Albertville officially breaks ground on Sand Mountain Park and Amphitheater
Article by Huck Treadwell from the Sand Mountain Reporter
See more of this project here
The City of Albertville officially broke ground on its $58 million, 129-acre Sand Mountain Park and Amphitheater Thursday afternoon.
Albertville Mayor Tracy Honea, the Albertville City Council, the Albertville Parks and Recreation Department, Municipal Utilities Board of Albertville, Chambless King Architects, RA-LIN Associates, Carmon Construction, Farmers Telecommunications, Hoar Program management, Olympia Engineering and Dix.Hite+Partners all took a turn shoveling dirt on the construction site near the existing tennis facility.
After the groundbreaking, the Albertville Chamber of Commerce hosted the official unveiling of the master plan for Sand Mountain Park at the Albertville Fine Arts Center.
Breaking ground on the Sand Mountain Park and Amphitheater were (from left) Albertville Mayor Tracy Honea, Council President Nathan Broadhurst and councilmembers Ben McGowan, Jill Oakley, Charles Bailey and Ray Kennamer.
Huck Treadwell
Honea said he was 10-years-old when the existing recreation center was new. He said he remembered riding his bike to the park and can remember the excitement of going to the park. He said over the years, he’s gained an additional perspective on how important recreation facilities are for a community.
“As a parent and a coach, watching your children play basketball, softball and soccer is seeing it from a different perspective,” Honea said. “You see what impact a recreation center has. You never know whose life you’re touching.”
Honea introduced John Chambless, of Chambless King, to a large crowd that gathered at the Fine Arts Center to get a first look at the entire complex.
Chambless said the 129-acre park would encompass 50 buildings, 15 fields, a 9,000-seat capacity amphitheater and a 103,000-square-foot recreation center that will include four basketball courts, four to six volleyball courts, fitness areas, concessions, wet and dry locker rooms and conference rooms. Adjacent to the recreation center will be an outdoor pool area that includes playgrounds, pools and a lazy river water feature.
Other additions to the park included four miles of walking and biking trails, an RV park and a dog park.
The baseball complex features three 300-foot fields and one 375-foot field with synthetic turf. The softball complex includes five 225-foot fields, also with synthetic turf. The baseball complex includes warm-up areas and batting cages and concourses in both complexes feature play spaces for children and pavilions and shaded areas for spectators.
Albertville City Planner Mike Price said the city had commissioned Jacksonville State University to commission a study to determine the potential economic impact the Sand Mountain Park and Amphitheater would have on the city.
Price said the study estimated there would be a projected $72 million impact during the construction period, which included about 500 jobs that would be created by construction.
After the park is complete, Price said the study estimated $42 million would be generated annually by the park.
Price said those estimates didn’t include sports tourism and entertainment opportunities for the park.
Price said the park had the potential to host baseball and softball tournaments, tournaments on the multi-purpose fields, basketball and volleyball tournaments as well as swim meets.
He said the amphitheater venue was designed to host entertainment on a community level as well as bringing in nationally recognized entertainers.
He said the park would also generate revenue through concession and retail sales.