Town and Country

Impressive opening for an impressive project

Story by Carol Pappas
Photos by Wallace Bromberg Jr.

It had an exciting ring to it: “Welcome to the newest Ford store in America: Pell City Alabama!”

And in the moments that followed, there was no mistaking the excitement. NASCAR racing legend Jack Roush was there to cut the ribbon. So was Henry Ford’s great grandson, Edsel Ford. Coupled with the throng of well-wishers and public officials from around the region, opening the doors to the new Town & Country Ford signaled a new day for the automotive industry in Pell City and St. Clair County.

After all, they were partners in the project that had its share of delays but was no less welcome when it finally became reality.

General Manager Doug Bailey thanked the city and county “for all have you done for us over the years to reach this point for our customers.”

Co-owner Bill Sain offered thanks to “the whole team. You believed in your brand. It’s a great market, and we think it will really grow.”

His partner, Steve Watts, thanked all as well, noting that the community had welcomed the dealership with open arms.

Goodgame Company built the facility that stands at the entrance to Pell City on US 231, projecting a new, more progressive image for the city. Vice President Jason Goodgame talked of the reinvestment Town & Country has made in Pell City.

A tremendous amount of growth is happening all around the city, and Goodgame rightly calls Town & Country and others’ investments “a regrowth. They are putting money back into the town.”

Following a decade of new growth, “You’re seeing locals spending money on what they have. They are reinvesting in their physical location,” Goodgame said. He called the Town & Country project “a highlight. It’s high end. They did not cut corners. It’s the nicest thing you’ve ever seen. The finished product is really a beautiful project.”

According to architect Trevor Matchett of Hendon Huckstein architects, “The owner was dedicated to the idea of a first-class facility for Pell City from day one. Ford Land brought some specific new branding elements, which we incorporated into the owner’s vision for a destination facility for customers and employees alike.”

During the design process, Matchett said, “the owner constantly emphasized the value of both his employees and his customers. Ensuring the employees have safe and healthy working conditions throughout the facility was as important as the customer interface areas.”

The project wasn’t without its hurdles, he said. “One of our greatest challenges was accommodating and coordinating the myriad systems and vendors that go into a dealership like this. From the high-tech video components to the oil delivery systems, all have to work together seamlessly. In a sense, the dealership itself is like a well-tuned Mustang. It’s a beautiful, slick, modern, shell, plus all the necessary systems working in concert ‘under the hood’ to efficiently and effectively generate the power behind this great dealership.”

From the expansive showroom to the state-of-the-art service center to quick lane services, it all spells customer service, according to Bailey.

“We wanted to create an environment that customers and employees want to be in,” he said. “I think we pulled it off.”

Town & Country has tripled its capacity for parts and is increasing that inventory to have more in stock and available for more retail at the parts counter to provide a quicker turnaround for the customer.

Again, with the customer in mind, it’s only 26 minutes from beginning to end for an oil change, tire rotation and inspection, said Bailey. “And it’s priced below market value.”

The 27,200 square foot facility replaces the 8,000 square foot dealership, which is now – with cosmetic changes – the headquarters for pre-owned vehicles, some servicing, new and used inspections, heavy engine work, cleanup and detailing.

When Bailey first helped plan the new building, he thought about its size and how to keep it from feeling empty. They pulled that off, too. The expanse of glass, LED features, halo digital graphic accent lighting and even music – “It’s more welcoming when you walk in.”

The waiting areas have common tables equipped with iPads for games and movies, and large screen monitors surround.

More features abound in virtually every corner. A specially equipped camera system allows the customer to watch his vehicle being worked on. In the service department, customers are greeted by a service coordinator with an iPad. Photos and addresses are uploaded in the system, giving the ability to track maintenance.

Town & Country has now gone from 32 employees to 54, and the dealership situated on 13 acres leading into the city, creates an impressive entrance to Pell City. “It’s exciting,” Bailey said.

Recumbent Trikes Return

A turn-your-head-sight

Story and photos by Jerry C. Smith

It’s a sight guaranteed to cause double takes – vintage men riding giant tricycles, backwards. But for Joe Dorough and Jerry Burns of Pell City, it’s more than recreation, it’s survival. These weird contraptions may have actually saved their lives.

Officially known as recumbent trikes, they come in two basic versions and a host of sub-types. Some are in standard tricycle configuration, with two wheels in back and one out front, but Joe and Jerry’s machines are known as ‘tadpoles,’ with two wheels up front and a long rear-wheel ‘tail.’

Riders sit in an ergonomically-correct recliner seat, with legs outstretched in front to work a pair of standard bike pedals. Steering, braking and gear shifting are controlled via an opposed pair of handlebars, much like a zero-turn yard tractor. Drive effort is delivered to the single rear wheel through a long bicycle chain running through carbon fiber tubes.

There’s nothing ordinary about them. They’re cleverly-designed, precision machines, capable of delivering amazing road performance. Indeed, with proper lighting and accessories, they are actually highway legal, but both men agree that off-road riding is much preferred, even though there’s still danger where riding trails cross roads.

Joe says they are the ultimate riding machine. “You can’t turn one over unless you really work at it, although Jerry actually flipped his once. After you get the hang of it and learn the gears, you develop a kind of pedaling pattern that gets you over the ground quickly and almost tirelessly.” To illustrate his point, he took a warm-up ride while waiting for Jerry to arrive and was out of sight in less than 30 seconds.

Joe says, “We usually toot our air horns and say something like, ‘Old men riding tricycles behind you’ as we approach walkers from behind. Brightly colored flags on slender poles make them more visible when crossing roads shared by cars. Jerry adds, “When you get tired you just pull over and rest in a comfortable recliner seat.”

Jerry, a native of Greene County, moved to St. Clair in 1976 following a work career that included the Navy, Gulf States Paper, Alabama Power and the mobile home business. After moving to Pell City, he worked for Liberty National Insurance Company and Kilgroe/Leeds Funeral Home before retiring.

Around 2007, he endured back, heart valve and shoulder surgeries, all within a year and a half, leaving him in a semi-convalescent condition. His son Steve, a bike enthusiast, bought Jerry’s trike from a shop in Canton, Ga., hoping it would help rehabilitate him. Jerry quickly warmed up to his new machine and began riding it four to five days a week. The results were remarkable. Joe says, “Jerry recovered from back surgery faster than you can imagine.”

Joe, a Pell City native who worked at Cisco Auto Parts for 30 years, is semi-retired while serving as a director and loan committee consultant for Metro Bank. He had become a virtual cripple due to multiple diseases that kept him in ICU for 12 days. Joe says, “At one point they had given me up for dead.”

During a long, painful recovery, he literally had to learn to walk again. Impressed by Jerry’s example, he ordered a trike online to help strengthen and re-train his legs through repetitive movement.

 “When I ride my trike, I can feel its action reverberate through my legs, and the pain just goes away,” he says.

Both men are married fathers whose spouses and children marvel at the almost miraculous results they’ve seen.

Currently, theirs are the only two in the area, but they hope others will soon join them. The average price range is $900 to $1,600, depending on options, well within reach of most riders, and much cheaper than clinical rehab. Joe’s machine is a Rover, made by TerraTrike, and has an eight-speed shifter in the rear wheel hub. Jerry rides an E-Z Tad SX, made by Wrench Force, which sports a 27- speed derailleur shifter.

 Jerry at age 73 and Joe at 76 are quite hale and hardy today, riding their trikes together at every opportunity, usually at Pell City’s Lakeside Park. They’ve ridden amazing distances together, including several 26-mile jaunts from Anniston to Piedmont on the Chief Ladiga Trail, and plan to go from Piedmont to Cedartown, Ga., this fall.

 Quoting silvercomet.com, “The 34-mile long Chief Ladiga Trail is Alabama’s premier rail-trail. It is located in Cleburne and Calhoun counties, in east-central Alabama … and connects to Georgia’s Silver Comet Trail to the east.

“The Chief Ladiga and Silver Comet travel over 95 miles when combined and form the longest paved trail in America. Both trails are non-motorized and are great for walking, bicycling, rollerblading, hiking and dog walking.”

Knowing their determination, it wouldn’t be hard to imagine Joe and Jerry riding its entire length – both ways. l

 

Backwoods Whitetails

Deer farm in Odenville building a brand, bringing visitors’ smiles

Story  by Carol Pappas
Photos by Susan Wall
Photos courtesy of Backwoods Whitetails

Drive through the gates of Backwoods Whitetails in Odenville, and you can’t help but sense you are about to witness something very special.

