31 minute read
By Mike Easterling
from HBJ Oct 2021
Pandemic, Entrepreneurship, and Fried Chicken: A Story of Small Business Success in Madison County
Eugene Jung and his partner weren’t just looking for a good business location when they brought their restaurant to Madison Boulevard.
Advertisement
At least for Jung. He was looking for a community relationship and found what he was looking for with Champy’s World Famous Fried Chicken, partly because of the pandemic.
The arrival of COVID-19 about 17 months after the opening of Champy’s allowed Jung to get off the road from his day job as a software salesman for IBM.
“One of the positives of the pandemic,’’ he said, “was I’m usually traveling 150-180 days a year. The pandemic allowed me to stay here not only to dig in with the restaurant but the
Champy’s Chicken located off Madison Boulevard in the Publix Shopping Center community itself.’’
Champy’s, which is based in Chattanooga but is not a franchise, also has a location at the concessions area of Toyota Field.
A self-described “kissing babies and shaking hands’’ entrepreneur who had never worked in a restaurant before, upped his efforts during the pandemic shutdown to branch out beyond the walls of Champy’s to build bridges.
During the shutdown, for example, he bought his skeleton curbside-only staff, meals from all surrounding eateries.
“I want all the restaurants around here to be wildly successful,’’ he said as a large lunchday crowd filled into Champy’s dining room after the shutdown was lifted.
Jung, 46, has previously only worked in business. His brother-inlaw approached him about opening a restaurant and they decided to go with Champy’s instead of a chain.
Next was finding a location. Jung, whose family settled in Atlanta from Korea when he was 4 years old, had considered Kennesaw (Ga.) among 15 other locations including the Bahamas, which would prove impractical. Madison, and the former Buffalo’s site, proved
By Mike Easterling / Photos by Steve Babin
to be the final destination. A fast-food franchise wasn’t an option.
“We’d always talked about doing something like this,’’ Jung said. “We wanted to do something we believed in.’’
Champy’s in Madison opened July 3, 2019. Jung said business was “very, very good’’ until the pandemic hit. Then a funny thing happened -- business not only continued to be brisk but it may have gotten better.
“We had built a strong following,’’ Jung said. “There’s a lot of housing right down here on Zierdt Road. We were really the only sit down bar with food (nearby) and we had captured a lot of those customers.
“During the pandemic they did a great job of supporting us. They would order dinner for their family and would tip extraordinarily, like for a $25 order they’d tip $50 or $100.’’
Jung said the tips were high because customers wanted to show their appreciation for the curbside service. Champy’s only closed during the shutdown for two days after two staff members tested positive for COVID-19. Otherwise service continued. Chicken is only part of the vast menu. Sausage cheese pickles and Mississippi Delta tamales are the signature dishes. “Cars were lined up for orders to go, which was great,’’ Jung said. “People were like, ‘Here’s $100, thanks for being open.’ It was great. Built relationships in the community. That’s kind of my thing.’’ Servers made so much in tips one was able to replace a wrecked car with the money she made.
“We were lucky,’’ said Jenny Helft, Champy’s general manager. “I think it went smoothly (during the shutdown), considering.’’
Being off the road, and “networking,’’ allowed Jung to develop relationships with his neighbors. He became good friends with staff and owners at surrounding restaurants and businesses and others including Madison schools, of which his store makes regular donations.
Jung said he’s become pals with the likes of Mayor Paul Finley and city council members. Champy’s, along with the city council, Old Black Bear Brewing Company and Chuckwagon BBQ are hosting a festival in downtown Madison on October 23 with performer Rodney Atkins scheduled to headline..
“It’s sort of like (Huntsville’s) Whistlestop,’’ Jung said. “That wouldn’t have happened if I wouldn’t have been able to get into the community.’’
The festival is all part of Jung’s motto.
