New Stadium In Birmingham Gets Support From County Commission

BIRMINGHAM, AL - A project that has been in the works for a couple of years now just received some critical support from the Jefferson County Commission this week. At the commission's meeting Thursday, an agreement was reached to provide $30 million toward the building of a new stadium in downtown Birmingham.

According to a report from the Birmingham Business Journal, the stadium would be built on property owned by the Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex. The BBJ report also states that the BJCC in 2016 worked with Populous, a Kansas City-based architecture firm, to update its master plan to include a major renovation of the Legacy Arena and parts of the Complex, as well as a new stadium. Previous estimates for the cost of the stadium put the figure at $123 million.

The stadium would host a variety of events, namely UAB football, which has played its home games at Legion Field since the program's inception in 1991. As well, events that were previously held at Legion Field, like the Magic City Classic and the Birmingham Bowl, would likely move to the new stadium. Supporters of the project say the new stadium also opens the door for events such as neutral site college football games, concerts and other events.

Image courtesy of the Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex