Rededicated, aerospace-themed Doyle Park opens in Mobile after $1.5M renovation
The rededication and grand reopening of Doyle Park is giving lift to the fun and imaginations of area youth in Mobile. (photo courtesy of the Mobile Airport Authority)
The two-year, $1.5 million reimagining of a long-neglected park in the heart of Mobile’s aerospace cluster is complete and ready to lift nearby neighborhoods through family recreation.
“We hope the community will cherish, protect and keep safe what has been built on this site for the enjoyment of children, but we also hope it serves to inspire them to reach for the skies,” said Roger Wehner, executive director of the Mobile Airport Authority and president of Friends of Doyle Park.
The airport authority and its foundation recently announced the reopening of the 24-acre facility next to Mobile Aeroplex at Brookley and brimming with new amenities intended not only to encourage play but to provide “an aspirational platform allowing children to see, hear and feel the opportunity of the growing aerospace industry blossoming on the other side of the park fence.”
The park, originally part of the U.S. Air Force’s Brookley Field, sits alongside aeroplex runway 14/32 within view of the $600 million Airbus U.S. Manufacturing Facility.
The authority, its foundation and leadership from Airbus partnered to form the nonprofit Friends of Doyle Park, which seeks to “positively improve the Dauphin Island Parkway community and its children.”
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All but one of Brookley’s World War II-era structures were scrapped, and in their place now stands an aviation-themed playground with 6 inches to 8 inches of rubberized playing surface, pavilions, parking, sidewalks, a fitness trail and new landscaping. The enhanced rubber surface, known as “Abilities Field,” is considered more conducive to participation by children and adults with disabilities, particularly those using mobility devices.
In addition to athletic fields and a splash park, the project calls for the addition of observation terraces that will provide families with an unmatched vantage point to watch flights by the passenger jets built at the Airbus facility.
“We would not be here today if it were not for the all the companies who donated time, money, materials and resources who made Doyle Park renovations possible,” Wehner said. “More specifically, I want to thank the vision and tireless dedication of Michelle Hurdle of Airbus; Kendall Kirkpatrick of Hatch Mott McDonald for their engineering expertise; James Adams of Hoar Program Management; and Russell Stallings, Robbie Shearer and John Taylor of the Mobile Airport Authority for their leadership and dedication.”
Mobile City Councilman C.J. Small, in whose District 3 Doyle Park resides, praised the project at its announcement.
“The Brookley and Dauphin Island Parkway neighborhoods have needed attention to their communities for many years. The revitalization of this park will breathe life and produce economic development, not only for these neighborhoods, but for the city of Mobile and southern Alabama,” Small said.
