Orange Beach, Ala. – (OBA) – Several projects are underway or in the planning stages on city facilities in Orange Beach including a planned expansion of city hall.

Other projects ongoing in various stages include repairs at city hall and the community development building, at the middle/high school campus, two others at the Sportsplex and renovations at the medical arts building.

At its Oct. 18 meeting, the council started the ball rolling on the city hall project discussing a resolution authorizing a contract with McCollough Architecture to provide professional services for a city hall building addition in an amount not to exceed $98,800.

“At this point we are still working on basic plans and options to add a new wing on the southwest end of the building out the rear side,” City Administrator Ken Grimes said. “This will evolve into a bid to go out for construction of a new wing which will allow the finance department to move back into one main building at city hall with all the other admin services. This is in the planning phase now and will be finalized in design in coming months.”

The Finance Building north of the city hall campus, will likely become a part of the medical campus planned north of that building.

“The city council is planning to grow our medical footprint from the medical arts to the south with the vacant lot on Bonita and then to eventually utilize the current Finance building site for medical,” Grimes said. “Our long-range plans are always to improve and provide broad medical services with more physician options, imaging, labs, etc and it makes best sense to create a medical campus right there along highway 161 for the citizens and guests who come to Orange Beach.”

 Repairs are ongoing at city hall to make repairs from Sally in September of 2020 and the April 2021 hail storm.

“We are making small renovations and modifications inside the existing city hall,” Grimes said. “We still have patched flooring and ceilings from leaks so all that is coming to completely make repairs since these events two years ago.”

Work also continues at the adjacent Community Development building where a bid of $268,000 for the repairs was awarded in August. That project is also related to damage from both weather events.

Orange Beach also began preliminary work on building a fieldhouse for the softball and baseball teams at the campus of the Orange Beach Middle/High School.

The council passed a resolution for a contract also with McCollough Architecture for professional services for a new softball and baseball field house at the Sportsplex for $46,800. The new building is planned to have 4,460 square feet with a total construction cost of about $892,000.

“It’s still a concept at this point and may even move ahead in two phases,” Grimes said. “Primarily this will be a traditional under roof batting cage cluster with about four pitcher to home plate netted practice runs under a 20-plus foot high roof for clearance of nets.”

Grimes said it hasn’t been determined where the building planned for the second part of the project will be located.

“Phase two would be in front of (the batting cage) between the two fields with a similar look to stadiums on front façade,” Grimes said. “Baseball and softball, coaches’ office, storage, small locker rooms for each to provide onsite location for teams to prep and go during weather events. Again, still a concept at this point.”

In October, the council also awarded a bid for an artificial turf surface on the softball field at the Sportplex to Sports Fields for $447,320.

Other projects include:

• A contract also with McCollough for professional services for a new Orange Beach City Schools Central Office building for $89,600. Currently the building where Orange Beach Marine and Auto was located serves as the central office and the city owns the large parcel it sits on as well. Plans are to build the new one on that parcel.

• A contract with Watermark Design Group to provide bid, design and construction administration services for the replacement of the roofs of the Recreation Center and Community Center to repair damage from the April 12, 2021 hail storm.

• During the renovation of the Orange Beach Medical Arts Building, additional water damage was found in the walls after construction began. At the Dec. 13 council meeting, the council discussed a change order to include repairing the damage found during the renovations and causing an increase of $89,330 to the original project amount of $549,612.

• Orange Beach is seeking to add nearly $500,000 in Restore Act money to help complete the new center for the Orange Beach Wildlife Rehabilitation and Education Program under construction on Powerline Road. At the Dec. 6 meeting, the council authorized staff to seek the Restore Act subaward to help with the expansion of the facility in the amount of $424,450. It will be for the build-out of the interior of the center’s new building.

• Work also continues on the new Fire Station No. 3 at Canal Road and Powerline Road.