The City of Mobile is looking to make a riverfront restaurant a part of the GulfQuest Maritime Museum.
Here is a press release from the City of Mobile that explains what they have in mind:
"The City of Mobile is hosting a pre-proposal meeting on Monday at the GulfQuest National Maritime Museum for potential restaurateurs interested in establishing a riverfront restaurant and beverage concession on the Mobile River centered in the museum. The City recently released a Request for Proposals for this opportunity to transform Mobile’s only downtown waterfront dining space.
The seafood restaurant will feature a container bar on the riverfront to showcase Mobile’s history as the birthplace of container shipping. This venture will complement the museum, Cooper Riverside Park and the nearby Convention Center establishing the waterfront as a destination for visitors, downtown residents and workers and convention and conference attendees.
All proposals are due no later than December 4 with the contract expected to be awarded in early 2019. The new restaurant will open its doors in the spring.
“We are now setting our sights on creating a vibrant dining experience in one of the most desirable locations in Mobile,” said Mayor Stimpson. “The best is truly yet to come for Mobile's waterfront experience.”
In addition to the new restaurant, the City is in the process of transforming Water Street from the backyard of downtown into the gateway of Mobile. Plans include new striping to form new crosswalks and bicycle and pedestrian lanes reducing the amount of vehicular traffic lanes from six to four. This will coincide with the new traffic signals along portions of Water Street to create a more efficient traffic flow.
Additionally, the City recently installed a floating dock at Cooper Riverside Park for small commercial passenger vessels to utilize. Last month, Wild Native began regular boat tours that depart from the new floating dock. In addition to the new tours, the City is hosting a series of activities and events at Cooper Riverside Park to connect citizens and visitors to the Mobile River."
Even as the Mobile City Council has cut funding to the GulfQuest, there are still efforts to better utilize the facility. You can see below that boat tours are now being offered from Cooper Riverside Park.