Conceptual rendering of amphitheater in North Birmingham. (Rendering courtesy of Direct Communications)
For James Clark, the plan to build a multi-million-dollar, 9,000-seat amphitheater on the former Carraway Hospital site in his Birmingham, Ala., neighborhood has been four years in the making.
Clark was Norwood neighborhood president when developers first pitched the proposal for an amphitheater and multi-family housing on the site.
Now that the proposal has resurfaced, with housing, commercial and office space joining the amphitheater, Clark envisions a return to prosperity for the neighborhood, with rising property values and other amenities along with the amphitheater in Norwood.
"Older neighbors said when Carraway was open, it was the premier hospital in area," said Clark, an area resident since 2004. "There were restaurants, things to do, you could go to a café in the hospital. When that died, there was no reason for people to go over there, and it withered. And the neighborhood kind of withered, too.
"This will bring investment back into the neighborhood," he predicted.
The $50 million amphitheater would be owned by the Birmingham Jefferson Civic Center (BJCC) and managed by Live Nation, the global $6.3 billion live entertainment giant.
The amphitheater's proponents want to locate the venue at The Star at Uptown, the $300 million mixed-use development on the former Carraway Hospital campus in North Birmingham.
It also would replace the Oak Mountain Amphitheatre in Pelham, also owned by Live Nation.
Proponents Envision An A-Plus Venue
AL.com reported in October that the Carraway project was described as "the only tier one amphitheater in central Alabama," according to a document detailing the economic "opportunity" of the new venue presented to members of the Jefferson County Commission (JCC) at a work session.
"This an opportunity for generational change," said Commission President Jimmie Stephens. "We can become an A-plus concert site rather than a C-plus."
City Councilor Hunter Williams also supports the project.
"We would have the only Live Nation amphitheater in the state, which means their shows would go from Atlanta to Birmingham to Nashville, not from Atlanta to Nashville," he said.
Jermaine "FunnyMaine" Johnson, a civic-minded Norwood resident and comedian known by Alabama football fans for his "How Alabama Fans Watch" videos on YouTube, said he welcomes the project despite joking about how late-night noise emanating from the amphitheater would disrupt his sleep.
"Noise is always a concern when a project of this magnitude is so close, but the new amphitheater is a much-needed project for the city's economy and I support it 100 percent," Johnson told AL.com in a text message. "As a neighborhood, we'll work with project officials to address any concerns and I look forward to a great partnership."
Earlier, Johnson joked on Twitter: "Them shows better end by 9 p.m. We like to sleep over here in Norwood."
Clark's husband, Robert Christian, said the project is a net positive for not just Norwood but all North Birmingham.
"The area is turning into an entertainment destination regionally, and that's just going to amplify that with this [facility's scale]," he explained. "I think it is going to transform the whole northside, not just Norwood, per se. The pluses for this really outweigh any negatives such as noise."
Property values have been rising in the area after years of stagnation, Christian noted, with even burnt-out homes in Norwood selling for $150,000.
He added that the pandemic was to blame for the economic slowdown and significantly slowed the redevelopment at the Carraway site.
"I'm really excited to have something tangible happening with the property," he said. "I look forward to seeing it change and evolve, and the neighborhoods around it evolve with it."
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