FOLEY, Ala. — Residents of the neighborhoods surrounding Graham Creek Nature Preserve in Foley do not want the park to be further developed.

Several people spoke that general sentiment during Tuesday afternoon’s informational meeting about the park, which sits on more than 400 acres on Wolf Bay Drive.

The meeting came after the City Council voted not to bring Tough Mudder mud run to Graham Creek in June. That was after a contingency of the park’s neighboring subdivisions, including Bay Forest voiced opposition to the venture that had been introduced by Foley Environmental Manager Leslie Lassiter Gahagan and Sports Complex Director Don Staley a few weeks before the vote.

At the time of the June vote, Foley resident Merita Johnston suggested the city form a committee to oversee Graham Creek, which it did.

Foley City Council President Wayne Trawick said the purpose of Tuesday’s meeting was to gather feedback and dispel misinformation recently put out regarding the park.

That meeting drew 145 people from in and around Foley voicing a variety of opinions, many impassioned.

“There is a basic concept that has changed,” said Bay Forest Estates resident Chris Haynes. “This was for Foley residents.”

He added that the city now seems to intend to use the park to attract tourists to Foley.

“I’m absolutely hurt that we’re destroying something that was supposed to mean so much to us,” Haynes said.

However, Trawick said the size of GCNP determined its potential.

“In our master plan drawn up in 2009, the Graham Creek Park was to be a local entity with potential for national relevance,” he said.

Several others echoed that sentiment, citing the fragility of the park’s ecosystem and the potential dangers of hosting such activities as nationally known mud runs at the site.

Another source of contention was the city’s plans to build an interpretive center at the park. Some said the location would harm the ecosystem, while others didn’t even want it at the park.

Still others said they did not like the traffic that the park brings along Wolf Bay Drive. However, city leaders said efforts are underway to pave Philome Holmes Boulevard, creating another entrance to the park.

One speaker voiced concern that the city was trying to increase tourism as an effort to handle its finances. However, Trawick pointed to the city’s recent AA bond rating from the financial community.

Johnston said that efforts are also underway to establish Citizens for Protecting Graham Creek Nature Preserve.

“Our group has also established Friends of the Graham Creek Nature Preserve,” she said, explaining that it would be a nonprofit entity designed to raise funds to maintain the park.

For about an hour and a half people spoke on each side of these issues.

Then Foley High Track Team Captain Katie Hines addressed the crowd.

“I’ve been coming to Graham Creek for a really long time,” the Elberta teen said, explaining that she participates in practices and races at the park.

Hines then asked how many of the audience members were native to the Foley area, which only got a few raised hands. She then asked how many retired here, which got a larger response.

“So a lot of you are not even from here,” she said, adding that most of the complaints were from those relocating to the area.