Decatur Developments

[Alabadrock]

Here's some pictures of how the Crossings is progressing...

[kayman]

Just by the design I can tell the building to the right is the Target store. It looks just like the one that was built in Oxford.

[Alabadrock]

Just by the design I can tell the building to the right is the Target store. It looks just like the one that was built in Oxford.

[kayman]

Lol, you know I noticed that too, except, I saw it when I looked at the renderings. I was on my way home from ATL one night and saw the on at the Oxford Exchange. Then I saw the renderings of Decatur's, and I was like,"DOES that look like the one in Oxford!?" Haha

[Alabadrock]

Yeah, the Target is the most colorful store in the entire Anniston-Oxford area. People from as far as Gadsden and Sylacauga got all out their way to visit that store. It actually brings out a very different group of that you usually don't see in the region. I'll bet it'll do the same for Decatur when it is opens also.

[Alabadrock]

I completely forgot about this story about the new Robotic Surgery at Decatur General.

It's now the only Robotic Surgery center between Birmingham and Nashville. No, not even Huntsville has one, which surprises me.

Here's the link.

http://www.decaturdaily.com/decaturdaily/n...502/robot.shtml

[Alabadrock]

Browns Ferry reactor splits first atom in 22 years

The long-dormant Browns Ferry Unit 1 nuclear reactor was restarted Monday and achieved a nuclear reaction early today, some 22 years after it was shut down for safety reasons.

Federal regulators gave TVA, which operates Browns Ferry, permission to restart the reactor last week, culminating a five-year, $1.8 billion rebuilding effort.

TVA said its operators will increase power over the next several days and test related plant systems to ensure proper operation.

Testing on the reactor will continue for several weeks, TVA said, and will include "brief connections to the power grid, followed by deliberate 'automatic' trips, or shutdowns to ensure the plant safety systems operate correctly."

[Alabadrock]

Bill Expanding Port Authority Clears Legislature

MONTGOMERY

Edited May 30, 2007 by Alabadrock

[Alabadrock]

Here's a map of where the proposed industrial park would be.

[Alabadrock]

Calhoun Community College is nearly finished with their construction on campus, that has cost around $44 Million. They're now starting with landscaping, and road closures to move traffic in a more organized manner.

http://www.decaturdaily.com/decaturdaily/n...1/calhoun.shtml

[Alabadrock]

Point Mallard Attendance Up

http://www.decaturdaily.com/decaturdaily/news/070602/park.shtml

Park officials are already thinking about adding another ride next year. Attendence reached 7,700 in 4 days at the opening of the park during the Alabama Jubilee. The dought made it really hot so, there was not short supply of people who wanted to go there.

Anyways, the park plans to have promotional things, such as giving away things at playings of the movie "Surf's Up".

[Alabadrock]

Burleson Mountain Subdivision

This subdivision would provide space for 400 homes. The city is in the process of working something out to extend the sewers past Red Bank Road.

http://www.decaturdaily.com/decaturdaily/n.../burleson.shtml

The Daily is saying that the project looks likely.

[Alabadrock]

Finally! I've been waiting to see this. The number 2 and 3 ranked cities in Morgan County, are finally beginning to see spin off growth because of the job growth in other cities like Decatur and Huntsville. Hartselle (pop: 13,479) and Priceville (pop: 2,380) - Priceville is also currently the 7th fastest growing city in Alabama.

So, about the cities now. Hartselle recently beat their record for building permits. Since the late 1990s, the city has granted permits for 1,435 new residences. That still falls short when you compare it to how many Decatur might have experienced, but, of course, Hartselle, has not always been known for it's growth. My prediction for them: I can see Hartselle easily getting to about 20,000 by 2025 or 2020 maybe even sooner.

Priceville: Probably Decatur's only true suburb. Hartselle has always been kind of independant, sort of like Decatur and Huntsville. I haven't seen many correct figures that agree with eachother on Priceville's growth. But, just driving down Highway 67 I can tell that it's pushing to keep pace with the BRAC influx.

