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Governor Riley signs Gulf State Park Hotel Bill
May 13, 2009
Governor Riley signs Gulf State Park Hotel Bill
Governor Bob Riley signed the Gulf State Park Hotel Bill into law today at a ceremony in Gulf Shores. The bill allows a new hotel and convention center to be built at Gulf State Park, replacing the hotel that was destroyed by Hurricane Ivan in 2004. The bill was approved by the Legislature last week and Governor Riley signed it earlier today at the site of the old hotel. State Tourism Director Lee Sentell, Commissioner Barnett Lawley of the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, State Sen. Trip Pittman, State Sen. Larry Dixon, State Rep. Frank McDaniel, Rep. Steve McMillian, Mayor Robert Craft, and Alabama Gulf Coast president/CEO of the Alabama Gulf Coast Convention and Visitors Bureau president/CEO Herb Malone joined the Governor at the event.
“This will allow Alabama’s Gulf Coast to become competitive again in attracting large conventions of Alabama and out-of-state organizations,” said Lee Sentell, Alabama’s tourism director. The new law allows the state to lease Gulf State Park land for 70 years to a private company for development of the hotel. The state will build and operate the adjoining convention center. The law requires that the private company be chosen through a competitive bid process and the convention center be run by state employees.
Thank goodness the Alabama Legislature understands the importance of having a convention center at the beach. The Gulf Shores/Orange Beach area will maximize its potential when a convention center opens with a hotel attached. We are bleeding several hundred million dollars a year from Alabama associations and organizations because there's no large place to meet at Gulf Shores. They are all meeting in Destin. Alabama conventions are responsible for more than 500 jobs in Destin. When a convention center is built at Gulf State Park, those jobs will come to Alabama.
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