“Pay it forward, pay it back,’’ he said. u
Eugene Jung opened Madison’s location of Champy’s on July 3, 2019
Newest Renovations Add to the Long History of Lincoln Mill
By Noah Logan / Rendering courtesy of Commercial Real EstateCrunkelton
Huntsville’s historic Lincoln Mill has been undergoing a complete renovation to “transform the development into the amenity-rich office complex it was meant to be,” according to Crunkleton Commercial Real Estate. Crunkleton’s effort to renovate the site is just the latest example of a community that aims to preserve pieces of its past that help tell the story of Huntsville
Lincoln Mill first opened in 1900 and quickly became the largest textile mill in Huntsville. It operated under multiple different names in its first few decades of operation, such as Madison Spinning Company, rebranded as Abingdon Mills in 1908, and finally became Lincoln Mill in 1918.
The idea of transforming Lincoln Mill into a dedicated office space came in the late 1950s. Local business representatives took control of the site in 1957 after multiple worker strikes in 1950 and 1954 that forced the textile mill to close its doors for good.
Their main goal was to reopen the mill as the Huntsville Industrial Complex (HIC) in order to attract Wernher Von Braun and the Army Missile Command to the city.
After the largest fire in the history of Huntsville raged through its campus in 1982, new owners took control of HIC and renamed it the Downtown Industrial Complex. Major renovations would take place at the oldest structures that survived the fire, Mill No. 3 and the Dye House, and they became home to tenants from engineering companies, educational facilities and government offices.
The complex was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2010 and was acquired by Crunkleton Commercial Real Estate in 2020 with big plans for major renovations
The updates have not only added to the look of Lincoln Mill but also its functionality. Officials at Crunkleton are aiming to take Lincoln Mill from just offices to a community hub that everyone can enjoy.
The project team for Lincoln Mill’s redevelopment is made up of local experts including Matheny Goldmon, Joe Still Building Company, and Lanier Ford.
Some of the most recent changes are clearly visible even when driving by. The Dye House, now the property’s retail hub, received new paint and added storefronts in a new facelift. A massive sign featuring the new logo was also installed on the roof of the main office building in September. Additional signage has also been placed in order for the North and South lobbies to be easily identified as well as a new branded monument located on Meridian Street.
There’s also a new station for Downtown Huntsville’s Blue Bike program. The bike rack provides rentable bikes that anyone can use with the use of the free Movatic app. Finally, a brand new court yard has also been added to the South Lobby.
For those who wish to stay up to date on the Lincoln Mill revitalization process, Crunkleton Real Estate’s website publishes all of the updates including new tenants, amenities and completion timelines in its blog at www. crunkletonassociates.com/blog/. u
By Kimberly Ballard / Photos by Steve Babin
Presentation of the Artemis Project at Huntsville’s Space and Rocket Center
Growing up in the shadow of the Saturn V rocket and the Apollo missions was an inspiration to the Huntsville community. For many, it meant your dreams could become reality; that there is nothing to stop you from reaching for the stars; that those dreams had the power to reshape the future and take you far beyond where you ever thought it possible to go.
Today, a new generation of space explorers is taking over. They are watching and learning and building their own bright futures right here in the Rocket City. They are the Artemis generation, who will once again lead the way as America returns to the moon, this time with the Space Launch Systems (SLS) – the most powerful rocket ever developed.
This is the way Hartselle native, Jody Singer, director of Marshall Space Flight Center described her experience this week as she officially introduced the SLS and Artemis program from the podium of the National Geographic Theater at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center’s Davidson Center.
Artemis is NASA’s next great space exploration mission. In Greek mythology, Artemis is Apollo’s sister, a fitting choice since it will ultimately deliver the first woman and person of color, whom have yet to be determined, to the surface of the moon.
SLS is the rocket that will get them there.
“Sixty years ago, we developed and tested that breathtaking Saturn V rocket that stands as a mascot for North Alabama and a beacon for everyone who passes through Huntsville,” Singer said. “For more than 60 years, Huntsville has built and tested space hardware, performed science, and supported the International Space Station. Now, SLS will soon take its place alongside Saturn V as just one more grand achievement of the American Space Program.”
