Northport Water Park 'Now Reality' As City Pivots To New Site Off Highway 82

NORTHPORT, AL — The City of Northport has confirmed plans to pivot its plans for a proposed water park away from a recently purchased tract of land off of Rose Boulevard to a new 11-acre site along McFarland Boulevard, in addition to revealing new plans for the property initially considered.

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The City of Northport officially closed a deal on Thursday to purchase a large parcel of land along the U.S. Highway 82 corridor in the vacant tract adjacent to Big Lots, Tractor Supply Co. and Zaxby's that will now be the intended site for the proposed, large-scale aquatic facility.

The site of the proposed water park is marked with the red star, with Big Lots and Tractor Supply Co. on the lefthand side.

Council President Jeff Hogg told Patch on Thursday that city officials are currently in negotiations for land acquisition for the proposed youth sports tournament complex and should know more in the coming month.

"Our goal is to run these projects simultaneously," he said of the water park, tournament facility and site off of Rose Boulevard.

PROPOSED ADVENTURE SPORTS PARK

As Patch previously reported, the Northport City Council in September 2021 unanimously approved the purchase of 151 acres off of Rose Boulevard for $700,000 from the Black Warrior Solid Waste Authority.

The land is located in the area surrounding Tuscaloosa County's E911 operations center, which is positioned east of Rose Boulevard and west of 7oth Avenue in Northport.

However, once officials began to examine the terrain of the property to flatten it out, coupled with inflationary rises in construction costs, the decision was made to instead focus on developing the property into an adventure sports park.

Hogg said this concept would feature mountain biking, zip lining, ropes courses, canoeing, walking trails, bird watching, kayaking, paddle boarding, retreat cabins, and other corporate team building amenities.

Hogg said city officials are gearing up to move forward on the design phase for the adventure park, with all three of the projects paid for with revenue generated by the city's 1 cent sales tax — dubbed Northport First Funds.

The land deal that was closed on Thursday, like the same deal inked on the Rose Boulevard property, will also be paid for in cash, without the city borrowing any money to finance it.

"When the city increased the sales tax by a penny a few years ago, we set up a separate account for this additional revenue to put back into projects that our citizens could see and enjoy," Hogg explained. "This has allowed us to do many items over the years that we wouldn’t have been able to do from the general fund. Having this extra revenue stream in this instance has allowed us to pay cash for land as we begin the design phase of the water park. From what once was an idea is now reality."

What's more, the city plans to address blight in the area by selling out parcels on the frontage of the property along McFarland Boulevard and have already presented parcels to both Buffalo Wild Wings and Starbucks for consideration.

On the financial side, consideration of the exact amounts in Northport First Funds to cover the next phases of the projects will be taken up during the next City Council Finance Committee meeting on Oct. 24.

"The mayor and Council ran their campaigns on expanding our footprint to be the city that people want to live, shop, dine, and raise a family in," Hogg said. "By providing these quality of life items, we are setting our future high to be just that and also a destination city for years to come. This is no longer just ideas. It’s plans. It’s the future of Northport."

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