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Birmingham's Mayor William Bell revives Dome talk while attending SEC Tournament
http://blog.al.com/spotnews/2013/03/birmingham_mayor_william_bell_66.html#comments
This was the architectural design in 2010 for a Birmingham dome. Mayor William Bell envisions a smaller facility between 45,000 and 50,000 seats.
NASHVILLE -- Birmingham Mayor William Bell is publicly reviving his goal of building a downtown multipurpose facility. Bell and his staff attended the SEC Tournament tonight on an exploratory visit to generate ideas for a potential venue.
"Now that we finished the (Westin) hotel we built in that area and we're about to complete the Barons stadium, we're going to turn our attention back to what we can do with that multipurpose stadium and what kind of flexibility it has to have events such as this and other events," Bell said. "This is more of a data collection process to rekindle and revive discussions and efforts toward that end."
Bell has long expressed support for building a facility. In the past, he spoke of wanting a 70,000-seat dome.
Tonight, Bell said he wanted Birmingham to prove it could work together and accomplish smaller projects first. He estimated the ideal facility size now at 45,000 to 50,000 seats with a focus on box seating with nice amenities.
"When you look at the trend now with stadiums, for what we're talking about, most places are building smaller but with better amenities and better technology," Bell said. "Because at the end of the day, you want to look at what you can consistently pack the fans into and operate efficiently."
Building a multipurpose arena/dome has been a controversial topic in Birmingham for more than a decade. Jefferson County voters in 1998 shot down a sales tax that would have helped finance the facility.
Back in 2007, the Birmingham City Council passed former Mayor Larry Langford's one-cent sales tax and doubled the city's business license fees that in part would go to fund mass transit and build a dome.
The city has said both the one-cent tax increase and doubling of city license fees were used to support the city's budget during the economic downturn. In February, the City Council renewed the 2007 one-cent hike for at least another five years.
In 2010, a 57,500-seat dome was estimated to cost $530 million. An architectural firm had begun working on a design when that plan stalled. Bell turned his attention toward the Westin hotel, an entertainment district and the Birmingham Barons ballpark, which opens April 10.
Bell said Birmingham currently does not have the funding for a dome and wants to get linked with the private sector.
"I think the mistake that happened in the past was not involving the private sector, not looking at the organizations or entities that would benefit from having such a facility," Bell said. "I think once we have some rough idea of the direction we want to go and then sit down with the private sector and see what their thoughts are, we can build that momentum."
Bell met briefly with SEC Commissioner Mike Slive tonight. Bell and his staff toured Nashville's Bridgestone Arena with SEC officials and will return to the arena on Thursday.
"It has a lot of strengths and a few weaknesses," Bell said. "But what we want to do is look not only how to duplicate this, but exceed what they have here."
The SEC is in the process of negotiating with three cities for the 2017 and 2018 men's basketball tournaments. SEC basketball is one event Birmingham eyes if a facility gets built.
Read rest of story
http://blog.al.com/spotnews/2013/03/birmingham_mayor_william_bell_66.html#comments
This was the architectural design in 2010 for a Birmingham dome. Mayor William Bell envisions a smaller facility between 45,000 and 50,000 seats.
NASHVILLE -- Birmingham Mayor William Bell is publicly reviving his goal of building a downtown multipurpose facility. Bell and his staff attended the SEC Tournament tonight on an exploratory visit to generate ideas for a potential venue.
"Now that we finished the (Westin) hotel we built in that area and we're about to complete the Barons stadium, we're going to turn our attention back to what we can do with that multipurpose stadium and what kind of flexibility it has to have events such as this and other events," Bell said. "This is more of a data collection process to rekindle and revive discussions and efforts toward that end."
Bell has long expressed support for building a facility. In the past, he spoke of wanting a 70,000-seat dome.
Tonight, Bell said he wanted Birmingham to prove it could work together and accomplish smaller projects first. He estimated the ideal facility size now at 45,000 to 50,000 seats with a focus on box seating with nice amenities.
"When you look at the trend now with stadiums, for what we're talking about, most places are building smaller but with better amenities and better technology," Bell said. "Because at the end of the day, you want to look at what you can consistently pack the fans into and operate efficiently."
Building a multipurpose arena/dome has been a controversial topic in Birmingham for more than a decade. Jefferson County voters in 1998 shot down a sales tax that would have helped finance the facility.
Back in 2007, the Birmingham City Council passed former Mayor Larry Langford's one-cent sales tax and doubled the city's business license fees that in part would go to fund mass transit and build a dome.
The city has said both the one-cent tax increase and doubling of city license fees were used to support the city's budget during the economic downturn. In February, the City Council renewed the 2007 one-cent hike for at least another five years.
In 2010, a 57,500-seat dome was estimated to cost $530 million. An architectural firm had begun working on a design when that plan stalled. Bell turned his attention toward the Westin hotel, an entertainment district and the Birmingham Barons ballpark, which opens April 10.
Bell said Birmingham currently does not have the funding for a dome and wants to get linked with the private sector.
"I think the mistake that happened in the past was not involving the private sector, not looking at the organizations or entities that would benefit from having such a facility," Bell said. "I think once we have some rough idea of the direction we want to go and then sit down with the private sector and see what their thoughts are, we can build that momentum."
Bell met briefly with SEC Commissioner Mike Slive tonight. Bell and his staff toured Nashville's Bridgestone Arena with SEC officials and will return to the arena on Thursday.
"It has a lot of strengths and a few weaknesses," Bell said. "But what we want to do is look not only how to duplicate this, but exceed what they have here."
The SEC is in the process of negotiating with three cities for the 2017 and 2018 men's basketball tournaments. SEC basketball is one event Birmingham eyes if a facility gets built.
Read rest of story
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