Huntsville updates

[HSVTiger]

By JOHN PECK
Times Staff Writer jpeck@htimes.com
Bus stop, shuttlesystem possiblefor Bridge Street

Water taxis will ply the lakes in the planned $210 million World Famous Bridge Street retail/office/entertainment complex in Cummings Research Park.

A shuttle bus system may also be offered to help transport people to and within the business park.
The City Council last week authorized requests for bids for construction of an intermodal facility - a bus terminal/parking garage - in Cummings Research Park. Some $7 million in federal transit funds has been authorized for the project.

The transit proposal comes as Cummings continues to expand. Columbia High School is now open on the west edge of the research park, the sprawling Bridge Street retail project is under construction, and officials recently announced a $130 million biotechnology research institute expected to create 900 direct jobs and hundreds of spin-off jobs.

The resolution authorizing the bids for the transit station claim it will reduce current and projected traffic congestion within the park, reduce air pollution by providing an environmentally friendly commuting practice, and further improve the city's overall quality of life.

Joe Vallely, director of economic development for Huntsville, said the Bridge Street developers, O&S Holdings of Los Angeles, were instrumental in nabbing the grant money for the parking/intermodal structure.

"We're going to look at it and try to make a determination on ridership and whether a bus stop is needed," he said.

Vallely said the decision revolves around cost, demand and logistics.

[HSVTiger]

Wednesday, August 17, 2005
By GINA HANNAH
Times Business Writer ginah@htimes.com
Developer talks of restaurant plans at topping out event

At a picnic Tuesday to celebrate the topping out of Big Spring Summit's exterior frame, the office building's developer said more news about the project will come soon.

William Stroud, principal for Triad Properties, said a restaurant for the building's first floor will be announced in a couple of weeks. He also expects to reveal detailed plans for the project's second phase.
Stroud said construction on Big Spring Summit's second phase will begin early next year and will include a condominium tower that will rise from the top deck of the parking garage, next to the first tower. The building will house about 45 condos, all with views of the lagoon

[HSVTiger]

Main Street Lofts



Main Street Lofts in The Village of Providence offers sophisticated urban living over Town Center businesses (Grille 29, Market Street Cafe and Jittery Joe's Coffee Shop).

From their web page^^

[HSV79]

Well, we all knew that the next phase of the summit would be condos and they said 4 stories or so. I didn't count on them building on top of the garage so basically the building would be 6 stories tall against the 8 storey Summit tower. Slowly but steadily we are gaining something of a skyline. Any word on the 4 storey patient tower on top of the 6 storey parking garage at the hospital? Once again where is the Holmes condo tower (21 stories) ?

the providence lofts look nice. is there a big demand for this type of residential construction outside the city center? also, how far approximately is providence from downtown?

also, did the 301 east lofts change at all from the first concept? i know they were put on hold shortly, but wasn't sure if this affected the size/scope/appearance of the project.

i can't wait to go home for christmas or thanksgiving and see everything that's going up.

[neilson]

Wednesday, August 17, 2005

Starbucks coming to north Huntsville
The Starbucks binge in Huntsville continues.

A city planning subcommittee this morning approved layout plans for the city's sixth Starbucks coffee shop. The latest one is planned for a vacant lot near the southwest corner of Memorial Parkway and Mastin Lake Road in northwest Huntsville, plans show.

Officials with the Seattle-based company confirmed last week another Starbucks was in the works for Huntsville – with an opening date of December – but they wouldn’t reveal the location until the plans came before the city today.

Four Starbucks are open in Huntsville: one off Governor’s Drive across from Huntsville Hospital; one off Airport Road near Crestwood Hospital; one in Target at Westside Center on U.S. 72 West; and one in Target at Valley Bend at Jones Farm on Carl T. Jones Drive. A Starbucks under construction at The Fountain shopping complex at Memorial Parkway and University Drive is scheduled to open next month.

Nearly 8,000 Starbucks locations dot the United States, and another 1,500-plus in foreign nations.

John Peck
Huntsville Times

[HSV79]

It seems more and more people are leaving the big subdivisions to live in communities like Providence. The project seems to be selling out really fast. There are a handful of these projects that are underconstruction right now . I don't think the renderings have changed for the 301 east condos. The Summit has its traditional evergreen tree on top of the building as well a a U.S. flag for the topping out. This building I think will be pretty much done my Christmas time.

[HSVTiger]

one the south's largest music festivals Sept.23 -25
Downtown Huntsville

http://www.bigspringjam.org/

[HSVTiger]

foundation work set to begin.


A huge amout of site prep has been underway for weeks,
digging the lakes preparing for the infrastructure etc.

