SPANISH FORT, Ala.—With only days until spring’s official arrival, the renovation and expansion of Meaher State Park’s camping facilities are complete, including a new bathhouse, laundry facilities and day-use bathrooms to complement a fourfold increase in the number of improved campsites.

Meaher Manager Mark Pillion said the sites are attracting significant traffic early in the season with occupancy for the 56 slots hovering around 80 percent.

“That’s about the same rate as this time last year when we only had 12 sites, so I’d say the word is out,” Pillion said.

Located just across Battleship Parkway from Five Rivers Delta Resource Center, Meaher is nestled on Ducker Bay where Mobile Bay and the Mobile-Tensaw Delta converge.

Pillion said the yearlong project converted the park’s 12 original gravel-based campsites into storage areas. Campers can now enjoy paved sites, complete with water, sewer and electrical services. Two picnic pavilions are also under construction.

Although park officials accept reservations for the camp sites, Pillion said only the first 28 can be reserved, then the rentals shift to a first-come basis.

Boating and fishing are also significant draws for the park, and Pillion said the recent enclosing of the public-access boat ramp not only addressed safety issues but will also generate revenue toward future improvements.

“It’s not a done deal, but provided the funds are available the plan is to resurface the parking lot, extend the pier and make it (Americans With Disabilities Act) accessible.” he said.

Those projects will be funded  by proceeds from a $3 per boat launching fee, Pillion said.

Not all local residents are enamored of the improvements, though.

Wilson Drive resident James Nowell petitioned the city council during the public participation portion of Monday’s regular meeting to write a letter to the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources opposing the enclosing of the boat launch at Blakely River.

Nowell, who has been launching at that site for free for more than 40 years, said he objects to being charged a fee and to being constrained by the state park’s hours of operation to fish.

“Before all this, I’d be in at dark and gone by dawn, but now you’ve got to wait around for somebody to unlock the gate,” Nowell said.

The conservation department placed the launch under the supervision of the State Parks Division in 2008, and Pillion said safety issues necessitated the fencing of the launch.

See the rest of this story in the March 19 Spanish Fort Sun.