FOLEY – Foley is moving forward with plans to expand city services and community facilities through the acquisition of new downtown property.
The Foley City Council has approved the purchase of more than two acres on East Violet Avenue, north of Heritage Park. The parcel, known as the Gatlin Property, is located just east of the Wilbourne Antique Rose Trail.
Mayor Ralph Hellmich said the site’s central location makes it ideal for future city facilities. The property sits just south of the current Foley Public Works Department campus, which will become the new home for the city’s Parks and Horticulture departments once the new Public Works complex opens in early 2026.
“It’s where our Parks Department will be here in central Foley,” Hellmich said. “It’s a pretty good piece of property for our campus.”
City officials are exploring several potential uses for the newly acquired land, including the site of a new civic center and a future city museum.
Plans call for replacing Foley’s current Civic Center with a larger, modern facility to better serve the growing community.
“Our Civic Center was built when I was in high school, a long time ago, and when our city was 5,000 people,” Hellmich said. “We’ve outgrown it. It’s not big enough, and so we’re going to build one that will hold somewhere around 800 people. We want to build it over on this site, and we’ll be able to preserve the majority, if not all, of the big oak trees.”
The city is also considering a museum to honor Foley’s designation as an American World War II Heritage City by the National Park Service. Only one city in each state or territory receives this recognition.
The museum would commemorate Barin Field — a Navy training base that opened in Foley in 1942 — and highlight the city’s contributions to World War II and to naval aviation.
“Foley was selected as a World War II Heritage City because of our involvement with naval aviation in World War II and our city’s contribution to our country’s defense in both the Pacific and since then,” Hellmich said. “If there’s enough room on that site, we’ve been talking about putting the museum there.”
In addition to the purchase, the family that owned the property has also agreed to donate an additional one-third acre located south of East Violet Avenue and east of Heritage Park, according to City Administrator Mike Thompson.