If you wanna read the articles where I got this info, just go to www.decaturdaily.com they won't be hard to find, they'll be in the business and main page part of the website.

I'm also still waiting on more info about the really nice subdivision proposed for Brindley Mountain.

[Alabadrock]

Decatur City Council considers sewer development fund

The city council is considering creating a fund, similar to ones in Huntsville and Madison, to help with the burden of extending sewer lines to developing areas.

I'm assuming that talk has finally started about this because of the new proposed subdivision, which is about 80% happening, on Burleson Mountain.

Mayor Don Kyle has said that about $250,000 dollars would be pulled from the fund for the first project. Which I'm assuming is the Burleson Mountain project.

Although I'm happy about this news, I'm wondering, why didn't we do this sooner. Also, why doesn't the Flint City area have sewer yet. The area was annexed into Decatur some years ago, and they still don't have access to sewer. If anybody deserves to have sewer access, they do.

Article:Decatur city council considers creating sewer fund

[HSVTiger]

Interesting evaluation of retail environment in Decatur. No real surprises or bad things, but a few concerns.

The stagnant growth for whatever reason, Decatur is a wonderful city but it's image could stand some change.

Hartselle, Athens and Madison also take some of the growth from Decatur.

http://www.decaturdaily.com/decaturdaily/n...retailers.shtml

[Alabadrock]

Interesting evaluation of retail environment in Decatur. No real surprises or bad things, but a few concerns.

The stagnant growth for whatever reason, Decatur is a wonderful city but it's image could stand some change.

Hartselle, Athens and Madison also take some of the growth from Decatur.

http://www.decaturdaily.com/decaturdaily/n...retailers.shtml

"Decatur is what it is," Dave Huntoon said. "There's nothing to be ashamed of with it. It may be that you're not getting the Nordstroms of the world to locate in Decatur, but the reality is that type of retailer wouldn't appeal to a significant number of the people who live in Decatur."

The Huntsville factor

Huntsville's proximity is a disincentive to high-end retailers who might otherwise drop into Decatur.

"A retailer is going to look at Huntsville in its own right, and then the ability to draw the Decatur consumer into Huntsville as a bonus," said Huntoon. "You don't draw from Huntsville. And you won't. People orient to the larger market. Huntsville can almost be a detriment, because it bleeds off a lot of those sales."

[Alabadrock]

Pryor Field Airport officials say renovations should finish soon

Officials for the Pryor Field Regional Airport say that the new terminal building that is currently under construction, should be open for business within the next month or two.

The terminal is part of the $3.3 Million expansion/renovation plans that have been made over the past few years.

Other improvements included a 1,000 ft runway extension. The runway is now long enough to accomodate a Boeing 737 and DC-9.

More improvements in the near future include improvements to the main entrance on US 31. This money came after the Decatur City Council apporved a $154,173 FAA grant.

PFRA is the busiest general aviation airport in the state, and is jointly owned between Decatur and Athens.

Article: Pryor Field expansions/renovations

Edited November 10, 2007 by Leonard23

[Alabadrock]

Parks and Recreation board discusses adding LED signs

The addition of LED signs in the city started with the construction of a screen at the Point Mallard Aquatic Center in June. Now, the Parks and Recreation board is installing them at Wilson-Morgan Park (on the Beltline) and at Ingalls Boat Harbor (on AL 20/ALT 72). The new screens should be in place by the end of September.

The city wanted signs at Ingalls because the boat harbor is hosting 8 tournaments in 2008.

The city wants the sign at WM Park because the current sign only displays set info that has to be manually changed.

Article: Decatur wants LEDs for parks

[Alabadrock]

Downtown Redevelopment Authority likely to use parts of '04 study

Decatur Redevelopment Authority members will be using parts of the 04' "Envision Decatur" plan to create the updated one.

The big topic of this story is probably about the city trying to attract Calhoun's Fine Arts program downtown. The school is starved for space on campus, so, this could easily solve some problems for them and the downtown area.

Bringing the program downtown could mean much more business for downtown restaurants and stores. Including more foottraffic, and some more apartments. It could help fullfill the cities want to try and turn the downtown area into what it once was.

