Dome Stadium...... (Birmingham: top hotel, casinos, dangerous)

[Tourian]

I think Langford was just trying to pad the pockets of one of his cronies. There was "talk" of building a new airport out there too.

I don't think it is necessarily a bad location, it is just that where the BJCC is is just so much better. And now that the city is so heavily invested in Uptown and that it is a success, that ship has sailed and the ONLY place to put it is next to the BJCC. They've already bought the land there for this purpose.

The Race Course can be a new BIR/fairgrounds, or just waste away until housing and normal development eventually heads that way.

[wetdawg]

Originally Posted by Tourian

I think Langford was just trying to pad the pockets of one of his cronies. There was "talk" of building a new airport out there too.

I don't think it is necessarily a bad location, it is just that where the BJCC is is just so much better. And now that the city is so heavily invested in Uptown and that it is a success, that ship has sailed and the ONLY place to put it is next to the BJCC. They've already bought the land there for this purpose.

The Race Course can be a new BIR/fairgrounds, or just waste away until housing and normal development eventually heads that way.

It is such a huge complex that if they could build a casino and some sort of resort or a small arena for minor league sports or something it would be great, and it would probably put more business closer, but that will never happen. The roads were actually built to handle big crowds for the race course. Unlike other roads in the state.

I live in Trussville area so that's why I hate to see it under used. Although it is nice to drive to Irondale and not have any traffic.

[raj kapoor]

Even after fifteen years, there are many people in Birmingham who do not understand the so called dome always has been an expansion of the BJCC.
It would be very hard for that expansion to be built anywhere other than NEXT TO BJCC.

But more important, it raises a question of why so many people over such a long period of time still do not understand what and why the dome was proposed. It was and has always been a BJCC PROJECT. The only money spent and land purchased has been facilitated by the BJCC.

This has been in print so much over fifteen years, how can that misunderstanding so totally fail to get through to so many. I suppose in the opposition, they did such a good job of lying about all the details involved that the truth has yet to be discovered by those who were taken in by that unfortunate dedication to defeat the growth of our community and its public facilities from which we all benefit so much.

I hope that once it is under construction, this total misunderstanding of what it is will finally be laid to rest. I hate to feel we are as backwards as we appear so often.

[raj kapoor]

Originally Posted by wetdawg

It is such a huge complex that if they could build a casino and some sort of resort or a small arena for minor league sports or something it would be great, and it would probably put more business closer, but that will never happen. The roads were actually built to handle big crowds for the race course. Unlike other roads in the state.

I live in Trussville area so that's why I hate to see it under used. Although it is nice to drive to Irondale and not have any traffic.

The land, if it becomes available, would make a nice office development with support facilities such as hotels and restaurants. Not unlike Grandview on HWY280.

It is certainly at one of the most accessible interchanges in Birmingham, and convenient to the airport and the southeastern suburbs, so it should not take smart developers long to want to gain control of the land.
It is the largest piece of inside the beltway land out there.

[sleepless in Bham]

Originally Posted by wetdawg

It is such a huge complex that if they could build a casino and some sort of resort or a small arena for minor league sports or something it would be great, and it would probably put more business closer, but that will never happen. The roads were actually built to handle big crowds for the race course. Unlike other roads in the state.

I live in Trussville area so that's why I hate to see it under used. Although it is nice to drive to Irondale and not have any traffic.

I think it would be a perfect location for a casino/resort. If casino gambling is ever approved in Alabama, that location could be a premier destination.

[BishopRidge]

Originally Posted by raj kapoor

Even after fifteen years, there are many people in Birmingham who do not understand the so called dome always has been an expansion of the BJCC.
It would be very hard for that expansion to be built anywhere other than NEXT TO BJCC.

But more important, it raises a question of why so many people over such a long period of time still do not understand what and why the dome was proposed. It was and has always been a BJCC PROJECT. The only money spent and land purchased has been facilitated by the BJCC.

This has been in print so much over fifteen years, how can that misunderstanding so totally fail to get through to so many. I suppose in the opposition, they did such a good job of lying about all the details involved that the truth has yet to be discovered by those who were taken in by that unfortunate dedication to defeat the growth of our community and its public facilities from which we all benefit so much.

I hope that once it is under construction, this total misunderstanding of what it is will finally be laid to rest. I hate to feel we are as backwards as we appear so often.

Raj, I moved back to Alabama in 1999 (just before the world came to an end) and can honestly say I have seen only a few news blurbs on TV about it over the last 15 years. What ever information they have put out has not made it's way to me. I worked for a metro area broadcaster from 1999 until 2001. I owned a small radio station in a county that adjoins Shelby and Jefferson counties from 2001 until 2005. Now I realize it is possible that all this has been done since 2005 but I have heard very little about it. You have told me more than I ever knew. I think that may be one issue with the negative thoughts about the project from those outside downtown. We know very little about it and most of the news we hear about Birmingham and Jefferson county does not lend itself to seeing them as wise planners and investors.

[Tourian]

Originally Posted by raj kapoor

Even after fifteen years, there are many people in Birmingham who do not understand the so called dome always has been an expansion of the BJCC.
It would be very hard for that expansion to be built anywhere other than NEXT TO BJCC.

But more important, it raises a question of why so many people over such a long period of time still do not understand what and why the dome was proposed. It was and has always been a BJCC PROJECT. The only money spent and land purchased has been facilitated by the BJCC.

This has been in print so much over fifteen years, how can that misunderstanding so totally fail to get through to so many. I suppose in the opposition, they did such a good job of lying about all the details involved that the truth has yet to be discovered by those who were taken in by that unfortunate dedication to defeat the growth of our community and its public facilities from which we all benefit so much.

I hope that once it is under construction, this total misunderstanding of what it is will finally be laid to rest. I hate to feel we are as backwards as we appear so often.

Absolutely. They are not going to detonate the BJCC once this thing is built. We will just have the ability to do more things at one time and pick up events that we have been missing, all while booking up the two big hotels (and possibly the third or fourth, whenever they are built) and having all that foot traffic right there for Uptown and its future phases. It isn't and shouldn't be done any other way.

[cpg35223]

Originally Posted by Tourian

Absolutely. They are not going to detonate the BJCC once this thing is built. We will just have the ability to do more things at one time and pick up events that we have been missing, all while booking up the two big hotels (and possibly the third or fourth, whenever they are built) and having all that foot traffic right there for Uptown and its future phases. It isn't and shouldn't be done any other way.

Agreed. But a makeover (Including replacing that horrid sand-colored cladding) is in order. Woof. It's like something out of the Chronicle Of Bad 70s Design.

[wetdawg]

Oh yes I agree that would be the best thing for the city to that there. To be honest I wish there had been enough room to build Regions Field down there too because it would build that area up faster, or they need to build another entertainment district by railroad park

[Tourian]

Originally Posted by cpg35223

Agreed. But a makeover (Including replacing that horrid sand-colored cladding) is in order. Woof. It's like something out of the Chronicle Of Bad 70s Design.

Oh, yeah no doubt. The design is so banal and uninspiring its almost futuristic again, in a 70's sci movie sort of way. I almost expect a moon buggy or a team of space miners to come out of it at any moment.