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  #41  
Old Posted Nov 30, 2009, 3:55 AM
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The former AmSouth tower in downtown Decatur, the 2nd tallest in the city, is currently undergoing a facade refinishing. After Regions absorbed AmSouth, all business moved a block over to the Regions building.

Peoples' Bank of North Alabama recently became the major tenant and bank of the building. Because of this, someone decided to refinish the facade. Thank goodness, cause crap had been falling from it and flaking off for years.

Don't know what it's going to look like after it's finished, but it'll be better than whatever it used to look like, that's for sure.
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  #42  
Old Posted Dec 15, 2009, 6:36 AM
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The head of the Decatur MPO, Dewayne Hellums, has said that the organization is predicting a 200% increase, over 25 years, in traffic at the interchange with I-65/I-565/ALT US 72/AL 20.

A 2005 traffic count put the daily flow at 50,000 cars per day. The MPO expects that to increase to 140,000 by 2035.

It sounds like a ridiculous count, but when you consider that the predominant employment core for Decatur is quickly shifting to Huntsville, it's not hard to believe. With the job growth in jobs in Huntsville, the city is expecting to see a larger number of people commuting from the city to Madison County.

Currently, there are 4 lanes in either direction between Decatur and Huntsville, both of them funnel into, and bottle neck at, the I-65/I-565 interchange in northeastern Decatur. Obviously, something's going to have to change.

As much as I hate to say it, I'm praying that the Decatur metro and Huntsville metro will merge together by the 2010 census, so that there can be a singular MPO for the core of the Tennessee Valley.
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  #43  
Old Posted Dec 28, 2009, 3:47 AM
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After months of delay, ALDOT is finally set to start the second phase of the Beltline widening. This phase extends from Gordon Terry Parkway NW (AL 24) to AL 20/US ALT 72.

In other news.

The Morgan County Commission approved half a million dollars for Decatur's downtown revitalization. The city council also approved some measures for it that I believe included money, but I don't recall the amount.

Also, the new Chancellor of the 2 year college system, Frieda Hill, has given the OK to proceed with the Calhoun CC/Athens State joint venture to create a fine arts school in downtown Decatur.
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  #44  
Old Posted Dec 29, 2009, 6:41 AM
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Some more Decatur news

Construction on the Robotics Park in Decatur is rolling along.


Decatur Daily photo by John Godbey

Phase 1, costing $17.6 Million and 52,000 square feet began construction in September. The state hopes to begin holding class via Calhoun Community College at the center in 2011.

Phase 2 plans are underway, and the state is hopeful that it will be opened up for bids in January. The second phase will be 30,000 square feet and cost about $8 Million. It will also include an outdoor testing track.

Phase 3 will be a building used to train staff, and plan/design/program new lines for new industries.

The state hopes to complete all three phases by the time Governor Riley leaves office in 2011.
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  #45  
Old Posted Jan 5, 2010, 6:55 AM
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Big news. The Point Mallard Ice Complex will host hockey matches between SEC teams this winter. In January and February, Mississippi State will host Life University and LSU in Decatur.

Miss State is traveling to Decatur for this because it's apparently the closest ice complex to Starkville. Either that or something odd is going on with whatever Jackson, Miss has.
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  #46  
Old Posted Jan 14, 2010, 5:46 AM
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The Decatur Downtown Redevelopment Authority is well on it's way to reaching its $2.5 Million goal for the redevelopment of the downtown area.

Kicking off today, Wednesday, the funding drive has already raised $1.6 Million. On top of this, Athens State University has committed $3.2 Million towards creating a downtown arts college, jointly operated by Calhoun Community College and Athens State in Decatur.
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  #47  
Old Posted Jan 14, 2010, 6:02 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Alabadrock View Post
The head of the Decatur MPO, Dewayne Hellums, has said that the organization is predicting a 200% increase, over 25 years, in traffic at the interchange with I-65/I-565/ALT US 72/AL 20.

A 2005 traffic count put the daily flow at 50,000 cars per day. The MPO expects that to increase to 140,000 by 2035.

It sounds like a ridiculous count, but when you consider that the predominant employment core for Decatur is quickly shifting to Huntsville, it's not hard to believe. With the job growth in jobs in Huntsville, the city is expecting to see a larger number of people commuting from the city to Madison County.

