Lucy Jacobson has been visiting the small park packed with history, southern charm, and perfect views of sunsets over the Mobile Bay since she was a little girl.

It’s a family tradition to visit May Day Park that she shared with her 9-year-old daughter, Sophie, on Wednesday.

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“It’s clean, plenty of lighting and it’s the type of thing where people come to watch the sunsets in the summertime,” said Jacobson, 39, of Daphne, while strolling along the pier. “It’s an influential place.”

It’s also a place that is closing for six months, the second bayfront park in Daphne that is experiencing a closure for reconstruction.

The park, first built in 1887 and once the site of community festivals, closes Monday. The city will undergo an estimated $600,000 to $650,000 of improvements to the pier and drainage improvements. The city is also building a new kayak launch.

Daphne Mayor Robin LeJeune said the bottom of the pier sustained damage from Hurricane Sally in 2020, and that repairs are needed. He also said there is a sink hole within the park that needs to be filled.

“We think we can knock them out at the same time,” LeJeune said.

The closure coincides with the closure of the city’s only other large bayside park, Bayfront Park. That park closed last year and is under construction as part of a multi-phase redevelopment project that is aimed at making Bayfront Park an attraction along the Eastern Shore.

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Bayfront Park in Daphne, Ala.

“Unfortunately, it’s the way the timetables fell,” said LeJeune about the two park closures. “The project at May Day Park is something we need to get ahead of. It’s unfortunate and we understand the concerns of our citizens for not having (water) access.”

Funding is secured for the first phase of the project, which includes new sidewalks extending from the park and past Moe’s BBQ extending to Main Street, landscaping, and a new roundabout at the park. Future developments, which are not funded, include the construction of a new amphitheater.

“We hope it drives business to the bayfront,” LeJeune said about the Bayfront Park project. “We want to make it a really cool district for our citizens and add some life to let people know we have a great bayfront access and so they can come and enjoy the bay and the sunsets.”

LeJeune said small public parks remain open like McMillan Bluff. Bayfront Park pier, which is not closed but cannot be accessed directly while the remainder of the park is closed, can be accessed through the nearby Village Point Park Preserve.

“We understand the frustration but it’s something that has to be done and moved forward on as quickly as possible,” LeJeune said.

The May Day Park closure means that Ken Brooks, 38, of Daphne, will need to find somewhere else to fish. On Wednesday, he had three poles set up and lines cast in hopes to snagging a large fish.

“I’m all for it,” said Brooks, about the improvement work. “The quicker they start, the quicker they will have it reopened.”

He said there are plenty of other fishing alternatives and piers in Baldwin County, such as the Fairhope Pier and the Gulf Star Park Pier in Gulf Shores that reopened last year.