Wind through the property of rolling pastures, a canopy of towering trees lining both sides of the rocky road and pull to a stop at a nondescript barn. Fencing surrounds this farm, and it looks like most others around these parts, but instead of rows of crops growing all around, a hundred pairs of eyes are focused on you.

Fawns, bucks and yearlings wander through fenced pastures, their almond eyes trained on the strangers who have just arrived. Treats thrown in their direction bring them closer, and closer still.

At Backwoods, it’s all in a day’s work – raising prime stock deer from bottle-fed newborns to majestic bucks with racks wider than the length of your outstretched arms.

Owners Dane and Katelyn Dorsett and family are not your typical farmers, they breed deer, which now number 140 head, including fawns. And they sell to other breeders and owners of huge hunting enclosures around Alabama, fetching $4,000 and up each.

It’s not as easy as it sounds, said Dorsett. “It’s a big gamble. I tell people, don’t invest more than you’re willing to lose. One straw of semen to artificially inseminate in hopes of breeding prime stock can cost $15,000. And only 75 percent – “sometimes less than that” – take.

You might call this a family farm business. And you would be right. Dorsett’s wife, Katelyn, assistant principal at Odenville Intermediate School, bottle raises many of the fawns each year for the business they started in 2011.

Her father and three others help Dane with the daily chores of running an expansive deer farm like this that contains 10 pens stretching over multiple pastures.

Macy, the Dorsetts’ dog, hops aboard the all-terrain vehicle, keeping an eye on things and getting out at every stop. “She goes in every pen with me,” Dorsett said. She’s even been known to ‘kiss’ a deer or two.

The Dorsetts’ two boys — Hayes, 3, and Bryce, 1 — play nearby. It’s just another day to them as they round out the picture of this family affair.

“I am looking forward to next year, when I don’t have actual babies and deer babies we’re raising at the same time,” Katelyn said. “I am glad the kids get to grow up around this. They like being outside.”

When her “deer babies” are born, she starts bottle raising them in individual stalls located in the barn. Meanwhile, a ton – yes, that’s 2,000 pounds – of custom deer feed a week keeps the rest of the deer satisfied.

This all takes place on 40 acres in rural Odenville. Dane said the farm’s name came from its location – “the middle of nowhere.”

But around Alabama, it’s quickly making a name for itself, producing superior class genetics in its stock. According to its website, the Dorsetts have been on a “strategic breeding plan using Northern and Texas sires to create a range of genetic crossings.”

And farm visits are welcome daily. August is the busiest time of year when breeders are coming in and out, they are moving bucks and getting ready for breeding, said Dane.

This time of year is a little slower, and the deer actually seem to enjoy the company of admirers passing by on a Saturday morning. Realtor Lyman Lovejoy was among that group. He had brought his stepson and grandkids to experience it.

“This is unbelievable that we have something like this right here in our own backyard,” said Lovejoy. “These majestic animals are a sight to behold, and it’s heartening to know that a young couple can not only make a living but put St. Clair County on the map with this farm. What they’re doing is really impressive – the whole operation.

“And my grandkids see these beautiful deer, and their smiles tell me they think it’s Christmastime and Santa’s on his way!” l

 

New life for Little House

History saved and preserved
in Springville

Story and photos by Jerry C. Smith

The Springville Preservation Society refers to it simply as The Little House, but its transformation from forlorn vintage home to a quaint welcome center and community venue is no small story.

Built in St. Clair Springs sometime around 1880 (or 1835, depending on whom you ask), this homey two-room cottage was destined for demolition. In 2002, Roderick Brown made the society an offer: Move it, and it’s yours, but do it now. His only request was for a marker that acknowledges his gift. He’s since passed away, but a large oval plaque has been placed on the front porch in his honor.

The house was first relocated to the old Springville Lake property, where it underwent major restoration to prepare it for community use. Its windows were replaced with handcrafted copies of the originals. A fine front porch and tin roof were also added.

Springville’s John Trotter, who did most of the carpentry work, remembered those days well, “When we started this project, I was 6 feet, 4 inches tall and weighed over 200 pounds.” Now slimmer and a bit shorter, he quipped, “If we had to do this again, I would probably wind up 4 feet tall.”

