Before Stadium Trace Village can expand in Hoover, crews must address hazards left by decades of coal mining. The Alabama Department of Workforce announced Nov. 9 that it awarded Broad Metro LLC a $2.5 million federal grant to help stabilize the 82-acre site and prepare it for development.
Stadium Trace Village is a commercial development off Interstate 459 at Exit 10 and Alabama Highway 150. It includes shops, restaurants, hotels, medical services and an outdoor event space called the Village Green.
The land planned for Phase II in western Jefferson County was mined from the 1800s through the 1960s. The Alabama Department of Workforce said the site still has open mine entrances, vertical openings, breaks in mine roofs and areas where the ground has sunk. Past mining also severely disrupted water conditions in Scout Creek.
“This grant will allow Stadium Trace Village to continue working on developing this growing area, while simultaneously improving serious environmental hazards caused by unsafe mines from decades ago,” said Alabama Department of Workforce Secretary Greg Reed. “We know that this area is already doing well, and it’s wonderful to provide a catalyst to spur continuing improvement.”
The grant comes through the federal Abandoned Mine Land Economic Revitalization (AMLER) program. Crews will use the funding to stabilize the site and prepare level areas for construction. The department estimates reclamation will cost about $12 million across the expansion phases.
Once the land is stabilized, plans call for a 2,200-foot extension of Peridot Roadway, utilities, five stormwater detention ponds, walking trails and green spaces. The Jefferson County Commission has committed up to $1.5 million for sewer infrastructure, and the Cahaba River Society is helping guide the stormwater design.
“For more than half a century, much of this land has been too dangerous to build on because of mines abandoned generations ago,” said Will Kadish, president and CEO of Broad Metro.
“This second round of AMLER funding fixes a serious public safety hazard and clears the way for hundreds of jobs and more than $200 million in new private investment, bringing the total investment in Stadium Trace Village to $350 million.
“That’s exactly how public dollars should work. We’re grateful to Secretary Reed, the Jefferson County Commission and the City of Hoover for their continued confidence in this project.”
Broad Metro had already invested $150 million in Stadium Trace Village and planned to invest another $200 million in Phase II, the company’s development director told the Hoover City Council in July, according to the Hoover Sun.
The department says the existing development generates more than $70 million in taxable sales each year. It projects the expansion will generate $80 million in new annual sales, draw more than 1 million visitors a year and create hundreds of full-time jobs.
Sherri Blevins is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You may contact her at [email protected].
