Huntsville updates

[TimCity2000]

i think it's clear we're talking about two different things here... an aquarium would be primarily for tourists, while a baseball stadium would be for residents. honestly, between the two, i'm in favor of the residents. huntsville already has an amazing tourist destination and it's not downtown. let's make downtown an amazing place for its citizens to live, eat, work and play!

[HSVTiger]

Originally Posted by stallty

http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=171419

I found this on the Building and Architecture forum. It list the west precinct as best in class for brick buildings. It is definitely a good looking building for Huntsville.

the pic from that site, this building is on West Clinton, downtown.

[Huntsvillenative]

The Aquarium would be for both tourists and residents. It would be a wonderful place to take a date or your girlfriend. It would draw in more tourism which is very improtant in economic growth. It would bring in newer and bigger businesses which would create more jobs. Why some can't see this is beyond me.

Too many posters on here who think like Spencer and that's why Huntsville never saw a major growth in tourism and downtown development under her. Now that we got a mayor who wants to be and is active and do things that betters the city, we now have a brighter future than ever for our city and our lifestyles.

Bottom line is Huntsville is dead boring and that's how outsiders see it when they come here. I see it and I live here and have my entire life.

The Mayberry image died when Spencer was voted out of office. A new Huntsville is on the horizon.

[OCA REP]

Originally Posted by huntsville_rocks

I think the baseball park would be a waste. If I want to go to a game, I can make a day trip to the Braves, if I really loved baseball or wanted to watch it, or take some kids there. The Stars play 70 games in huntsville, I seriously doubt less than 10% of the population could or would go to all 70 home games. I mean, you are talking about weeknights, back to back, that takes a committment, and maybe lots of money and no job to worry about, so I personally think it is a waste. I might go to 3 or 4 games a year, and that would be enough for me. Its not some everyday thing.

We get the 12-pack of season tickets for the Biscuits down here in MGM and this (to me) the PERFECT number of games. However, there are lots of people that get the full season package (70 games) and the half season (35 games) package. Surely the Stars offer something similar?

Originally Posted by huntsville_rocks

And I would expect huntsville's tourism industry is highly boosted by government tdy into the area every week. These folks come here spending lots of money, but obvioulsy they arent going to watch minor league baseball on a weeknight til midnight.

The military (at Maxwell AFB and the Gunter Annex) are some of the biggest supporters of our team. I suppose it is because they have lived all over and are used to organized/professional sports. Plus it gives a sense of belonging when you are living in a city for a short time span and can pull for the local team.

First pitch down here is generally at 7:05 PM and everything is usually over by 10:00 PM. The midnight thing is definitely a STRETCH... free baseball though!

[OCA REP]

Originally Posted by HSVTiger

the pic from that site, this building is on West Clinton, downtown.

NICE looking building. The word "precinct" was mentioned... is this a fire station/police substation?

[HSVTiger]

Originally Posted by OCA REP

NICE looking building. The word "precinct" was mentioned... is this a fire station/police substation?

Yes it is a combined precinct station serving downtown and central Huntsville.
They are wanting to do similiar for the other two precincts. Huntsville has 17 fire stations so I guess now two others will be combined with the police stations.

[huntsville_rocks]

chattanooga has both a downtown baseball park & an aquarium. I have never been to a game there, but been to the aquarium a few times each year. Every time I have been, there are lots of folks around that area, and I assume it has nothing to do with baseball. If you remove the aquarium from chattanooga, why would anyone be in that area and how would any of the restaruants have customers? If you remove the ballpark from downtown chattanooga, would anyone even notice? The aquarium would be open pretty much everyday, the stars only have 70 games a year, so that means only 70 days a year will the stars be bringing potential customers to downtown. Not sure how that will make downtown more vibrant. According to the huntsville times, the stars only had 600 people come to a game last week. A new stadium will not increase attendance that much more with out some different management.

