January 24, 2026

New Gulf Shores City Hall Planned

By Isabella Gomez
Blue RAM Media/Gulf Coast News

January 24, 2025

GULF SHORES, Ala.

Gulf Shores city officials have approved a $99,000 contract with Walcott Adams Verneuille of Fairhope to oversee programming, design, and preliminary construction budget estimates for a new city hall complex.

The city already has a new high school and police headquarters under construction and now they’ve turned their focus to their need for an expanded facility to accommodate the growth of the city.

The plan also calls for renovating two existing Municipal Annex buildings along Clubhouse Drive, directly across from the current City Hall. The firm will also explore a design for a third building on the east side of the annexes, which would house new city council chambers.

Gulf Shores Mayor Robert Craft stated that it was a big opportunity for us to re-envision and reimagine a municipal campus here and create a more usable and visitor-friendly facility. An important opportunity.”

“What we have are opportunities next door to create a better city hall situation and not spend money on old buildings that are somewhat dysfunctional in today’s world,” Craft said during Monday’s council work session.

The design work will coincide with the opening of a new $21.2 million Justice Center located a few blocks from the existing City Hall. The Justice Center, a separate complex, will soon house all police and municipal court functions, along with the city’s municipal jail. That Justice Center is being built within a former Sacred Heart Medical office building and is expected to be completed by July 2. After the Fourth of July holiday, preparations will begin to relocate police and court operations to the new facility, according to city spokesperson Cory Pippin.

All of the city functions will be within steps of each other making it more convenient for the citizens and employees of the city.

An official opening date has not been finalized, Pippin said, as the transition will take several weeks “to ensure all systems are fully operational” during what is typically the peak summer travel season along Alabama’s beaches. The target, he said, is to open the Justice Center by late summer.

Pippin said the timeline for the city hall project remains uncertain, and the overall budget has not yet been finalized. However, an architectural proposal submitted to the city estimates renovation costs between $3.5 million and $3.9 million, with construction of the new building projected to cost between $4 million and $4.5 million.

The city plans to complete the new city hall complex in phases. According to the proposal, council chambers would be relocated to the campus, either within a renovated ground-floor space or inside the proposed new building. Project goals also include improved connectivity between buildings, a centralized lobby and reception area, and integration of a potential town green or civic outdoor space.