The official ribbon cutting ceremony for the Selma 14 Erosion Control and Shoreline Stabilization Project was held Monday at the Riverfront Amphitheater.
Dignitaries from the Army Corp of Engineers and Congresswoman Terri Sewell’s office joined Selma Mayor James Perkins Jr. on stage for the event.
The Selma 14 Project riverbank stabilization project’s first phase has been completed behind the amphitheater.
Fred Burks of Mobile District Planning Division said this section of the riverbank was eroding away, which can be seen where there was a sidewalk and the erosion was cutting underneath it.
Burks said some 250 feet of the riverbank has been regraded and concrete mats have been placed on the bank to prevent further erosion. This project is part of a larger plan to create a tourist attraction with the Water Avenue Entertainment District.
Perkins told the crowd this was just step one of a plan to stabilize the riverbank “all the way to the boat landing.” He explained that in 2014 the idea for a riverwalk was born but “as that project was conceptualized, it was determined that the riverbank was not able to support a riverwalk, so the riverbank stabilization project was conceptualized.”
The Mayor pointed out that this project has been 10 years in the making. “I suspect that 10 years ago, this project would not have cost $1.7 million. But now we are dealing with post-COVID prices.” Perkins thanked the federal government partners for their help with funding the project.
One of the next steps of the riverbank stabilization will include portions of the river where some of Selma’s historic buildings are in danger of collapsing into the river. However, Burks said that special studies and investigations have to be carried out to determine exactly what to do to properly save that portion of Selma’s riverbank.
Burks said those studies will help determine how to save the buildings because “if we hammer in pilings, we’re afraid that the vibrations could collapse the buildings.” He added that “we’re waiting for funding right now” to be able to undertake the next phase of the riverbank stabilization. He said once the money is there, it could take up to a year to complete that next phase of the plan.
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