Currently, there are 4 lanes in either direction between Decatur and Huntsville, both of them funnel into, and bottle neck at, the I-65/I-565 interchange in northeastern Decatur. Obviously, something's going to have to change.

As much as I hate to say it, I'm praying that the Decatur metro and Huntsville metro will merge together by the 2010 census, so that there can be a singular MPO for the core of the Tennessee Valley.
25 years? More like 10 with the way things are going right now. 565 is a clusterf*ck from the airport all the way to I-65 every rush hour right NOW. If you ask me, 565 ought to be 8 lanes for its entire length.
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  #48  
Old Posted Jan 14, 2010, 7:27 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Rail Claimore View Post
25 years? More like 10 with the way things are going right now. 565 is a clusterf*ck from the airport all the way to I-65 every rush hour right NOW. If you ask me, 565 ought to be 8 lanes for its entire length.
It does, but I'm thinking that the Huntsville MPO doesn't look at that stretch of roadway as their concern, even though it's part of their region. There just isn't the political will, or regional cooperation to improve that road. That's why I'm hoping the 2010 census will merge the two metro areas, so that the borderline areas that aren't getting any attention will actually move into the site of the leaders.
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  #49  
Old Posted Jan 21, 2010, 10:29 PM
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Thanks for posting this. I saw this a while back and was wondering what it was going to be.

Here's a link to the video of what it'll look like.
http://www.alabamartp.org/index.php?...d=64&Itemid=77

Quote:
Originally Posted by tredici View Post
Some more Decatur news

Construction on the Robotics Park in Decatur is rolling along.


Decatur Daily photo by John Godbey

Phase 1, costing $17.6 Million and 52,000 square feet began construction in September. The state hopes to begin holding class via Calhoun Community College at the center in 2011.

Phase 2 plans are underway, and the state is hopeful that it will be opened up for bids in January. The second phase will be 30,000 square feet and cost about $8 Million. It will also include an outdoor testing track.

Phase 3 will be a building used to train staff, and plan/design/program new lines for new industries.

The state hopes to complete all three phases by the time Governor Riley leaves office in 2011.
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  #50  
Old Posted Feb 17, 2010, 7:38 PM
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Calhoun will receive $3.5 million for energy center

The U.S. Department of Labor announced today that Calhoun Community College will receive $3.5 Million in funding to establish the "Alabama Center of Excellence in Clean Energy Technology" at Calhoun's Decatur campus.
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  #51  
Old Posted Mar 11, 2010, 10:40 PM
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Two things to report:

State School Board Gives Tentative Approval To Downtown Art School
The school board gave tentative approval to the joint venture between Calhoun Community College of Decatur, and Athens State. The two colleges will renovate a vacant furniture building in downtown Decatur on 2nd Avenue for a bachelor arts degree.

The existence of this school in Decatur would give Morgan County (pop. 115,000) its first and only institution of higher education.

Point Mallard Is State's #1 Seasonal Attraction
Last year, Point Mallard was the state's #1 Seasonal tourist attraction. 138,000 people visited the park, which was more than twice the attendance of the next attraction, Water World Park in Dothan.
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  #52  
Old Posted Apr 14, 2010, 9:08 PM
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In a referendum yesterday in Decatur, both Sunday alcohol sales and a government change from council-mayor to council-manager were approved.

There could be some trouble ahead for the government part though. It's possible that the Justice Department could deny approval of the government switch because it could dilute the minority vote in the city. Current state law says that 3 districts would be set up, and it's possible that a minority vote could be diluted in one of the districts.

Anyways, we'll see what happens.
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  #53  
Old Posted Jun 7, 2010, 8:14 PM
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Phase 2 of the state robotics park will begin construction on Tuesday June 8th.

http://www.decaturdaily.com/detail/61853.html
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  #54  
Old Posted Jun 12, 2010, 8:04 AM
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The planning commission is looking at changing the status of Alabama 20/ALT 72 between I-65/I-565 and US 31 to controlled access. This stretch of road has been the source of much frustration for the city as traffic is awful and the eminent development of land along the route will be sure to make it worse.

Obviously, the designation of controlled access would mean that at least one interstate style interchange would have to be constructed to provide service for surrounding businesses.

I'll try to update y'all once they've made an official decision.