[HSVTiger]

BRAC votes package deal
Friday, August 26, 2005
By SHELBY G. SPIRES
Times Aerospace Writer shelbys@htimes.com
Redstone decision could bring 1,755 new federal jobs

The majority of the nation's missile defense work will land in Huntsville if the recommendations of the nine-member Base Realignment and Closure Commission, or BRAC, panel passes muster at the White House and on Capitol Hill next month.

The bulk of the Missile Defense Agency's development and management work, along with the headquarters of the Army Space & Missile Defense Command, would move to Huntsville under a recommendation the BRAC panel passed Thursday.

On Wednesday, the BRAC panel also approved moving the headquarters of the Army Materiel Command to Redstone.

The moves will net at least 1,755 new federal jobs for the area, said Dave Hargrove, incoming president of the Huntsville/Madison County Chamber of Commerce. "That's the official number given by the Pentagon in May, and, although we are hopeful more contractor jobs will follow, I think that's the prudent figure," he said.

Bringing the headquarters of AMC and SMDC to Huntsville, which has long been the headquarters for the Army Aviation and Missile Command, would elevate Redstone's stature as a key site for the Army. It could also make Huntsville home to several more Army generals.

The Army Materiel Command, which is the parent command of Redstone's Aviation and Missile Command, is headed by four-star Gen. Benjamin Griffin. Griffin's command staff also includes a three-star general and a couple of two-star generals.

SMDC is helmed by Lt. Gen. Larry Dodgen, a three-star general who lived in Huntsville for two years as the commanding general of Army Aviation and Missile Command. AMCOM is headed by a two-star general, Maj. Gen. James Pillsbury.

"This is what we have been working for a number of years, and, of course, we are just ecstatic and very happy over these decisions," said Tennessee Valley BRAC Committee co-chair Joe Ritch. "It's been a very, very good week for Huntsville" and the Tennessee Valley.

Hargrove said the number of contractor jobs that would follow the federal work has not been verified. But unofficial estimates have ranged from 2,000 to 3,000 contractor jobs. Lt. Gen. Trey Obering, head of the Missile Defense Agency, said during a recent appearance in Huntsville that MDA alone could bring more than 2,000 workers here.

[HSVTiger]

Lowe's is next in line of the big retailers slated to come to Hampton Cove. Randy Cunningham with the city planning department said officials with Lowe's have already approached the board of adjustments to request the necessary permits to build there, across the street from Super Wal-Mart. In early June, a permit was issued to Ben Branum Contractors of Huntsville for grading and drainage work on a 30-acre site at that corner. "It is still in the planning stages, and we don't have the drawings on it yet," Cunningham said. "It isn't entirely solid yet, but that is what has been proposed.

Source: Huntsville Times

Home Depot probably won't be far behind.

[HSVTiger]

Tower..
Work on a new air traffic control tower for Huntsville International Airport is expected to get started around the first of November.

The Federal Aviation Administration has awarded the tower construction contract to Carmon Construction Inc. of Albertville, said Luther "Butch" Roberts Jr., the airport's deputy director, at a meeting Tuesday of the Huntsville-Madison County Airport Authority board of directors. The contract is in the amount of almost $13.15 million.
The new tower will be 219 feet tall, while the existing, 40-year tower is about 100 feet tall. It is expected to be completed by the first quarter of 2008, Roberts said.

Hopefully it will be an architectural masterpiece!. But in reality
it will most likely be pre fab stacked sections.

[HSVTiger]

Originally Posted by HSVTiger

one the south's largest music festivals Sept.23 -25
Downtown Huntsville

http://www.bigspringjam.org/

The list of bands, something for everyone!
http://www.bigspringjam.org/page-lin...eup-frame.html

[TimCity2000]

219 ft! Looks like Huntsville's tallest buildings will have to be towers (FAA Tower, Saturn V, rocket test stands, etc).

LOL

thanks for keeping this thread updated regularly.

[HSVTiger]

This Saturday(17th) from Chattanooga to Scottsboro, Huntsville,
Madison, Florence and ends in Waterloo AL.
Thousands of riders for hours
http://www.al-tn-trailoftears.org/

Adjust your routes and schedules accordingly if you do not want to be delayed. Many interstate own ramps may be closed through Huntsville. If your are headed eastbound there should be no delays.

[HSVTiger]

a new quality President.
Expect great things from this University
Maybe he will purge it of deadwoods and hanger ons.
His relationship with Marshall Space Flight Center will be interesting. Universities are such a key element in a cities growth.
A future enrollment of 10-12,000 is not out of reach, not to mention new developments in this college town area of Huntsville.
A&M Board Selects Earls as 10th President

Huntsville, Ala. ---- Following a one-hour executive session, Alabama A&M University’s Board of Trustees today returned to a packed Clyde Foster Multipurpose Room to hand over the realm of the 130-year-old school to a top NASA center administrator.

