Huntsville updates

[Jacknah]

Originally Posted by HSVTiger

Interesting, they say the property is for sale, so it sounds they are out of
the area. I thought the service and food quality had dropped off. If a restaurant closes in this city(any city) it is mostly because of poor service or food. They didn't do too good of a job marketing the spot either but there is no reason for the restaurant to have not done well, unless for the reasons you state.

I agree that the food was not good. Huntsville restaurants have been able to get away with food not being good for a long time now, due to Huntsvillians not really knowing any better (I know better, due to living in Manhattan and Miami where there are some great restaurants). But, now that quality restaurants like Dolce and PF Chang have moved into Huntsville, the level of competition has stepped up. This will improve Huntsville restaurants as a whole in the longer term because if others don't step their game, they're going to die.

[HSVTiger]

Wintzell's Oyster House: Opening soon in Guntersville, AL?
Maybe some Mobile folks have the low down on when this place is supposed
to open.
In the meantime this place is great..
http://www.crawmamas.com/

[HSVTiger]

Sweetwater/Bass Pro
Remember when they said they had not heard of John Q. Hammons? Liars!

Planned for construction as soon as a final contract is entered between the city, Genesis and Bass Pro Shops, the initial phase of the Sweetwater project would include:

--A $40 million Bass Pro shop between 130,000 and 150,000 square feet with an adjacent pond, and possibly including a restaurant.

--A $60 million suite hotel with between 275 and 300 rooms, up to 12 stories tall.

--A 60,000-square-foot convention center, attached to the hotel.

The hotel and convention center would be in the I-65/Alabama 20 corner, with Bass Pro immediately to the south. The developer has declined to identify the hotel, but its attorney, Barney Lovelace of Decatur, said he expects the hotel to make an announcement within the next few weeks.

John Q. Hammons Co. would own the hotel and convention center. Among its previous projects: Embassy Suites Huntsville and Embassy Suites Montgomery. The company also has built several Marriott hotels.

West of the hotel, in the northern quarter of the development, is the remainder of what Genesis calls Phase 1 of Sweetwater. Genesis has not identified any tenants in this area, but Lovelace said he expected a big-box retailer on the west side of the development, along Mitchell Road, and possibly a stadium-style movie theater.

The remaining phases of the development are purely conceptual , but Genesis plans call for a combination of retail and office buildings, plus 2,700 single-family residences.

Lovelace said Genesis also plans a performing arts center that, he said, would host live performances similar to those at Von Braun Center in Huntsville.

Lovelace said some of the investors in Genesis have close ties to the music ind

[marvingardns]

Sazio's food quality definitely dropped off two years ago when the bread got cheaper, the goat cheese fondue got lukewarm, the basil started to come out of a shaker, and the chicken marsala got rubbery. But Sazio had a loyal crowd nevertheless At least they did not brew the beer, right?

I'd love to see Mason's crowded, but I had not seen that on a Friday night, on a weekday lunch or on a Saturday afternoon. I must be missing the weekday supper if I'm not seeing it busy.

[Shawn35816]

Originally Posted by HSVTiger

Sweetwater/Bass Pro
Remember when they said they had not heard of John Q. Hammons? Liars!

Planned for construction as soon as a final contract is entered between the city, Genesis and Bass Pro Shops, the initial phase of the Sweetwater project would include:

--A $40 million Bass Pro shop between 130,000 and 150,000 square feet with an adjacent pond, and possibly including a restaurant.

--A $60 million suite hotel with between 275 and 300 rooms, up to 12 stories tall.

--A 60,000-square-foot convention center, attached to the hotel.

The hotel and convention center would be in the I-65/Alabama 20 corner, with Bass Pro immediately to the south. The developer has declined to identify the hotel, but its attorney, Barney Lovelace of Decatur, said he expects the hotel to make an announcement within the next few weeks.

John Q. Hammons Co. would own the hotel and convention center. Among its previous projects: Embassy Suites Huntsville and Embassy Suites Montgomery. The company also has built several Marriott hotels.

