GULF SHORES, AL-The Alabama News Media Group reports that on May 14, Alabama Governor Robert Bentley signed into law Senate Bill 231. What this means, officially, is that construction will commence on a new lodge and conference center at the 6,150-acre Gulf State Park.

According to the article, the project will be paid for with $85.5 million in Natural Resource Damage Assessment funding that had been paid to the state following the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill. From that total, roughly $58 million will be set aside for the lodge and meeting facility, while $27 million will go toward environmental improvements throughout the park.

Gulf State Park is situated on the southern edge of the state, facing the Gulf of Mexico. Bentley said during the press conference following the ceremonial bill signing, that the project is still in the planning stages, but would be constructed on the site of the state lodge that was torn down after being hit by Hurricane Ivan in 2004.