[-=skywalker=-]

Let's be honest, do you really think an aquarium would be profitable for Huntsville? Chattanooga has a good 15 year head start, the city has dumped millions of dollars on expanding it and adding to the riverfront. So ask yourself if you lived in a place like Scottsboro where it's the same drive time/mileage either way, which aquarium would you go to?! That ultimately is the thing, Huntsville will be fighting for tourist dollars with pretty much a neighboring city.

Personally, I'd rather see the city use that money to build a world class science museum, planetarium, and hell why not build an Air & Space Museum similar to the Smithsonian's Udvar Hazy Center in D.C., in case there's someone who hasn't been there yet: it's the aviation museum in Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. link

The science/space/aviation thing is what makes Huntsville unique in the region, it's called the "Rocket City" for a reason. I think the best bet for the city's future is to expand and build on what we already have, it's Huntsville's niche and there's so much that can be done with it if city leaders would wake up to smell the coffee.

[gkcooper]

I think we need a world-class zoo. An aquarium would be great, but there are several within a few hours of here.

[| BRAVO |]

Where is Huntsville's zoo?

[HSVTiger]

Originally Posted by | BRAVO |

Where is Huntsville's zoo?

Birmingham

[SpawnOfVulcan]

If Huntsville were to ever build an aquarium, they would have to do something to make it unique. Something that separates it from all other aquariums. Throw out the idea of the largest aquarium on earth, someone's just gonna build a larger one.

My idea would be to somehow link the space program to an aquarium. For example, they could create an example of what one of those subsurface oceans on some moons around other planets might look. Or maybe a moon version of Atlantis. Have like the moon lander and other moon stuff sunk to the bottom of a "lunar" surface, you could call it the "Sea of Tranquility."

One reason why the aquariums at Bass Pros are so popular is that they tie in the local ecology when they're building the tanks. The Estuarium near Mobile (if it still exists) is a GREAT example.

If it's gonna be an aquarium, it has to be completely unique. Something that no one else has, and would interest locals and outsiders.

[-=skywalker=-]

Originally Posted by Alabadrock

If it's gonna be an aquarium, it has to be completely unique. Something that no one else has, and would interest locals and outsiders.

But the question is, do you really think that's possible? I mean let's face it, Huntsville is a bit underachieving in this department. The city has so much potential, it has themes to expand on and build a unique identity for it's tourist industry but little effort has been made. I've lived here since 1997, in those 12 years the only thing that's been done to better any of the attractions around here is the addition of the Davidson Center at the Space & Rocket Center and that took 10 years.

Personally, I think a half assed attempt at an aquarium would be an epic failure. The city can't even improve on what it already has here, so why embark on a new venture? I guess I just don't have faith in the leadership around here, I see little things that could be done to go along way to making the city a vibrant exciting place to live but it seems the establishment has it set in their minds that they want Huntsville to stay the Alabama hick town they grew up in 30 or 40 years ago. A perfect example of this would be the height restrictions downtown and the highrise criminal condo fiasco.

[mp7123]

How about this for a unique attraction... somehow land one of the 3 remaining space shuttles here when they are retired. Build something similar to the Davidson Center for Space Exploration around it. Problem with that is there are only 3 left. I would assume one would end up at the Smithsonian, one in Houston, and one at Cape Canaveral... so this might be tough for Huntsville to pull off.

[HSVTiger]

Originally Posted by mp7123

How about this for a unique attraction... somehow land one of the 3 remaining space shuttles here when they are retired. Build something similar to the Davidson Center for Space Exploration around it. Problem with that is there are only 3 left. I would assume one would end up at the Smithsonian, one in Houston, and one at Cape Canaveral... so this might be tough for Huntsville to pull off.

"Space shuttle Discovery already has been offered to the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington.

The privilege of showing off a shuttle won't be cheap -- about $42 million.

This figure will include $28.2 million for the removal of hazardous chemicals -- such as ammonia, used as a coolant, and nitrogen tetroxide and hydrazine, used as fuel; $5.8 million for moving the shuttle via a carrier aircraft to its new location; and $8 million for preparing the shuttle for display."
CNN

The remaining two would be placed in storage at Kennedy Space Center until their final homes are decided.

