Officials cut the ribbon on the new $600,000 dock and fishing tournament pavilion at the Selma Marina Tuesday.
With no docks between Montgomery and Roland Cooper State Park in Camden, Selma’s marina renovation was a logical choice, Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources Commissioner Chris Blankenship told the crowd.
The improved marina will also attract more fishing tournaments to the Selma area along with the tourist dollars anglers spend at fuel stations, hotels, eating establishments and other businesses in town. Facilities such as marinas also improve quality of life and help make a city attractive to new businesses and industries.
Similar upgrades to docking facilities at Demopolis Landing and Roland Cooper State Parkhave led to a dramatic increase in the number of fishing tournaments and the number of boats able to participate.
Funding for the Selma Marina project came in large part from a Boating Infrastructure Grant through ADEM, the same funding source used for the Demopolis and Roland Cooper projects. Blankenship said there were many other partners that came together to make this project happen.
The $600,000 project included dredging, the new dock and the pavilion.Blankenship said DCNR Deputy Director Ed Poolos took the Selma Marina project as “his baby.” Poolos helped the city apply for the initial $200,000 grant, which was awarded based on the merit of the project. The city put up a $67,000 match for the grant. The rest were dollars from a grant from Innovate Alabama, Gov.Kay Ivey and private funds or nonprofit funds, ADCNR Commissioner Tim Wood said.
Some of the partners that teamed up with ADCNR and ADEM are the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Alabama Wildlife Federation, B.A.S.S., Alabama Power, AL-TOM RC&D Councils and the city of Selma.
South Dallas Turf Farm donated the sod around the new pavilion.Bobby Massengill donated time to redo the bathrooms, which haven’t been usable in 20 years, Wood said.
It was Wood who came up with the idea of renovating the Selma Marina, and his association with the AWF Wild Game Cookoff started the funding ball rolling.
The local cook off board decided to use their money to help the marina. “When I told the state cook off board about the project, one by one, all 13 teams in the state decided to donate their percentage to Selma’s marina,” Wood said.
“Big Daddy Lawler (outdoors enthusiast from Wilcox County) was instrumental in getting the T pier at Roland Cooper State Park,” Wood said. “He was also instrumental in getting this project going, teaching me how to navigate and work with ADEM and the state.”
Selma Mayor James Perkins Jr. told the crowd that when Wood called him and explained the idea of renovating the marina to bring tourism, he said,“When do we start and what do we need to do?” Perkins said the new dock and pavilion “represent the tourism component of economic development for our community.”
Perkins reminded attendees that the city cut the ribbon on the $1.7 million riverbank stabilization project the day before on Water Avenue, and he said he and an Army Corp of Engineers representative had just discussed a $40 million project to stabilize the riverbank below the Edmund Pettus Bridge.
AWF President Tim Gothard officially handed over the documentation giving the pavilion to the city of Selma. Perkins said the Park and Recreation department will be tasked with maintaining the new facility.
Gothard closed out the presentation on a light note by giving Perkins a key to the renovated restrooms.
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