A needlework plaque on the kitchen wall says it all: Hard work is the yeast that raises the dough. John, his wife Sara, and Gayle Hammonds were prime movers for the entire project and continue their leadership roles today, but other folks and factions have generously lent their support.

For instance, the magnificent wood flooring in the parlor was donated from a pile of demolition salvage. It was stored in a building belonging to Pearson Sawmill, owned by the family of Carol Pearson Waid, who, with her husband Frank, have worked tirelessly in other local restoration projects.

Originally painted a hideous green color, the 1-by-4-inch tongue-and-groove flooring had to be sanded and sealed, but is now a lustrous vintage pine color, complete with random worm tracks and deeply colored knots.

The Hammonds, the Trotters and other community members have donated furniture, kitchen equipment, labor and other goods and services to Little House, which now sits on land owned by the City of Springville.

Sara says, “A local councilman said (Gayle and Sara) were two of the most determined ladies he’d ever met.” They’ve worked tirelessly for years, seeking donations through local fashion shows and other fundraising activities.

Gayle adds, “For Sara, John and me, it’s been absolutely a labor of love.”

They point out that it’s by no means finished. It’s a perfect opportunity for local civic groups, garden clubs, Boy Scouts, landscapers, grass cutters, anyone with time and willingness to contribute something positive to the Springville community infrastructure.

John, who lives in a vintage home on Gin Street that he also restored, said, “When we got the house, it had no floors or ceilings, no bath and no wiring. We had to install all of it.” He pointed out a ceiling lamp and table lamp, both of which were converted from kerosene to electricity by the same electricians who wired the house using materials typical of rural electrification.

Other than a few comfort additions, such as air conditioning, there is little in the main parlor to betray Little House as being less than a century old. But the similarity ends there as you step into a modern kitchen, complete with microwave and refrigerator, then into a new bathroom, which is a story unto itself. The Society had intended using Little House as a welcome center on the old Spring Lake site, but found that it was not legal to install a septic system so close to the city’s water supply, thus the move to another location.

In 2012, the new front porch was removed, and the house was moved to its present location at 66 Walker Drive, just west of downtown Springville. Restoration work continued until recently, adding the restroom, floors, ceilings, a handicap ramp and reinstallation of the front porch. 

Gayle says it will serve several community functions. For one, it will be opened as a welcome center anytime there are large events, such as block parties, 5k races and Homestead Hollow events.

In addition, its main purpose is to serve as a rentable venue for small community group functions, including club meetings, showers, parties and other gatherings. Although actual occupancy is limited by fire law to 16, Gayle says there is ample level lawn space for tents, booths, outdoor festivities and overflow crowds.

Their brochure suggests wedding ceremonies on the front porch with bridal preparation inside, birthday parties, intimate dinners, anniversaries, child tea parties and any other functions not involving huge crowds.

Catering is available from The Choppin’ Block’s amazingly varied menu, or you can bring your own and use the in-house refrigerator and microwave. A limited number of chairs and tables are provided. For information or reservations, contact Sara Trotter at 205 467-3000.

Both Sara and Gayle emphasized that a quick private tour can easily be arranged at very short notice by phone, either to Sara or to Gayle, at 205-937-3071. Gayle adds, “We all live less than 10 minutes away and would be glad to meet you there.”

To reach Little House, go west from the four-way stop in Springville for about a quarter mile, then left on Walker Drive. The house will be on your immediate right. GPS coordinates are 33.76511N 86.4802W.

Editor’s Note: We are sad to report that Mr. Trotter passed away in late August, a few weeks after our story interview.

 

A Century of Panther Football

Story by Paul South
Photos by Mike Callahan
Submitted Photos

In the 1970s, like generations of little boys before and after him, David Gulledge lived for fall Friday nights and Pell City High School Panther football.

Growing up in Avondale’s Mill Village, the gleam of the stadium lights was for Gulledge and his pals, the stuff of hopes and heroes. And joy could come from something as simple as a shred of fabric from Panther running back Wayne McCoy or quarterback Jay Grogan, or future Florida State All-American Ken Roe.

“When I was a kid growing up, that was back when they had tear-away jerseys,” Gulledge said. “I remember looking up and admiring all those folks. I was one of those little kids standing by the fence waiting to get a piece of one of those tear-away jerseys.

