Court to rule on state-owned hotel | ajc.com

Court to rule on state-owned hotel | ajc.com: "Mobile —- A legal dispute over plans for a four-star hotel on state beachfront property awaits an Alabama Supreme Court decision while tourism officials say it already has cost millions in lost business on the coast.

The justices are weighing whether to allow the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources to proceed with a lease of its beach property to Auburn University, or to strike down the deal over complaints about state leases, competitive bidding and high-priced rooms.

The high court has given no indication when it will settle the 4-year-old dispute. But tourism officials in Gulf Shores and Orange Beach hope for no more delays, saying convention business has drifted to Florida and Mobile since Hurricane Ivan finished off the old 144-room lodge at Gulf State Park in 2004."