West of the hotel, in the northern quarter of the development, is the remainder of what Genesis calls Phase 1 of Sweetwater. Genesis has not identified any tenants in this area, but Lovelace said he expected a big-box retailer on the west side of the development, along Mitchell Road, and possibly a stadium-style movie theater.

The remaining phases of the development are purely conceptual , but Genesis plans call for a combination of retail and office buildings, plus 2,700 single-family residences.

Lovelace said Genesis also plans a performing arts center that, he said, would host live performances similar to those at Von Braun Center in Huntsville.

Lovelace said some of the investors in Genesis have close ties to the music ind

I'm really wondering how the Huntsville-Decatur area can handle all of this. It seems like the area will be majorly ( if that's a word) overbuilt.

[HSVTiger]

Originally Posted by Shawn35816

I'm really wondering how the Huntsville-Decatur area can handle all of this. It seems like the area will be majorly ( if that's a word) overbuilt.

They won't have to, each project is long term and in phases. When these things are announced in grand fashion it shows the ultimate finished product.
Later the fine print says "phase 1, 10 year plan etc" . Bridgestreet is still not finished and it's been nearly 5 years. And then again some of this won't happen at all, I bet Sweetwater will not be finished for a long time, notice they say "purely conceptual". Remember all the noise about the Zierdt Rd project? now it's just a memory. The economy will dictate the pace.

[Huntsville_secede]

.

[Port_of_Bama]

Originally Posted by HSVTiger

Wintzell's Oyster House: Opening soon in Guntersville, AL?
Maybe some Mobile folks have the low down on when this place is supposed
to open.
In the meantime this place is great..
http://www.crawmamas.com/

Winzell`s in Guntersville ? wow my eyes are lit and my stomach is rumbling now .I hope it`s true ,how far is Guntersville from Huntsville ?

I know that Winzell`s have open several locations in Mississippi.


I read the history of Crawmamas and it was very interesting to me the way that she transported fresh seafood from Bon Secour( Baldwin County) and sailing it in Guntersville. That story reminded me of my cousin and I when we were little we use to trap crabs and crawfish throw them in a cooler with water and knock on the neighborhood doors and sail it. What we didn`t sail for that day we would throw it back in the water. we would mack about 30 to 40 dollars in a day not bad for some 10 year olds,lol.


They have a development in Bon Secour that is simular to the Providence Town Centre in Huntsville( My favorite part of Hunstville besides Twickenham historic district) but more of French style houses and buildings. I hope the Salt Aire development in Mobile comes out like Providence in Huntville.

[daveyp]

Originally Posted by marvingardns

I'd love to see Mason's crowded, but I had not seen that on a Friday night, on a weekday lunch or on a Saturday afternoon. I must be missing the weekday supper if I'm not seeing it busy.

friday and saturday night after 10 or 11pm it is consistently packed to the point of being obnoxious. the dinner crowd is not bad, but the drunk singles crowd after 10 is. and i'm sure the drinks are bringing in the $ even if the food isn't, which wouldn't surprise me. the food is decent, but i think more people see it as a bar than a restaurant... like philby's, the klatsch, tavern, etc.

[-=skywalker=-]

Originally Posted by Port_of_Bama

Winzell`s in Guntersville ? wow my eyes are lit and my stomach is rumbling now .I hope it`s true i`ll find out how far is Guntersville from Huntsville ?

Depending on which way you go, it's about 20-35 miles...there's two ways to get there, down 431 is the longest route to take but it's a 4-lane divided highway all the way...the other, and shorter route is down 231 to Morgan City, turn off on Union Grove highway (sorry, don't know the county number for it) and that will take you to the west side of Guntersville and Highway 69.

[HSVTiger]

Projects at Huntsville International Airport
The new restaurant row on the concourse


One side of the new public waiting area, to be completed 2009
The passenger waiting area project (Chapman Sisson Architects) which started in December 2007 is worth more than $13m and will add two new wings near the current connector walkway and security checkpoint.

