Governor Bentley and Senator Bradley Byrne were in attendance July 1st during the grand opening of the state of the art Grand Bay Welcome Center located on I-10 at the Alabama/ Mississippi State Line which was completed in June 2016.
After two years of construction, the new Grand Bay Welcome Center features additional parking, improved ADA accessibility, a security station, multiple lighting upgrades, outdoor picnic areas and an enhanced Alabama Tourism lobby display.
As the first point of contact to the State of Alabama, the new facility is designed to incorporate coastal features unique to the Gulf Coast including nautical sculptured brick and bronze sea creature sculptures.
The previous welcome center, built in the early 70s, faced multiple maintenance issues including mold and mildew growth, roof leaks, recurring plumbing problems and an undersized A/C system. The roughly 40-year-old state facility also suffered additional damage from many hurricanes along the Gulf Coast. The facility upkeep was both expensive and time consuming.
The Grand Bay Welcome Center is just one of 26 nationwide projects to receive an additional $3.3 million in federal funding as part of the Federal Highway Administration’s 2012 Interstate Maintenance Discretionary Award. The project is 90% federally funded through the Interstate Maintenance program and additional Interstate Maintenance Discretionary Award funds.
The contract was awarded to Ben M. Radcliff Contractor Inc. whose bid was the lowest that met project requirements. The project included a number of local sub-contractors and
suppliers.