Tentatively slated to launch by the end of this year or early next year from Kennedy Space Center, Singer said it isn’t just about MSFC, but it’s about Huntsville, about the state of Alabama and the North Alabama region.
“Space exploration is in our DNA,” said Singer. “Over 1,100 industry partners have been living and working in this city a long time, preparing for this event.
Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle explained why SLS and Artemis are so important to our community, and why the moon is still a viable target.
“Currently, the SLS program has contributed $2.4 billion to Alabama’s economy; 13,000 jobs across the state; and generated more than $55 million in state and local taxes,” Mayor Battle said. “When you look at how much it is adding to
By Kimberly Ballard / Photos by Steve Babin
our economy and then look at what it is adding to the world, you realize we are doing something no one else can do, that we’ve done it before, and we are doing it again.
Many people have asked, “Why the moon? We have already been there.”
But according to experts, the moon is imperative to our aspirations for going deeper and deeper into space; to deliver humans and their systems into that deep space; and to ultimately put them on the face of our nearest planet, Mars.
“SLS is a result of a national effort with the ability to evolve and support our deep space aspirations,” said Singer. “It’s not just the first mission, it is missions to come and how we are going to evolve and support and deliver humans and their systems in one launch, into deep space. Artemis’ lunar exploration crew will establish a long-term presence on the moon and ultimately help us understand what it takes to live off-planet so we can make our next great leap into deep space and to Mars.”
SLS is the only rocket right now, capable, with the Orion crew capsule holding astronauts and cargo, to get us to the moon in a single mission. When Artemis launches, SLS will be the most powerful rocket in the world. As this advanced space craft circles the moon, it will demonstrate a complex integration of many systems and components working together.
It will also be carrying several hitchhikers in the form of science experiments. These experiments will deploy on their own and show what space exploration looks like. “SLS will be a continuous steppingstone to preparing us for the next phase of the next missions that carry our astronauts back to the moon,” said Singer. “Artemis will be around for a long time.”
“Since 1953, Huntsville has been known as the Rocket City, and it is about to ‘Rock-it’ one more time as we take ourselves back into deep space, and from there, we go beyond,” said Mayor Battle. “I am very proud to be a part of a city that can put that together – to produce systems and propulsion systems that can take us back into deep space and bring us back safely to earth.
“So, let’s go – let’s go to the moon!” u
Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle addressing the impact and goals of the Artemis project
Demonstration of the various components making up the SLS rocket
2020 Census Speaks: Huntsville Metro the Largest in the State
By Kimberly Ballard
The headline is simple: Huntsville proper has become the largest city in Alabama with a 1.9 percent annual growth rate that is about 2.5 percent faster than annual census projections predicted.
The actual raw data from the full 10-year census showed that Huntsville saw a significant increase in population to 215,006, edging out Birmingham as the largest city in Alabama with the biggest gains found in Madison County.
Huntsville added 35,000 people in 10 years, or 3,500 people per year, which impacts housing, job opportunities, and workforce issues.
“The numbers were very good for the Huntsville metro area,” said Ken Smith, the Huntsville/ Madison County Chamber of Commerce’s senior director of Research & Information Services. “But Huntsville’s gains are only part of the story. It was also good news for the 2-county Huntsville metro that includes Limestone County, and great news for the state of Alabama.
“Alabama’s good census turnout means we will keep a congressional seat many have been concerned we would lose over the past two years.
Looking at the North Alabama counties that make up the Huntsville's metro, Madison County’s growth rate was 1.6 percent per year.
Limestone County was the second fastest growing county in the state adding 21,000 people in 10 years bringing it close to 100,000. When combined with Madison County, which makes up the Huntsville metro, the total population is almost 500,000 (488,000) amounting to the second largest metro in the state and certain to remain that way for many years to come.
“About 74,000 people have come into Huntsville’s metro over the past ten years, which averages out to about 20 people per a day and about 30 percent of the state’s total population growth,” said Smith. “Then compare Alabama’s 5 percent growth to the overall U.S. growth at 7.5 percent. Those are very good numbers.”