Each of the new wings will feature 30ft-high panoramic windows that will overlook airfield operations. The west wing will contain the security checkpoint, and the east wing will form a large lobby / seating area to accommodate up to 200 people.




In 2005-2006 the west runway 18R/36L was lengthened to 12,600ft in a $31m project making it the second longest in south-east USA, however there are now plans to lengthen the two runways, to build a new runway and also for the construction of a new terminal building.

The new 12,600ft long runway will allow Boeing 747s to be turned around in two hours and be fuelled up for direct Asia-Alabama flights for cargo and passengers.

A new 84,000-square-foot air cargo building at the International Intermodal Center.

Plans are for the building to be completed by January 2009.

The authority also gave the go-ahead to enter into a ground lease agreement with McLean, Va.-based Aviation Facilities Co. Inc. for property at the intermodal center. Yates Construction Co., based in Philadelphia, Miss., and RW Armstrong, based in Indianapolis, will build a facility for WestWind Technologies Inc. to maintain, repair and overhaul aircraft and aircraft parts. WestWind is a Huntsville-based defense contractor.

The 63,000-square-foot hangar will be large enough to accommodate two Air Force C-130 aircraft and additional helicopters, said Brooks Kracke, the director of Jetplex Industrial Park.

[HSVTiger]

Construction progressing on new downtown combined Fire/Police station on Clinton Ave.
Just west of the Clinton/Parkway interchange and the new Constellation mixed use site. Completion is expected December 2008.


Paul Matheny at Matheny Goldmon Architects worked with the city to design the 33,094 square-foot
building which will have the appearance of a historical fire station.

The facility is made up of two main program components. The first is a new precinct for the police
department with meeting areas, investigation offices, as well as community meeting and police-related
areas. The second component is the multi-story Fire Station #1. The first floor contains five apparatus
bays that will be used for various fire fighting vehicles. There will also be laundry and gear storage
areas as well as day offices. The second floor of the fire station will serve as a living and training area
for the firefighters. This area will include a large kitchen, sleeping areas, exercise and locker rooms.

[HSVTiger]

Originally Posted by HSVTiger

Some more from WAFF, this thing has a long way to go in a short time if they want to start this summer

"a new school is planned to fulfill the need of an expanding community that's already out-grown the states largest high school, Bob Jones.

Kirkendall says there's been no discussion on the level of incentives the city would pay the Wann Springs Development, the group set to build the development.

Kirkendall says they still need the high school, and the new development would increase both sales and property tax to pay for a school as well as other projects like roads.

The development agreement is still months away.

Once it's done, the money the development will still have to be approved by the city council. "

Some observations for what its worth, after looking at the "master plan"
http://www.madisonal.gov/docs/masterplancountyline.pdf
(warning slow download for dialup) this thing is a bit odd. The location
is between the railroad tracks and Production Ave. That's behind the FEDEX
facility.Royal Drive is to be extended through the project to County Line.
It does not front Highway 20 or I-565 and the direct route to the airport talked about is a bit misleading as there isn't one.
It will have good interstate access when the new interchange at County Line is finished. The Medical office portion seems out of place since the new
Huntsville Hospital/Madison complex will be built 8-10 miles away on US 72
Anyway this looks to be a very long term project.

[HSVTiger]

Apple store under construction at Bridge Street, the steel framework to
support the stainless steel facade.




photos by Aaron

[neilson]

Originally Posted by HSVTiger

Some observations for what its worth, after looking at the "master plan"
http://www.madisonal.gov/docs/masterplancountyline.pdf
(warning slow download for dialup) this thing is a bit odd. The location
is between the railroad tracks and Production Ave. That's behind the FEDEX
facility.Royal Drive is to be extended through the project to County Line.
It does not front Highway 20 or I-565 and the direct route to the airport talked about is a bit misleading as there isn't one.
It will have good interstate access when the new interchange at County Line is finished. The Medical office portion seems out of place since the new
Huntsville Hospital/Madison complex will be built 8-10 miles away on US 72
Anyway this looks to be a very long term project.

