re: New Birmingham Bowl Stadium Progress

I am not sure how realistic it is. But the appeal of the Big 12 capturing some of the Bham market has to be intriguing. From an eye ball perspective, it would be right behind the large Texas markets.

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So you're telling me that Kincaid and Bell were better for the city than Woodfin? I mean damn, the last good mayor for Bham, at least from a vision perspective was Langford, and he was a damn crook.

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Bell at the very least got the hell out of the way and let business minded people do what needed to be done to downtown. Especially after all the fallout from Langford.

There is also a lot of out of state money coming into downtown to build mixed use buildings all over Southside for UAB. Plus Crestwood just got what everyone is saying is going to be another Amazon facility.

So Birmingham isn't dead it's just inching along right now.

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Looking good. Last time I was over there was back in the fall. Went to some exhibit at the BJCC with my son, sister, and nephew. It was just a big dirt lot at that point.

This should help UAB immensely. Having to play at Legion was horrible. It will also draw concerts, which I think someone mentioned the ability to add seating for different events. Our only good options now are Oak Mountain and the BJCC Arena, but a large outdoor facility, right on the edge of downtown, will draw larger acts that usually pass by Birmingham and just go to ATL or Nashvile.

Uptown never really took off, not in the way that the area around the Barons stadium did. Having Railroad Park and a brewery already there helped, but it is a great area to catch a game. This should help that. The downtown crowd during the day is too far away from Uptown, and unless some large event is going on at the BJCC, the place is dead. This will at least get 6-7 UAB games every fall, plus the bowls, state playoffs, and other events to boost those restaurants.

*Edited for an updated picture, looks like Google put this up recently. I really like the way they are building it into the hills that were already there.*



You can see top golf on the right side. For you out of staters, uptown is really nice for the older crowd. There's a cool coffee shop that also makes really good high end alcoholic drinks (excellent Manhatten) a good Mexican restaurant upstairs in one of the buildings and they usually play March madness on the giant screen in Uptown, you could sit outside and watch it on the giant screen (very large and used for marketing). The bassmaster classic was held at the BJCC this year and I had a blast before by eating and having a few drinks before going in.

Here's another picture I got from the intestate a few weeks ago. You can see the video screen on the left side. This is going to be a really nice place when finished.




I'm looking forward to watching a few games there when the SEC isn't having a good game close to Bham.

The location with the bars & restaurants along with the ability to have open container will make it attractive to the city and I fully expect their attendance will increase exponentially.

Hopefully there will be some extra restaurants and bars added. Now that top golf is there I would think it would help. The only problem is, it's not close enough to downtown, Avondale or 5 points.

That city is a shithole i pray my UCF never has to play there our fans and teams deserve better

This is a small stadium in the College football capital of the world for a shitty team that will never compete for a NC. It's a waste of money for a glorified high School Stadium that will never see a "BIG" game other than a State High School Championship. UAB football is a bastard stepchild that should have been put out of its misery long ago. UAB won't be able to sell out this stadium. It should have built an on-campus a 20,000 seater - and that still would have been too big.

Alabama and Auburn are the only big-time teams in the state of Alabama that can support themselves. UAB and almost all other FCS teams are welfare programs - tax burdens on ALabama citizens. Subsidizing FCS teams is not a good thing. Charity has more urgent needs than a $170 million stadium for a shitty bottomfeeder program with a tiny fanbase in a state with two Goliath programs UAB will never play or be able to compete with. Neither Auburn or Alabama will ever play a game at this stadium. It's a vanity project for a very small group of UAB alumni businessmen who lobbied to get Alabama citizens to pay for with tax dollars. The new stadium will make more money and fill more seats with concerts and monster truck events than football games.

It's time to face that fact some colleges shouldn't have football teams. If a team can't support itself financially it shouldn't exist.

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Jesus Christ, Gump.

They're the largest employer in the State and a pretty prestigious teaching hospital. Think outside of something being taken away from your football god in Tuscaloosa.

Plus UAB isn't footing the bill for the stadium.

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Will Auburn every play a game there? frickING NO!!!! This shitty stadium is a tax drain on every Alabama citizen and shouldn't have been built. And YES - Taxpayers will have to pay for it one way or another.

Where will the casino be located ?

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UAB won't be able to sell out this stadium. It should have built an on-campus a 20,000 seater - and that still would have been too big.

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Dude, they have averaged about 28,000 per game over the last couple of seasons. That is actual people at the game and not just tickets sold. Why all the hate? Last season they had about 40,000 at a game and 43,000 the year before at a game. Their athletic program has been in the black the last two years also.

You are either a troll or have a very miserable life.

I can't wait to see how it changes that whole area of town. They're renovating the BJCC as well. Finally Bham can get back to hosting NCAAT games - which they haven't done since 2008.