Smith said more census data will be released in late September and understanding how the census’ Office of Management & Budget determines a city’s metro is significant as more in-depth data is analyzed.
“Some people are saying we are comparing apples to oranges when we compare Huntsville’s two-county metro with Birmingham’s 7-county metro, but they use a formula based on 25 percent of a county’s workers who live in one county and work in another county,” Smith said. “If a city meets a certain threshold of 25 percent, then that county becomes part of your metro area.
“Those numbers are not yet released, so it may well be that we gain another county in our metro area – likely Lincoln County, Tennessee because we have a good number of people driving in from there every day.
“Also, Decatur (Morgan County) has its own metro area,” he said. “Depending on how the numbers work out down the road, one day it might be possible the two-county Decatur metro and the two-county Huntsville metro, along with Lincoln County, Tenn. will combine into one metro area.
A list of the top 20 fastest growing metros in the country places the Huntsville metro at 18th. Some of the growing metros on the list are retirement communities in Texas and second home destinations in Florida. Others are like Huntsville in terms of competition for high technology workforces. Many of them are in southeastern states, but not many are in the Midwest and northern metros.
“What this means is our entire region is growing, some a little faster than others, but the way we look at our workforce region, the 16-county area and a growing 2-county metro will help us when marketing to companies that are looking for workers,” said Smith. “We have now crossed the threshold of over 1 million to a labor pool of 1.3 million people, so we are very excited about what that means.” u
Post 2020 Census: What Does Alabama’s Redistricting Process Look Like?
By Kimberly Ballard
Now that the 2020 U.S. Census data has been released, what does it mean in terms of redistricting the state of Alabama?
According to Jimmy Entrekin, general counsel for the Legislative Services Agency, a nonpartisan professional staff that works for both the Alabama House of Representatives and the state Senate - probably not that much.
Entrekin and Legislative Services Agency director Othni Latham recently joined Mike Ward, senior vice president Government & Public Affairs for the Huntsville-Madison County Chamber of Commerce, to discuss Alabama’s redistricting process now that the data from the 2020 census has dropped.
“The ideal population for each House district is close to 48,000 (47,850) and for the Senate districts it is a little over 143,500,” said Entrekin. “A 5 percent deviation was approved in May so every plan that comes up during the legislative process will reflect an up or down of 5 percent for both House and Senate districts.”
House districts he said are more sensitive than senate districts because of their population size.
“If you have a bigger district and significant gains or losses, you’re looking at gaining or losing a neighborhood if it’s an urban population center; but if you are a rural population center like Dallas and Monroe counties, that is the equivalent to losing an entire township within that district, or maybe even an entire county if you gain or lose population.”
He gave the following example: House District 10 gained 13,000+ people since the last census, and that’s 11,000 over their ideal goal. That means they are going to have to find 8,500 voters to put into different districts, whether that is losing some to the north, the south, the east, or the west part of the state depends, but that is what is likely to happen in that district.
“Eight thousand people is a lot of neighborhoods so that could be a significant change, but where that lands, we will have to see once the redistricting committee finalizes plans and files it. When they do, there will be plenty of time for the public to see it and start digesting it before it gets passed.”
LSA director Othni Latham explained why legislators need to redraw the congressional and legislative district maps every 10 years, and what that means for the people of Alabama.
“The ultimate goal of the census is to abide by what we as a country strive for on the election front as ‘one person, one vote’, or the equal representation of persons across the country on both the federal and state level,” Latham explained.
Following the release of census data, this redistricting process follows a reapportionment process, where legislators re-divide the 435 congressional seats to ensure every member of the House of Representatives represents roughly the same amount of the population.
According to Latham, when the census gets into the edges, the lines are very thin. As an example, the state of New York lost a House seat by 89 votes.