Gov. Riley has said that it would be hard to justify getting 30 to 40 million dollars when so many other schools need repairs.

Decatur Daily article: Decatur Redevelopment "Envision Decatur"

[Alabadrock]

Wallace State vying for center Calhoun wants

Calhoun's bid for Governor Riley's proposed robotics center in Alabama is now being challenged by Wallace State, who wants to bring the center to Hanceville.

Calhoun believes that they are the best choice because of the location. It's pretty much as close you can get to Huntsville withough being in Huntsville. They argue it would be an easy trip for workers in the Rocket City so that they could get vital training close to home.

Wallace State says they are the best location because of their strategic location between Huntsville and Birmingham.

Calhoun says that property on the north part of the campus could be used for the center. But, Riley says that the property is to small to house the center he wants. However, Calhoun also mentioned that the Lurleen Wallace Developemental Center (now vacant) could be used. It is in a highly accessible location and very easy to find. Also, it'd be easy to acquire the property since it is still owned by the state.

Decatur Daily article: Wallace State wants robotics center too

[Alabadrock]

Starbucks, Chili's to open facilities in Decatur

A spokeswoman confirmed on Thursday that Starbuck's would infact be opening a free standing structure for a franchise at the corner of Spring Avenue and the Beltline.

A Chili's is also planning to open up a franchise at the corner of Modaus and Fairground Roads, right off the Beltline.

Decatur Daily article: Starbucks, Chili's to open in Decatur

I knew that the construction going on at the corner of Spring and the Beltline had to a starbuck's but, I had no idea that they would be opening up a Chili's too. This is on top of all the new restaurants we'll be getting at "The Crossings".

[Alabadrock]

Delta II to launch Mars probe

A Delta II rocket built at the United Launch Allience plant in Decatur (formerly Boeing), will be used to send the $420 Million Marsian Probe (Phoenix) 171 Million Miles to planet Mars.

The probe is set to land on Martian soil in May of 2008.

The 772 Pound machine consists of:

* An 8 foot robotic arm that will be used for digging for samples in the soil on the planet.

* A camera on the robotic arm that will take color pictures of the "Red Planet"

* Two analyzers

* A stereo imager

* A Meterological station

The landers location is the arctic plains of Mars. This area is the place that NASA researchers believe holds the most promise for containing ice accumulations.

The current Delta II is 130 ft high. Other "twins" of the Delta II sent up other Martian probes such as Odyssetm, the Explorer Rovers, Mars Pathfinder, and Mars Global Surveyor.

The launch of the rocket from Cap Canaveral is set to broadcast on NASA TV between 2:30 AM and 6:00 AM CDT.

So, just a bit of news about Decatur's miniature space industry.

I'm not gonna give the article link cause I pretty much gave everything that it included.

[Alabadrock]

Progress Bank on target to open here

Officials for Progress Bank say that they are on target to open their new location in the former Union Planters tower in downtown Decatur.

The bank is currently selling stock subscriptions, about half have been sold, in order to open two offices in the Valley and apply for a state charter.

Decatur Daily article: Progress Band on target to open

I think the reason that I'd never heard of these people before is because they're not a state chartered bank yet.

[Alabadrock]

Mutual Savings moving downtown

Decatur based Mutual Savings Life Insurance will soon be moving from their current location on US 31 to the former Amsouth tower at the corner of 2nd Ave and Lee St.

This is good news for downtown because the 110 employees that will be working at the building for Mutual will mean a lot of business for restaurants and stores in downtown.

The insurance company has requested that additional parking for the employees be provided by using the Princess Theatre parking lot.

Mutual moving downtown

[Alabadrock]

Governor to announce new industry in Decatur

Governor Riley will be in Decatur on Friday to make an announcement about a new industry for the city. The announcement will reportedly not be an expansion, and is not linked with any current industry in the town at the moment.

Riley will also be just south of Decatur for the celebration of the last segment of fourlaning of AL 157.

Link: Industry announcement