“If we were fortunate, we’d get the whole jersey, tie it into a ball and go play football up on the hill,” Gulledge added with a laugh. “Friday nights, as in most towns, mean the town shuts down and comes together.”

Gulledge would grow up to be one of those Pell City Friday night warriors, a three-year starter at quarterback who would later play at Jacksonville State and in the NFL. His is just one of the many stories that course through the 100 years of Pell City High School football.

Friday Night Lights

The impact of Panther football reaches from some not-so-auspicious beginnings – like a 95-7 loss to Anniston Presbyterian in 1921 – to undefeated seasons and to pro football’s biggest stage. Pell City lore includes Bobby Skelton, who quarterbacked Coach Paul “Bear” Bryant’s first bowl team at Alabama. Skelton would later become an SEC and NFL official, part of the crew for one the most exciting Super Bowls, San Francisco’s win over Cincinnati. Grogan would also play for the Tide, part of a host of Panthers who would go on to play college football.

Pell City teams would endure the trials of losing seasons and the triumphs of winning ones. But every game night, the town would come together to cheer the sons of millworkers and merchants, lawyers and doctors.

“Friday night, it’s like the town closes down and everyone is there to support the program and it just kind of brought the community together,” Gulledge said.

Retired attorney Bill Scott knows Pell City football as well as just about anyone. For 25 years, Scott, a former Panther player, helped haul the sideline chains at Pete Rich-Alumni Stadium. Chat with him long enough and he’ll talk about Coach Will Glover, Pell City’s winningest all-time coach, (81-39-6), a mythical state title in 1951 and a tradition of great teams, players and coaches.

The 1951 team, led by All-State end Bobby Golden went 10-0 and allowed only 63 points for the season. The Birmingham News tabbed the Panthers the Class A state champions in the days before the statewide playoff system.

The Panthers made their first playoff appearance in 1974 and captured their first playoff win and region championship the same year. In 1986, Gulledge helped lead the team to its first 11-win season. And in 1993, Pell City earned its first 12-win campaign. Across its history, Pell City has won eight area or region titles, according to ahsfhs.org

Glory Days

Glover led the Panthers in what many consider the golden age of Pell City football. Scott, along with former Panther star Charlie Gray, even helped Glover by scouting the next week’s opponents. Gray “thought the world” of Glover, a beloved Panther head coach, who helped build the stadium with his own hands.

Glover was a fiery competitor, a fever that sometimes spilled into the crowd.

 “We are a country town, but especially back then,” Scott remembered. “People in the neighborhood liked to take a nip or two. And some of them would come to the ball games. Four or five would hang on the fence around the field. Will would get excited, and there’d be some skirmishes on the field. And some of those people on the fence would get a little too inebriated and crawl the fence.

 “I just happened to be the City Recorder (now city judge). A couple of (the fans) got excited and got arrested. They’d come before me and I’d tell ‘em. ‘You tell all your buddies – you know who they are – the next one of them that crawls the fence and gets on that football field, tell ‘em to bring their clothes for six months, because that’s how long I can put ‘em in jail. The next one of you guys that crawls the fence at a football game, you’re going to spend six months in the city jail.’ I didn’t have another one crawl the fence.”

Panther fans had reason to be excited in the Glover era. The 1954 team went without a loss, the only blemish on a spectacular year was a 13-13 tie at Cleburne County. And in 1955, led by senior all-state quarterback Bobby Skelton, the Panthers went 8-1-1.

The World War II generation also played a role in Panther football glory. Some veterans who hadn’t completed high school were able to return to the high school to play football and graduate. The 1946 team under Coach Bill Friedman went 8-1 and defeated rivals Oxford, Leeds and Lincoln along the way.

“I was a scrub on that team,” Scott said. “It was a great team.”

The 1948 team was also memorable, helping establish Pell City’s tradition for great defense. The Panthers shut out Cordova 12-0 in the first game of the season and did not allow a first down until the second half of the second game, Scott recalled.

Defense has been a common thread throughout Panther history, said Scott Adamson, former sports editor at The Daily Home in Talladega. Adamson covered the Panthers for nearly two decades beginning in the late 1980s.

“The one thing I do remember, they always had a good defense, even when they didn’t necessarily have a good season. During the time I was there, they had quite a few losing seasons, but it was very rare when they weren’t competitive,” Adamson said. “And even in their down years, it seems like it was usually the defense that carried the day for them.”