Actually the direct route will be in the form of Balch Road being extended all the way down from Mill Road(it's currently U/C from Browns Ferry to Mill) on down past the Railroad tracks(probably not in bridge form) and past Royal Drive to Highway 20/Madison Blvd at the Airport entrance.

And the Medical Center will just be right up the road by about 5 miles or so on Balch Road as well.

[HSVTiger]

Some Huntsville history, the Pope Mansion downtown



In 1809, LeRoy Pope, a planter of considerable means, from the Broad River aea in Georgia, bought land surrounding the "Big Spring" for twenty-three dollars and fifty cents an acre. At the suggestion of Pope, the new town was named "Twickenham" after the English home of his ancestor, Alexander Pope. Later the name was changed to Huntsville, in honor of its first settler.
The highest hill overlooking the town was chosen by Colonel LeRoy Pope as the site of his home. Pope built his home, Popular Grove, in 1814. It is the oldest documented antebellum mansion in Alabama. The classic Greek Revival portico, designed by George Steele, a local architect, was added in 1848. Shortly after the Popes moved into their new home, they hosted a dinner in honor of future president, Andrew Jackson. Guests included five future governors of Alabama.

In 1979, Popular Grove was leased to the University of Alabama in Huntsville for its president's home. Danny Wiginston purchased the house in 1997 and undertook an extensive restoration. Once again, Popular Grove has become a center for gracious southern living.

[HSVTiger]

I've never really liked this store, Bed Bath Beyond just seems better even
though there probably isn't a bit of difference between them. Wonder how
this will impact the probable move from University Dr. to the second phase of Bridge Street?

NEW YORK (AP) - A Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing by Linens 'n Things is the latest sign that the retail sector is becoming leaner and meaner amid a difficult consumer environment.

On Friday, the bedding- and home-furnishing retailer filed a petition in bankruptcy court in Delaware and said it would close 120 underperforming stores, almost a quarter of them in California.

[Jacknah]

Originally Posted by HSVTiger

Construction progressing on new downtown combined Fire/Police station on Clinton Ave.
Just west of the Clinton/Parkway interchange and the new Constellation mixed use site. Completion is expected December 2008.


Paul Matheny at Matheny Goldmon Architects worked with the city to design the 33,094 square-foot
building which will have the appearance of a historical fire station.

The facility is made up of two main program components. The first is a new precinct for the police
department with meeting areas, investigation offices, as well as community meeting and police-related
areas. The second component is the multi-story Fire Station #1. The first floor contains five apparatus
bays that will be used for various fire fighting vehicles. There will also be laundry and gear storage
areas as well as day offices. The second floor of the fire station will serve as a living and training area
for the firefighters. This area will include a large kitchen, sleeping areas, exercise and locker rooms.

Now that's a cool building. Reminds me of old fire station buildings in New England.

[HSVTiger]

Huntsville's other airport in Meridianville/North Huntsville. This is the home of Huntsville Hospitals Med Flight, army helicopter work by defense contractor as well as private planes and business jets.

The Madison County Executive Airport near Meridianville will receive $111, 240 from the U.S. Department of Transportation, U.S. Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Tuscaloosa, announced today.

Shelby, a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, said the money will be used by the airport to expand its runway apron.

"It is critical that Madison County has a strong airport infrastructure in place to support its community," said Shelby. "Recently, the Madison County Executive Airport has experienced an increase in the types of aircraft utilizing its facilities.

"This funding will allow the airport to expand its apron to a size adequate for both fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters."

[jmanhsv]

Originally Posted by HSVTiger

I've never really liked this store, Bed Bath Beyond just seems better even
though there probably isn't a bit of difference between them. Wonder how
this will impact the probable move from University Dr. to the second phase of Bridge Street?

NEW YORK (AP) - A Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing by Linens 'n Things is the latest sign that the retail sector is becoming leaner and meaner amid a difficult consumer environment...

Maybe they'll get a store that will be more fitting for Bridge Street. Same goes with Circuit City. They should both stay on University, and O&S should learn not to be lazy and cheap on their selection of tenants.