Community foundation offers $100,000 to launch park at Anna T. Jean site; seeks MOU with Fairhope City

Rebecca (last name not provided), president and CEO of the Fairway Point Clear Community Foundation, told the Fairhope City Council at its work session that her affiliate will provide an initial $100,000 toward a new park on a 1.6-acre parcel on the Anna T. Jean School campus.

The gift would be delivered in two payments, "50,000 this summer, another 50,000 in November, to begin the process of creating a park," Rebecca said. She described a Phase 1 build-out of landscaping, fencing, signage, a splash pad, a playground and restroom access and said the affiliate’s advisory committee has approved pursuing the partnership.

The proposal asks the city to own and maintain the park while the foundation provides funding and fundraising support. "We would like to hopefully come to some agreement on a memo of understanding, and then we would go ahead and move forward with the donation," Rebecca said.

Why it matters: the foundation said the site would provide a neighborhood-scale public asset adjacent to the Anna T. Jean School and the existing HOPE Community uses on that campus. Council members signaled preliminary support and asked city staff and the city attorney to prepare a memorandum of understanding so the foundation can begin soliciting additional funds and proceed with construction planning.

City staff noted some municipal responsibilities and estimated costs will be examined for inclusion in the next budget. Richard Johnson (staff) "has kinda taken that, kinda put a dollar number, a dollar figure to some of that so that we can look at that possibly in the new budget and then start working with Rebecca and her team to kind of build a park," a councilmember said during the meeting.

Rebecca outlined a two-phase funding plan: the $100,000 initial gift for Phase 1 and a proposed Phase 2 consisting of "an additional 400,000" raised in spring fundraising and local contributions. She said the affiliate’s timeline aims for a public opening "by the summer of 20 26."

Council discussion focused on confirming the parcel, clarifying ownership and next steps. The councilmember who asked for clarification referred to a rendering and asked, "Is that the 1.6 acre parcel?" Rebecca and staff confirmed the 1.6-acre area was the parcel being offered for the park and said design details were still preliminary.

No formal vote was taken at the work session. Council members verbally agreed to ask the mayor, city attorney and staff to draft a memorandum of understanding and to bring cost estimates back for budget review.

Ending: Staff said they will draft an MOU for the council’s future consideration and that staff estimates for city maintenance and budget impacts will be developed in the coming budget cycle.