“Alabama has been on pins and needles for a couple of years leading up to the 2020 census, concerned we may be the last one out, using the March Madness bubble as an analogy, and we were very concerned we would lose a district and go from seven Congressional seats to six,” he said. “Thankfully that did not happen.” The reapportionment process determines what Congress looks like at the state level, and those numbers also play a role in how many people each member of the Alabama House and the Alabama Senate represents. The overall redistricting process then redraws state maps to reflect the new numbers. The LSA plays a role advising the legislative committee that governs the redistricting process. Their legal division drafts all the bills and prepares all the amendments, and the final House redistricting plan is in essence, a bill that must go through the same legislative process as any standard piece of legislation to become law. It has to pass both the House and the Senate.
Each House member is going to represent roughly 45,000 persons, so in places like Huntsville, those make for very small geographic House districts and Latham said the geography of getting 45,000 persons is somewhat compact. However, some parts of the state’s Black Belt require several counties to get to 45,000 persons.
“Those districts can get much bigger, but as a country, our foundational principles of ‘one person, one vote’ demands that elected members be representative of people, and not land,” said Latham. “We draw maps to give roughly the same amount of representation in terms of population, at least at the House level when referencing the federal level; and both the House and Senate level when referencing the state levels.”
All redistricting plans and guidelines come from a 22-person permanent legislative committee consisting of 11 senators and 11 House members, established by joint rule of the legislature.
“Right now, we are at the point where they are getting public input, said Latham. “The committee is holding almost 30 hearings around the state right now. We have physical locations where the public can join virtually if they prefer due to COVID, and there is still plenty of opportunity for action between the public and the committee as they work on the process.
“Any member can file a proposed redistricting plan and it must go through the redistricting committee before it goes before the legislature for consideration,” he said. “Even though a deviation of 5 percent is allowed as stated above, one district affects the next district which affects the next district, so this part of the requirement is to ensure that if somebody presents a plan, it all fits together correctly and matches the rules and guidelines established by the committee.”
In other words, the plan must be contiguous so part of District ‘A’ cannot be in North Alabama, while part of District ‘B’ is in South Alabama.
The committee also tries to preserve existing cores of existing districts.
With the public hearing currently in progress, the next step involves the committee officially adopting a plan from both congressional districts and the school board districts and filing them in the legislature.
The bill goes to a House and Senate Affairs committee and to the House and Senate leadership where it is debated and voted out of committee.
“Then we call a special-order calendar and most of the members are aware what the bill contains, so they either agree or disagree,” said Entrekin. “Once approved by both chambers, it goes into law where it is passed along to all the different probate offices and election offices around the state so they can plug it in and update their maps and precincts accordingly, but …” he warns. “When it becomes law, that’s when the lawsuits begin, so we will have just scratched the surface at that point. These lawsuits concerning redistricting have been going on since the 1960s, so we don’t expect this year to be any different!” u
The City of Huntsville’s 2022 Budget: Workforce Development, Quality of Life, and the City’s Standard
By Gus Wintzell Photos by Gus Wintzell
Huntsville’s growth is known far and wide, and when Mayor Tommy Battle introduced the City of Huntsville's FY 2022 General Fund Budget, it was to keep up with this growth.
“Now that the 2020 census has deemed us the largest city in the state, we will continue our goal to be the best,” said Mayor Battle
Yesterday, the Huntsville City Council met to discuss the specific details of the budget and to address any questions council members might have.
The budget proposed by Mayor Battle encompasses a $245 million operating budget focused on public safety, road resurfacing, mental health care, parks and recreation, and an increased focus on workforce development.
The FY 2022 General Budget represents a 4% increase in spending over the FY 2021 budget.
According to Penny Smith, the Director of Finance for the City of Huntsville, this increase comes from a few changes.
Among these changes is a transition of the Office of Multicultural Affairs into the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.
Another change is moving sanitation from the general funds to the specific revenues in order to make this department its own fund.
“There’s more demand than ever for city services and we believe this budget allows us to meet those critical needs while remaining fiscally responsible in our spending,” Mayor Battle.
As Mayor Battle noted, the FY 2022 budget focuses primarily on adapting city funds to an ever growing Huntsville city.
“More people plus more land mass means more to manage,” said Mayor Battle
An example of this is an increase of 111 City employees over the last fiscal year, which brings Huntsville’s part-time and full-time employment to around 2,978 individuals.
