A Dome For Birmingham...???

((HT: Birmingham News/Roy L. Williams))

Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex board members on Wednesday approved a contract allowing a lead architect to begin designing a domed stadium downtown - a major step toward a goal 11 years in the making.

"It's done. I'm ready to get started," Mayor Larry Langford said shortly after the board, in a 5-2 vote, approved a contract with St. Louis-based Populous.

The move allows the firm formerly known as HOK Sports Events to start the process of putting together a team of local architects to assist it on a project that will cost more than $550 million and take five years to build.

The vote came after the Birmingham City Council on Tuesday approved a proposal by Langford to set aside $8 million a year to begin the design and construction of the stadium. The BJCC board said it plans a groundbreaking at 5 p.m. Tuesday at the site of the dome, which would be located adjacent to a proposed entertainment district along Richard Arrington Boulevard between 22nd Street North and 24th Street.

For BJCC Executive Director Jack Fields and Board Chairman Clyde Echols, breaking ground on the project represents a key moment in efforts since Jefferson County voters in 1998 shot down a sales tax that would have helped finance the facility.

The 57,500-seat stadium, expandable to 70,000 seats, will provide convention space and seating that will enable the BJCC to attract more conventions, trade shows, sporting events and concerts, Fields said.

"Today we took the first step toward bringing our dreams to reality," he said. "Now we will be able to recapture market share we've lost to other cities with better facilities."

Echols called the council's approval of funding the biggest step in the 11-year journey that has seen a lot of ups and downs.

"We have touted for years the need for an expansion, and it is refreshing to see the result of a lot of hard work and effort come to fruition," he said. "I'm re-energized."

Langford told the board he has been in talks with several companies interested in paying up to $1 million a year to have their name connected to the dome. He didn't name the companies.

"We have fought too long to get to this point," the mayor said. "For those wondering when we would start to get private money, we couldn't take that step until we had funding in place. Major League Soccer is looking for a site for a new team. I think Birmingham could now get them here."

Efforts to reach officials with Major League Soccer's headquarters in New York were unsuccessful Wednesday. The 15-team soccer league, started in 1996, currently has expansion teams expected to debut by 2010 in Philadelphia, Portland and Vancouver, according to its Web site. The league has favored smaller, soccer-specific stadiums for its teams.

Also Wednesday, the BJCC heard updates about two other projects they say are vital to its expansion efforts: The In-town Transit Partnership's planned downtown Birmingham bus route and a proposal by Operation New Birmingham to lower Interstate 20/59 below ground.

Al Folcher, a representative for the Metropolitan Planning Organization's transportation committee, said the group is seeking $65 million in funding from the federal stimulus package to build the In-Town Transit Partnership, a bus system running along 18th Street South from the BJCC to Five Points South.

The buses would stop along several routes including downtown and UAB, and make it easier for BJCC patrons to get around, he said. ONB's Mike Calvert said lowering the interstate, a proposed $600 million project, would remove a barrier separating the BJCC from downtown.

In-Town Transit Partnership asked the BJCC for $25,000 to help build a stopping system at the complex, while ONB sought $35,000 to pay for an environmental study related to its project. The BJCC board delayed both requests until its August meeting.

ABC33/40's Kevyn Stewart talks about the release of funds that was another step in the process to get the Dome project underway...