FOLEY — The Forward City could soon be the home of an outdoor classroom.

That’s because during its regular meeting Monday, the Foley City Council approved the application for a matching grant from the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources for $8,000.

According to Foley City Environmental Manager Leslie Lassiter Gahagan, the grant would fund the design and curriculum development of an outdoor classroom that would be housed at Graham Creek Nature Preserve.

The city already hosts an education program at the preserve that is geared toward two specific grade levels.

“Fifth and sixth grade,” Gahagan said.

But, she explained, this structure would enable that program to expand.

“What we’re looking for is a play area,” Gahagan said.

The classroom would also house amphitheater seating and approximately six learning stations geared toward using nature to provide science lessons.

“It can be geared toward elementary education,” Gahagan said.

She said that upon researching the endeavor, she found two municipalities in the state to have outdoor classrooms.

“The only other places in Alabama are Anniston and Hunstville,” Gahagan said.

But the two are not identical.

“They use them with the natural landscape,” Gahagan said.

That same idea would be behind Foley’s outdoor classroom.

“I think it’d be neat to have an outdoor classroom,” Foley City Councilman Charlie Ebert said in the Council work session.

The city expects to hear the state’s decision on the grant in early March.

Also Monday, the Foley City Council:

* Set a public hearing to consider the Foley Planning Commission’s recommendation for the initial zoning of A-O for Foley’s Wolf Creek Park.

* Set a public hearing to consider the Planning Commission’s recommendation for the initial zoning of R-1A for the Battaglia property.

* Approved an application for the Alabama Historical Commission Historic Preservation Fund Grant for fiscal year 2013 in the amount of $7,500, which will be used for training.