Lead architect selects 30 firms for Birmingham domed stadium

10/15/2009

By Dan Carsen

The lead architect on Birmingham’s $530 million domed stadium project has put together a 30-firm team to help design what many hope will become a landmark and a multiplier of economic activity for the area.

Populous – the global design firm formerly known as HOK Sport Venue Event – and officials from the Birmingham Jefferson Convention Complex (BJCC) named the firms at a meeting on Tuesday.

“We’ve taken another step,” says BJCC board executive director Jack Fields. “Everyone is very pleased [with the selections]. Populous worked very hard to take advantage of as much local participation as possible. We want to keep the money at home.”

The BJCC and Populous had set goals of 50 percent local participation and 30 percent minority-owned-firm participation. The slate of firms announced Tuesday “more than achieves both goals,” says Fields. Of the 30 firms, 22 are based in the Birmingham area, and 14 are minority owned, or “historically underutilized businesses” (HUBs).   

On projects of this scale, Populous normally would work with less than a dozen other firms, but Birmingham is home to many relatively small HUBs, as opposed to just a few large ones.

The project “should serve as a catalyst to help [those small firms] grow in the future,” says Fields.

Over the next several months, Populous will determine exactly what each firm’s role will be. Two or three additional firms could be added to the team. The businesses will be splitting roughly 8 percent of the $400 million required to build the dome. (The remaining $130 million will be spent on parking facilities, infrastructure, and paying off debt.)

The 65,000-seat, 160,000-sq-ft facility could boost the area’s construction industry as early as 2011, when building is expected to begin. The Birmingham City Council first guaranteed funding – $8 million per year – in mid July.

“We’re excited after 11 years of effort,” adds Fields. “But at the same time, it’s just one more step. We’re really just getting started.”

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