Dr. Julian Manly Earls, director of the NASA Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio, since 2003, has been named AAMU’s tenth president. His affiliation with the Center dates back to 1968. Dr. Virginia Caples, a long-time AAMU administrator and provost/vice president for academic affairs, served as interim president before and after Dr. John T. Gibson’s nine-year presidency, which ended in February.

During a series of public forums on September 15, the three top candidates for the post fielded numerous questions from students, faculty, staff, alumni and the community. At a session in the Dawson Building Auditorium, Earls called the student body the most important group on campus, adding that students should get what they pay for.

So fascinating is the university’s history, Earls went on, that the chronicles penned by former AAMU President Richard David Morrison “should be required reading.”

Earls is expected to begin his first days with a period of assessment and dialogue to determine much-needed information about various facets of the institution. He is also expected to involve individuals, groups and units in discussions about those actions by which they will be impacted.

Earls earned the B.S. degree in physics in 1964 from Norfolk State University (Va.). He went on to receive the M.S. degree in 1966 in radiation biology from the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry. He later earned the Ph.D. degree in environmental health from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.


When asked during the forum about such concerns as campus upkeep and faculty salaries, Earls responded that under his presidency fundraising would be “critical” and that major efforts would also begin to form vital collaborations. One of Earl’s thrusts will include working to increase alumni giving, cultivating students while they are still enrolled; networking with members of various corporate boards; and interacting with CEOs and people who make things happen. Many of the answers to the institution’s problems, he said, are only half solved because the problems have not been adequately stated.

When addressing a concern about helping faculty members to become more productive, Earls first noted that student costs should be kept to a minimum, and efforts should be made to ensure that available funds are appropriately distributed. “If you put a spark in faculty,” commented Earls, “they will help the students.” He offered faculty development opportunities, sabbaticals, and sessions to determine those issues and concerns most critical to faculty and their productivity.

“Customer service,” said Earls, “has a lot to do with the people put in place.” He said it is vital to have people with the know-how as well as a “solid core” of integrity and a willingness to serve. It is also important, he noted, to see how people treat others “from their level down.” While leadership should be accessible, Earls said his early days will require a thorough assessment of “where we are now, where we are going, and what we should stop doing.” While growth is fundamental, said Earls, institutions must be able to maintain what they already have.

“The first things people do when funds are low is to cut maintenance,” noted Earls. He said that mistake could have disastrous repercussions. AAMU should do more to seek resources “in our own backyard,” said Earls.

When asked about his extensive NASA career and the lack of administrative experience in higher education administration, Earls replied, “All institutions involve people.”

Caples will continue in the interim post until Earls assumes his duties.

[HSVTiger]

As of Monday morning, according to the Alabama Department of Education, Alabama schools had enrolled 5,396 students displaced by Katrina. And according to state reports, that's about 2,000 more than Alabama schools had enrolled one week ago.

Throughout Madison County(Huntsville), according to the state, all three systems combined had accepted nearly 350 evacuees as of Monday morning, but the figures keep moving.
Using the most up-to-date numbers from local administrators, the combined total for the three systems in Madison County would be 346 evacuees.

In each system, schools provide supplies and free meals for the students, who are technically homeless. Local PTAs and other groups have helped provide everything from shoes to Wal-Mart gift cards.

[HSVTiger]

Statements from Senator Shelby's office.
Not much in detail but that will be coming
These should start in the near future...
U.S. Space and Rocket Center Tramway Extension - $1 million

Senator Shelby said, “These funds will be used to extend the tramway at the Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, thus connecting the botanical gardens to the museum complex.”


University of Alabama in Huntsville Intermodal Facility - $6 million

Senator Shelby said, “I am pleased the bill includes $6 million for an intermodal facility at the southern part of UAH’s campus. This area of the campus continues to grow, and additional space is integral to accommodate the needs of the students and researchers who will use the new campus research facilities.”


Cummings Research Park Intermodal Center - $5 million

Senator Shelby said, “The Intermodal Center at Cummings Research Park is a necessary addition to meet the needs of this new research park. The Center will integrate multiple modes of transportation, serve as a regional transit transfer facility and address traffic safety issues in and around the research park.”

[HSVTiger]

and still be in the city, try Huntsville's Monte Sano State Park. Beautiful views
excellent hiking trails and great camp sites. Due to The state parks being used by transplanted hurricane victims availability
may be limited, but with fall on the way the hiking trails are worth the trip.


Check out Alabama's other state parks on this excellent web site.
Alabama has a wide variety of parks
http://www.alapark.com/

[HSVTiger]

Passenger stats for the last few months,

July, 116,483
August, 106,894

Year to Date, 826,086