Hoover Mayor Frank Brocato at his office. (Jacob Blankenship / Bham Now)

Mayor Frank Brocato wants to take Hoover to new heights with a thriving town center and state-of-the-art performing arts center. Read on to see what he has to say on the development’s progress so far and his plans for the future of the city.

A town center for Hoover

At just a little over 50 years old, the City of Hoover has grown immensely since its inception. However, with a sprawling layout, it never quite grew in a way that included a town center.

Mayor Frank Brocato is looking to change that and has taken the first legal steps to make it happen.

“We’ve appointed our first downtown redevelopment authority and our first commercial development authority—together, those tools will help us redevelop the specific area we have in mind for the town center. They’ve taken a three-mile radius and defined a downtown area for Hoover. From today forward, as we look for opportunities to develop that area, it will grow in a manner that starts to look like a town center.”
Mayor Frank Brocato, City of Hoover

After talking with some of the larger developments in the Hoover area, Mayor Brocato is optimistic about what the town center will hold. One of the most exciting aspects? A new state-of-the-art performing arts center.

“One of the things that could be a real catalyst is for us to build a performing arts center. We’re talking somewhere in the $40 to $50 million range—so it’s going to be the real deal. We’re working on that now to try and decide exactly where that’s gonna be. We think you will start to see a walkable development that will be created around it.”
Mayor Frank Brocato, City of Hoover

A performing arts center would be a game-changer for the Hoover area and a wonderful step in the right direction for the future of the city. He said he would love to see music being played there in the next 24-36 months, but it all depends on finding the right location and getting the funds together.

As for the next steps, Mayor Brocato says he’s working closely with a city planner to develop exactly what the next move should be. With the downtown redevelopment and commercial redevelopment authorities in place, things are moving in the right direction. Although it won’t happen overnight, progress is being made.

Bringing the community together

Mayor Brocato said he is aiming to have a development similar to SoHo Square in Homewood in the Hoover area. A central place where the community can come together and eat, drink, shop and more.

“I think it’s going to have an incredibly positive impact in terms of building community. A place that our citizens can call their town center, where they can have various festivals, farmer’s markets, a park that is central to the city…a gathering place.”
Mayor Frank Brocato, City of Hoover

Of course, he gave a shoutout to the current residents of Hoover who foster an amazing, involved community with parks, playgrounds, schools, sports facilities and more. He said that this town center will be an added dimension to what already makes Hoover great.

Prepping for The World Games 2022

As you’ve probably heard by now, the world is coming to Birmingham in a little over a month. Hoover is playing an integral role in TWG2022 as the softball events are being hosted at the Hoover Met Complex.

With such a large influx of athletes and fans alike, I had to ask, how is Hoover preparing?

“We are working side by side with our friends in the City of Birmingham. We’re going to do everything that we can to make the Birmingham-Hoover metropolitan area look good, along with the state of Alabama. We’re going to make sure that the fans, athletes and coaches have a fantastic experience. We’re really excited to share the stage with Birmingham.”
Mayor Frank Brocato, City of Hoover

With a successful history of hosting the SEC baseball tournament, Mayor Brocato is confident that Hoover will utilize the same things that make the tournaments work so well with The World Games 2022 softball.

Public Meetings

This week, public meetings were held by the commercial development authority and the downtown redevelopment authority to discuss the development and accept questions from the public.

The next meeting involving the downtown redevelopment authority is slated for Tuesday, August 2 at 8:30AM. If you have questions regarding the upcoming town center development, attendance is encouraged.

Find more information regarding public meetings, visit the City of Hoover website.

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