Along with championship seasons and all-star players, Bill Scott tells tales of colorful moments in Panther football, of missed weddings and Scandinavian kickers.

Scott knows the wedding story firsthand. It was his sister Martha’s. And he was the guest who missed the Friday afternoon ceremony. Even brides have to understand the importance of football.

“One of the first games I got to play in, we played Lincoln. My sister Martha got married that afternoon in Tuscaloosa, and I didn’t go to the wedding because I went to the football game and got to play a little bit. She was pretty understanding, I think. She never mentioned that I didn’t go.”

And then, there is the story of Vidar Lunde, the exchange student-turned-kicker. Scott doesn’t remember the opponent, but he remembers Lunde’s kick after a Panther touchdown.

“The ball hit the cross bar. It bounced straight up. The officials under the cross bar apparently ducked their heads. The ball went straight up about 10 yards in the air. It came down on the other side of the crossbar. It was good. But both officials under the crossbar signaled no good. Pell City didn’t get credit for the point.”

From sidelines to gridiron

And Gulledge, who grew from the little mill-village kid clamoring for a scrap from a tear-away jersey into a prep All-America quarterback, college star and NFL draft pick, has a colorful story of his own. Fittingly, it’s about a jersey.

Bill Scott, 1948

“We’re playing at Gardendale, both ranked, in the playoffs, and we go out and warm up in our white away jerseys,” Gulledge recalled. “We come in after we warm up and they’ve got probably the ugliest gold jerseys you’ve ever seen in your life to go with the gold pants we had. The atmosphere in the locker room, just because of the change of the jerseys… it created a lot of excitement and a lot of buzz, and we went on to win the game. But those kinds of memories and the plays that individuals made during high school, those are the things we cherish.”

One-hundred years of precious memories do linger. But more than championships captured and games won, there are generations of lives touched and a community unified. Regardless of the state of the world, color of skin, or station in life, Pell City could always come together to cheer for the Black and Gold. Those were the only colors that mattered.

“I think the main thing is that you’re a part of Pell City football ,whether you are a player or coach, or go to school there or just root for them,” Adamson said. “It is such an integral part of the community. That’s true of a lot of high schools, especially in smaller towns. But it seems for a lot of years, Pell City football was the focus of the community. Even out of football season, people were still talking about it. It was such a legacy situation. You would go to a game, and there were players and fathers and grandfathers who played for them.

“That’s true of a lot of places, but for me as a sportswriter and as someone who lived there, there was no escaping Pell City football. It permeated everything. You learned about the Black and Gold. You learned about the Panthers. It was the pride of the city. Even when the teams didn’t play that well, they still showed up. They still cheered them on. And those kids were looked at like, ‘You’re carrying on a tradition. You may not have the wins that other teams have had, but this is something you’re going to carry with you for the rest of your life.’”

Gulledge, who many regard as the greatest player in Pell City history, gets emotional when remembering his Pell City days. He remembers earning a Pell City letterman’s jacket as a privilege. Lessons learned on the playing field at Rich Alumni stadium serve him to this day as a regional executive for Coca-Cola. He is quick to point out that football, like life, is a team sport.

“(Football) is bigger than one person,” he said. “I’ve been blessed to be surrounded by really talented players, really good teams, really good coaches, through high school, through college and to the NFL at Washington. Now in my professional life, the Lord has really blessed me and shown me favor by putting great people around me.”

When he talks about Panther football’s impact, Gulledge’s voice cracks with emotion.

“As a mill-village kid growing up, there was a time when we were having family challenges and struggles. I was headed down a road of no good. Football was my avenue to get away from those things. Fortunately for me, Coach (Pete) Rich and Coach (Lyle) Darnell and the coaches who invested in me personally and into those other kids in that community and the community as well, for me is what high school football is all about.

“What high school football did for me is give me an opportunity to keep my nose clean and stay out of trouble. It was an avenue that gave me a platform to compete in life. “

Ask Bill Scott about the meaning of Panther football, and he thinks of the nights standing near the concession stand as he readied for another game on the chain gang. The autumn Friday night air was perfumed with the aroma of buttered popcorn, roasted peanuts and steamed hot dogs.

“I’ve told many a person, there’s no place I would rather be in the world at 7 o’clock than right here at the Pell City High School football field on Friday night.”