Over the past year, three of the largest administrative departments that saw higher numbers of employment were the fire department with 20
Mayor Tommy Battle of the City of Huntsville discussing the importance of moving forward with the FY 2022 Budget
new hires, the police department with 29 new hires, and the Parks and Recreation Department with 35, the highest increase in employment of any department.
In total, the General Budget allocates $219 million to Departments, the bulk of these being the Police and Fire Departments.
“The department heads came with their ideas, their passions, their commitments for their missions inside of the city,” said Smith, “so this Budget includes initiatives and programs as well as just growth to meet all of the demands of our growing community.”
“Most got at best 99% of what they asked for,” said Director Smith.
One of these major demands that Departments seek to deal with is workforce development.
Councilman Bill Kling, the third presiding officer of the city council and representative of District 4, asked how the recent labor shortages affected Department allocation of funds from the FY 2022 General Budget.
John Hamilton, the city of Huntsville administrator, stated that much of the labor shortages came from competition with private companies.
For Hamilton, the challenge is not increasing the number of available positions, but “finding the right people for the job.”
To counteract said competition, Hamilton discussed the implementation of a 3% increase in employee pay, which remained the major crux of the conversation over the past week
Besides the 3% increase, there also would be changes to Health Benefits.
The FY 2022 Budget allocates funds to move from providing Tier 2 Health Benefits to Tier 1 health Bbenefits, with an overall 17% cost increase in Health Benefits overall for city employees, according to Director Smith.
Director Smith pointed out that the pandemic had something to do with this increase, but she also stressed that the FY 2022 Budget accommodated fully for this expenditure.
Both Hamilton and Director Smith stated that the Budget also provides an easy structure and source of funding to not only help hire competitively, but to increase long term retention of City employees.
“Our biggest challenge is filling the jobs that we have been able to bring here, and making sure we have the workers to do that. In order to do this, we have to make sure we have the quality of life that entices people to come over and live here,” said Mayor Battle.
Frances Akridge, the city of Huntsville Councilwoman representing District 2, asked how this focus on employee retention, competition, labor, and the mission of the City intertwined in this Budget.
For Mayor Battle, raising the quality of life for City employees raises the quality of service and life for the City as a whole.
“Making sure your house is safe, making sure you have a clean city to come to, making sure that when people come here that they are proud of what they see” is the most important dayto-day process of the Administrative Departments and their employees, according to Mayor Battle.
In this way, the FY 2022 General Budget resembles a cycle focused on providing funding for workforce development that not only maintains the standard of living increased by the day to day work of City of Huntsville employees, but helps increase the quality of service offered as the city continues to grow.
For Mayor Battle and Director Smith, passing the FY 2022 Budget would mean a major success for workforce development in North Alabama, as well as a major success in holding the City of Huntsville to the standard of Alabama’s fastest growing city.
The Council is expected to vote on September 23, right before the beginning of the 2022 fiscal year on October 01.
For more information, https:// www.huntsvilleal.gov/government/ city-council/. u
And the Beat Goes On As the Huntsville Amphitheater Takes Shape
Like the first composition by an omnificent maestro, the Huntsville Amphitheater is rising from the firmament at MidCity with its own unique structure and harmonious arrangement - a masterpiece of design, acoustics, provision, and intimacy.
Going up so fast its benefactor Ryan Murphy of Huntsville’s Venue Group could barely contain his giddiness in the recent update to the Huntsville-Madison County Chamber of Commerce. There he planted a flag of assurance that the first sounds of music will rise from its stage in May 2022.
“I’ve never seen anything of this scale go up so fast so after looking at drawings of it for 3 years, seeing the real thing is exciting and absolutely incredible,” said Murphy whose company will manage the Amphitheater and all its activities for the City of Huntsville.
He showed images of the venue’s steel structure firmly planted; the bowl taking shape surrounded by prefabricated seating and some of the archways that lend itself to the coliseum-type design.