In the article in the Decatur Daily there was also some mention of the Sweetwater development. The local attorney for the project has said that Genesis USA (the developer) still intends to construct the billion dollar development at the SW corner of I-65 and Alabama 20/ALT 72. The anchor of the development would be Bass Pro Shops. Likely, once the Bass Pro gets constructed, worries about a lack of traffic to the development should go away. Also, Bass Pro has said that they fully intend to located a store in Decatur, no matter what happens with Sweetwater, a positive statement that they are confident in the Huntsville-Decatur market.
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  #55  
Old Posted Jun 23, 2010, 10:18 PM
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Potential project at Delphi could be HUGE

While leading the official groundbreaking of Phase 2 of the Alabama Industrial Development and Training Institute (Alabama State Robotics Park) in Decatur, Bob Riley announced that a potential project at the vacant Delphi plant in town could be the biggest project that he has ever worked on (that includes the $4 Billion Thyssen Krupp steel mill).

This is welcome news, as thousands of people worked at the Delphi plant before it closed down, including my mother and two other people that live across the street from us.

North Alabama Center for the Arts, progress

The joint venture for a four year arts program, between Calhoun Community College, of Decatur, and Athens State University, in downtown Decatur cleared one of the last hurdles the other day with approval from the Alabama Commission on Higher Education.

They expect to break ground on the downtown campus in late fall or early winter. Completion of this project would mean the first institution of higher ed in Morgan County, which is if I'm not mistaken, the most populated county in the state with out a higher ed school.
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  #56  
Old Posted Jun 24, 2010, 8:32 PM
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The state board of education approved the bachelor of arts for the arts degree at the fine arts campus. Looks like this thing is finally, actually going to happen.
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  #57  
Old Posted Jun 26, 2010, 7:04 AM
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Business in Morgan County is picking up

Jeremy Nails, president of the Morgan County Economic Development Board, says that business at the Decatur-Morgan County Port Authority so far this year has already equaled that of last year.

Some inquires and visits include:

*An information technology company looking to locate in downtown Decatur, and employ 25 people

*International manufacturing company looking to build a $15 Million dollar plant and employ between 300 and 400 people in Hartselle.

*DeBruce grain will close on it's $10.3 million purchase of the former Cargill plant in Decatur. After the purchase, they will construct an $80 million plant on top of the land after it demolishes the old plant.

*Consultants have visited the former Wolverine plant in Decatur in hopes of redeveloping it as the River Watch Business Park.

Additionally, Decatur was named the #2 small market of the decade, based on jobs and investment, by the Southern Business and Development Magazine.
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  #58  
Old Posted Jul 15, 2010, 7:24 AM
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Photographer Transforming Empty Lot Into Park

Great article in the DecaturDaily.

The owner of a photography studio on lower Bank St in downtown Decatur is moving ahead with plans to turn a once vacant lot into a public/private park. He plans to spend $20,000 dollars on landscaping, restrooms, and a gazebo.

He was inspired to go forward with this project because he sees the potential in the Bank St portion of downtown.

While upper Bank St looks very nice and landscaped, the lower portion has a neglected feel to it, and sees little to none of the foot traffic that traverses the street just a bit north.

His hopes are that this will inspire other business owners along lower Bank to invest a little money and spruce up their surrounding areas a bit. If activity picks up, he hopes to construct a 2 to 3 story building with retail on the first floor and apartments on the top floor(s).



I think I speak for many many many other people that this the type of activity we want to see. Governments can't do all of this stuff by themselves and it's about time we saw some private businesses investing and taking pride in their neighborhoods. Let's pray this catches on and spreads like wildfire.
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  #59  
Old Posted Jan 13, 2011, 3:01 AM
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Olive Garden has committed to building a location in Decatur at the NW corner of 6th Ave and The Beltline in SE Decatur.
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  #60  
Old Posted Jan 19, 2011, 5:57 AM
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Decatur Planning Commission has recommended a plan to limit access along US ALT 72/AL 20 in the Limestone County portion of Decatur.

If approved by the city council, the plan would restrict access to the highway to 2 intersections. The plan also restrict development from building anything within 150 feet of the northside of the highway, and a certain distance that I cannot recall on the southern side of the highway. These variances are of course being created to allow for future widening of the roadway which the city intends to eventually convert to a controlled access freeway in the future.

The first intersection (future interchange) would not be aloud until 2,000 west of the termination of I-565. The next interchange would exist about a mile west of that initial interchange.
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