If a space shuttle is too pricey, NASA is offering some of its shuttle main engines for anywhere between US$400,000 and US$800,000, not counting shipping costs.

The space shuttles, will not come with any main engines.

[SpawnOfVulcan]

Originally Posted by -=skywalker=-

But the question is, do you really think that's possible? I mean let's face it, Huntsville is a bit underachieving in this department. The city has so much potential, it has themes to expand on and build a unique identity for it's tourist industry but little effort has been made. I've lived here since 1997, in those 12 years the only thing that's been done to better any of the attractions around here is the addition of the Davidson Center at the Space & Rocket Center and that took 10 years.

Personally, I think a half assed attempt at an aquarium would be an epic failure. The city can't even improve on what it already has here, so why embark on a new venture? I guess I just don't have faith in the leadership around here, I see little things that could be done to go along way to making the city a vibrant exciting place to live but it seems the establishment has it set in their minds that they want Huntsville to stay the Alabama hick town they grew up in 30 or 40 years ago. A perfect example of this would be the height restrictions downtown and the highrise criminal condo fiasco.

Haha, that's why I say IF they build one. I honestly think that an aquarium in Huntsville wouldn't fly. But, if they did happen to build one, it would have to be completely unique. It would surely take a lot of thinking to figure out.

[ThatGuy]

Originally Posted by Alabadrock

One reason why the aquariums at Bass Pros are so popular is that they tie in the local ecology when they're building the tanks.

A Bass Pro Shop would probably be just as big a draw (if not bigger) as an aquarium. Maybe the city could pay for the building or something to entice one to downtown (since they would rather be out on the Interstate).

Does anybody have any confidence that Huntsville could build a successful aquarium?

[HSVTiger]

At the Constellation site a leasing sign has gone up for the office building that will sit on the vacant parcel of land due north of the main area. That is across Clinton, but is part of the Constellation development.
From the rendering it looks to be nice 3 or 4 story building. That is a prime
spot a 20 story building would look good on but would reguire a large parking deck.
On SW end some piddling entrance road work is underway to allow better access from the Memorial Parkway north bound frontage road.

[Huntsvillenative]

Originally Posted by ThatGuy

Does anybody have any confidence that Huntsville could build a successful aquarium?

Yes! Spencer's gone so the Mayberry approach went with her. We're already seeing big ideas thrown out by Battle and the new CC. Give them a chance to make it all happen.

Bass Pro would work better near the river as it would only attract outdoor sports lovers. No way would it outdraw a family friendly state-of-the-art world class state aquarium in downtown where there's much more to do than out by the river.

And for the record, most states have an aquarium except for Alabama. Some states have multiple aquariums. Coca Cola could do a museum park like in ATL where there would be an aquarium, coke museum, and new science museum all within a shirt walking distance. Tie it in to Big Spring across from the VBC.

A world class zoo would be great as well but not in downtown. Madison would be a good location for a zoo or even a classic theme park that rivals Alabama Adventure. Memphis has the nicest zoo in all of America. Huntsville could build one on that scale with all the freed up space and land out that way. Plus Madison is one of the fastest growing cities in America.

There's so much potential in Huntsville. Thank God we finally got a mayor who now sees that.

[ThatGuy]

Originally Posted by Huntsvillenative

A family friendly state-of-the-art world class state aquarium in downtown

Lol. Do you still believe in Santa Claus too?

In November 2001, Bernard Marcus announced his idea to build an aquarium as a present to Atlanta, Georgia that would encourage both education and economic growth. Marcus and his wife Billi visited 56 aquariums in 13 countries to research and design a structure, and finally donated $250 million toward Georgia Aquarium’s construction.[2] An additional $40 million dollars in financial contributions was donated by major corporations including the Coca-Cola Company, Turner Broadcasting, Home Depot, UPS, AirTran Airways, BellSouth, Georgia Pacific, Time Warner, SunTrust and Southern Company. [2] The corporate donations allowed the aquarium to open debt free.

$300 Million for that Aquarium. We can't even afford the bids we have been getting on the VBC and the Art Museum expansions...