“We’ve been holding a lot of hard hat tours, bringing in local organizations that want to see it under construction,” said Murphy. “Even at this point in the construction, you can feel the intimacy of the venue and sense the presence of someone onstage as you walk the site. Eight thousand people is not a small venue, but this amphitheater is designed so there is not a bad seat in the house, even in what can be called the ‘nosebleed’ section, you will be able to see the whites of the performer’s eyes. People can already feel the density of the venue’s footprint and experience its awesomeness.”
Visitors will have what Murphy calls an ‘immersive experience’ created by the designers, Matheny Goldmon Architecture + Interiors, along the concourses where many of the food and beverage vendors and merchandise vendors are located.
“It will be different from the cookie-cutter beer and hotdog concessions you see in many outdoor venues,” said Murphy. “We are leaning into a lot of great stuff, for instance, you will be able to order a special cocktail, a glass of wine or a beer, a cup of kombucha or a cup of coffee; and we are trying out some food ideas that will ensure an elevated experience for visitors on the F&B side.”
Earlier this year, the Huntsville Business Journal discussed the importance of the food element with Venue Group owner and Grammy award-winning Mumford & Sons musician Ben Lovett.
“The food experience is very important to us, but probably not something people deem as important across the industry,” Lovett said. “Most venues see the show as the main event, but if you go beyond the show, those people are going to want to park efficiently. They will want to have dinner and some drinks. We see these things as a kind of equal match to the main event itself.”
According to Lovett and Murphy, many impressive public venues open only to discover drastic traffic and parking problems getting in and out of the venue before and after a show. For that reason, the Venue Group is building a main parking lot, plus several smaller lots, while offering multiple parking options throughout the site that will accommodate a full capacity of 8,000 people.
“We are consulting with logistics experts about traffic and discussing the phasing of ingress and egress parking, while working with rideshare companies about other options. We are saying with confidence we will nail it,” said Murphy.
The Huntsville Amphitheater is a city entity, a facility funded by the taxpayers. Bringing in 20 to 30plus big-name artists from around the country and around the world is only a piece of the economic strategy behind the amphitheater.
“The Huntsville Amphitheater will provide cultural programming and support the local music scene and all types of community engagement,” said Murphy. “We will support the Huntsville-Madison County Public Library’s new music streaming platform, Blast, and give the more than 40 local musicians from around the Tennessee Valley plenty of opportunities to celebrate the platform’s music catalog live on stage.
“We will also work with local organizations to put together a night market and a farmer’s market.”
The Huntsville City Council voted to give the Venue Group a ground lease to a parcel of the new West Huntsville Park adjacent to the amphitheater, so they can elevate and invest in a Food Village. In turn, the Venue Group is investing millions of dollars into it to solidify the longevity of their relationship with the community.
“We want it to be very clear in everyone’s minds that the Huntsville Amphitheater is an extension of the new park,” said Murphy.
It also opens the door to something bigger - festivals.
Murphy said the Amphitheater campus and park can accommodate multiple stages with many acts and events going on to create an amazing stretched-out regional festival like an artist’s meadow, a student Shakespeare series, and more.
The benefits to local businesses and attractions are also incalculable as they have opportunities to entertain the entertainers.
“A concert act brings an entire crew to town when they arrive, and it is important for us to have things for the entertainers and their families to do when they are not performing, so we are open to local attractions and businesses interested in engaging the artists.”
Built by Robins & Morton, Murphy said they have adjusted well to staying in sync with the timeline despite the starts and stops caused not only by the pandemic last year, but by the curveballs thrown at them this year as the virus waned and then returned.
The timeline is important because Murphy said there is a window of opportunity to book some huge artists in May and June next year, stretching into fall.
“We are going to come out of the gate really strong in May 2022,” he said. “The entire entertainment industry has faced the same fits and starts due to COVID as everyone else and many of the big acts started back touring but had to recalibrate tour dates as people again began retreating. But we are back on track and have some great confirmations I am not allowed to talk about yet.”
He expects however, to make some announcements in October this year, for next spring’s opening. u
By Kimberly Ballard Photo by SellersPhoto
