearby tower clocked a 121-mph gust.
Succumbing to the constant battering of Sally’s surge, the section of pier closest to the end octagon was completely gone and the majority of the blowout deck panels were scattered all along the shoreline.
Anglers were able to use the first half of the pier until the current repairs began on Nov. 13, 2023. (