Prattville extends American Legion lease at Doster Road for 10 years

Prattville has committed one of its longtime civic properties to American Legion Post No. 122 for another decade, setting up a lease at 498 Doster Road that runs from June 1, 2028, through May 30, 2038, at $1,000 a year. The Prattville City Council adopted the ordinance on May 19, and the city posted it May 21, giving Mayor Bill Gillespie Jr. authority to sign the lease and any other documents needed to carry it out.

The deal does more than simply extend the old arrangement. The prior lease between the city and the post expired June 1, 2025, and it included an option for one additional three-year renewal, which Post 122 asked the city to apply. Instead of stopping there, the new ordinance sets a longer path forward and includes an option for one more ten-year renewal when this term ends, giving both sides a much clearer long-range plan for the property.

For Prattville, the question is not just who occupies the building, but what the public gets in return. Post 122 is not a new tenant. It is a longstanding veterans organization that says it has served the Prattville and Autauga County community for 89 years, and outside records identify it as the W. Clyde Northington American Legion Post 122, formed in 1946. The post lists its address as 498 Doster Rd., says it meets on the second Tuesday of each month at 6 p.m., and notes a canteen and hall rental among its amenities.

Its public role extends beyond its own membership. Post 122 and Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 1349 co-sponsor Prattville’s annual Memorial Day wreath-laying ceremony at the Autauga County Courthouse, and they also work together on Veterans Day observances. That makes the lease more than a line in the city’s property file. It keeps a visible veterans hub in place for ceremonies, meetings and rentals while giving the city a fixed rent, a formal timeline and continued control through the lease terms.

The result looks like both a veterans-services win and an asset-management decision. Prattville is preserving an established community institution, but it is also putting clear terms around a city-owned parcel that has already been in use for years. In a city where public records and council actions matter, the lease gives the city stability now and another renewal option later.