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We’ve got the sneak preview of Birmingham’s new Protective Stadium site (Photos).
BySharron Swain
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Can’t you just hear the roar of the crowd in the new Protective Stadium? After all the years of talk, it’s hard to believe that it’s now officially on its way.
We’ve got the latest architectural renderings, and they bring the vision to life. Read on for all the details.
The Protective Stadium site is slated to be a $175m project
For that money, Birmingham gets quite a few things:
- A 45,000 seat stadium (with the capacity to grow to 75,000 in the future)—right between TopGolf and The Sheraton. Also, super-close to Uptown, in case sports fans get hungry or want to grab a drink.
- A shot in the arm, development-wise, for the area around the BJCC (remember what Parkside was like before Railroad Park, anybody?).
- A new home for UAB football for the next 20 years. They’ll be renting the stadium for a cool $10-25k for the first decade. Per game.
- Gameday-only security means that locals will be able to use part of the area as a park at other times. How’s that for being a good neighbor?
According to our sources at the BJCC, public and private partners stepped forward to make all of this possible. They are grateful. As for us, we can’t wait to see the finished stadium.
But first, they have to re-grade the site
Just like an artist has to prepare a canvas, construction crews have to prep the Protective Stadium site. Here you can see where they’ve started removing sidewalks and trees.
Part of getting ready is removing signage, light fixtures, and existing fences. It’s full-on demolition time.
Grading the Protective Stadium site is its own mini-project
Here are the recent highlights:
- May 13, 2019: BJCC Board awarded $5M worth of contracts to Birmingham-based Russo Corporation to grade the site and relocate utilities.
- June 12, 2019: Birmingham Design Review Committee approved the conceptual design and site plan
- Late July 2019: Russo Corporation broke ground on the long-awaited stadium project. Goal = soil stabilization. Because nobody wants a sinkhole under their building project. Just ask the folks at the Corvette Museum in Bowling Green, Kentucky.
Stay tuned for updates on the Protective Stadium site as it develops. If you hadn’t already guessed, we kind of think construction is cool, so we’ll be sure to keep you in the loop.
Meanwhile, if you have plans to head to the BJCC, Legacy Arena or Uptown, The BJCC’s “Know Before You Go” page has all the info you could possibly need.
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