It’s Monday, May 23 and you know what that means—time to get your fix of the hottest happenings around town from the past week. The final bronze pour for the new Miss Fancy statue in Avondale Park took place along with tons of new openings and construction updates. Keep reading to get the scoop.

New Avondale bar and grill, The Goose, open now + 4 more businesses coming your way

Get excited because we’ve got tons of fresh new openings and businesses that are coming soon. Let’s dive in:

Open Now

• The Goose bar and grill, located in the former Spring Street space in Avondale, is a sports-centered bar with great food, drinks and a spacious patio area, perfect for that summer weather.
• Axe Downtown in Trussville is ready to put your axe throwing skills to the test. New to the game? No worries, they’ve got experts on deck to show you the ropes.

Coming Soon

• Popular convenience store/gas station QuikTrip is making its way to Calera and is set to open in late May. It’s known for its cleanliness and great selection of snacks and drinks.
• Buck Creek Bed and Breakfast is bringing a multi-unit short-term rental community to Helena, perfect for your next staycation. It’s set to open next spring, so start planning that spring break trip early.
• The Heights Fitness is opening a brand new location in downtown Homewood by mid-July. This popular strength-based boot camp offers personal training, group fitness, nutrition coaching and more.

PLUS: Meet the husband + wife duo that’s bringing a new Half Shell Oyster House location to Pelham this summer.

The Battery’s Phase II of construction is now underway in downtown Birmingham

After a long hiatus due to the pandemic, construction has officially resumed on Phase II of The Battery development in Birmingham’s Automotive Historic District. Located on 2nd Ave South and 22nd Street, the $10 million development plans to bring retail shops, restaurants, office space and more to the area. Eager to check it out? Here are some spots you can visit at The Battery right now:

• Gus’ World Famous Fried Chicken
• Wasabi Juan’s
• Birmingham District Brewing
• True40

BREAKING: 20th Street reopens + will welcome the world this summer!

After almost a year of construction, 20th Street North has officially reopened with new improvements and exciting additions, right on time for The World Games 2022. Updates include improving the streets and sidewalks, planting native landscaping, updating signage and adding new furnishings.

To commemorate TWG2022, fun new sculptures have popped up around town, a majority of which are on 20th St N. From one angle the sculptures just look like strips of metal, but as you move around the installation, athletes in action appear. Go on a scavenger hunt and see if you can find them all.

UPDATE: Final bronze pour completed for new Miss Fancy statue in Avondale Park [PHOTOS]

In case you haven’t heard, a new Miss Fancy statue is coming to Avondale Park. Moving one step closer to completion, the final bronze pour for the 15-foot statue took place last week. Local artist Nelson Grice is spearheading the project and we got a fascinating inside look at the bronze pouring process at the Shelby County Arts Council.

The statue is set to be unveiled in September 2022 with a grand event open to the public. We can’t wait for another Miss Fancy statue to call Avondale Park home.

Southern Research breaks ground on new $84M flagship biotech center

Local scientific exploration company, Southern Research, broke ground on a new flagship biotech center on Monday, May 16. The $84 million facility will double the organization’s lab space for research, create 150 new jobs, double its annual economic impact to $300 million a year and much more.

The development is located in southside on the corner of Richard Arrington Jr. Blvd. and Ninth Avenue South. Learn more about it here.

That’s all we’ve got this week, Birmingham!

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