Montgomery development news

[Capital Heights]

From the Montgomery Advertiser:

The City of Montgomery is creating a proposal to persuade the State Legislature to move the State House farther downtown.

The city is proposing that the State House relocate to the "lower Dexter Avenue area," but Montgomery Mayor Bobby Bright would not specify where at this time.

“This is a significant project and it needs to be out in the open, proudly and prominently displayed for visitors and legislators,” Bright said.

A six-member legislative committee has been tasked with looking into whether to renovate the aging State House or build a new State House. If the committee opts to rebuild, it will have to then decide where.

David Bronner, who as CEO of the Retirement Systems of Alabama, has overseen the construction of many of downtown Montgomery's landmark buildings, said he believes it all comes down to what legislators want.

“One group wants to have it downtown and another wants to have it up by the Capitol and another group says it should be attached to the Capitol,” Bronner said. “So you’ve got at least two or three plans floating around out there.

"And what the legislature is going to do – I just don’t know.”

Bright is pushing for the State House to be built farther downtown, creating what he called a "governmental mall."

"We are aggressively and actively making plans to give the very best proposal we possibly can to the state," Bright said Friday afternoon. "We hope they will determine our proposal to be the most feasible and practical plan for the money."

Bright would not elaborate on the details of the city’s offer, but he said the outcome would benefit both the state and the downtown revitalization effort.

-- Rick Harmon, Jill Nolin