Pell City Growing

Story and photos by Carol Pappas
Photos by Graham Hadley

Driving around Pell City these days is like being on a tour of a boom town. Rooftops are going up. Steel framework for major businesses is being erected. Construction in various phases is under way in many parts of the city.

And the benefits aren’t lost on people like Brian Muenger, city manager of Pell City.

“We are now seeing through a combination of factors economic properties becoming available that are desirable. They’re coming onto the market, and we’re seeing a lot of focus on investment on US 231 and properties adjacent to I-20.”

In just the northern tip of Pell City on US 231 and I-20 thoroughfares, Town & Country Ford, McSweeney Automotive and Northside Medical Home are looming large on the economic landscape.

The old hospital property fronting I-20 is getting more than a second look of late. “Interested parties are looking that we didn’t have before. Now they’re showing interest.”

Just across I-20, market movement is being seen in the Vaughn and Hazelwood Drive areas. “Property transactions are taking place. People are ready to develop those areas,” Muenger said.

What once would have been a devastating blow – Kmart closing a little further south on US 231 – has the potential to rebound better and stronger than before. A trio of retailers is coming in – Tractor Supply Co., Martin’s Family Clothing and Bargain Hunt. Tractor Supply will occupy the end and outdoor portion of the 90,000-square-foot Kmart space, and Martin’s will bring its regional reputation and department store to 40,000 square feet of it. “Three retailers will almost exceed employment and sales of Kmart. It is a great thing for the community, and it says a lot about our retail community,” Muenger noted.

He turned his attention to Bankhead Crossing, where a new theater, bowling alley and entertainment complex is expected to begin construction soon. The project was delayed due to design revisions, but it appears ready to deliver on its plans.

With a burgeoning Walmart shopping center and surrounding businesses, it is easy to see cause for excitement. I-20 Development President and CEO Bill Ellison, who developed those areas and is continuing to do so, predicted that “the Premiere Entertainment Center will trigger the next tier of retail development along Highway 231 and the I-20 Corridor. I think you will see the addition of more restaurants and retail box stores. It will help expand the tax revenue for the City of Pell City.”

Already, businesses in that area are two of the top three revenue generators for the city, Muenger said. With the rerouting of Hazelwood Drive just across US 231 for improved access to St. Vincent’s St. Clair and the Col. Robert L. Howard State Veterans Home, development in that area is opening up new growth. That project is in the design phase and readying to enter the acquisition phase.

Muenger points with particular pride to the city’s recent Standard and Poor rating of AA Stable. “That’s a top tier” for a city the size of Pell City, Muenger said, and it underscores a strong economy, budget, management, liquidity and weak debt.

“We expect existing business to continue to grow with new business coming into the market,” Muenger said, a prospect that bodes well for the future.

“St. Clair County is often one of the top five counties in Alabama in population growth and median household income. Pell City’s leaders have taken a very thoughtful approach to growth by focusing on job creation, quality of life and safety. When you create a safe community for young couples to start a family and career, it will then become the perfect environment for retailers. We are seeing this more as the Birmingham market continues to grow to the east,” he said.

“Specifically, Pell City has understood that infrastructure is the key to future development and they have always invested wisely in water, sewer, and transportation infrastructure. Many people have already forgotten that at one point the bridge over the interstate had only two lanes. Pell City was willing to invest in its future.

“We believe that, with continued strong leadership from the Mayor, Council Members, City Manager and the entire community, Pell City will continue to grow and prosper.”

LAH Realtor Dana Ellison couldn’t agree more. She and LAH commercial broker Austin Blair have listed what has long been thought of as prime development property on the southern end of the city.

What is known locally as the Cropwell intersection, where 19th Street, Alabama 34 and US 231 South intersect, sizable acreage is being marketed and is expected to fuel substantial growth in that area.

Ellison talked about the potential in terms of convenience for anyone living south of the Kmart development. “It pulls from several counties, like Talladega and Shelby, as well as the residential areas of Logan Martin Lake and southern St. Clair County.”

She noted that when grocery giant Publix decided to locate nearby in what is now the South Park development, “they looked at the demographics of that area.”

And decision-makers liked what they saw.

“We have some key pieces of commercially zoned property on the market at that intersection, providing an opportunity for users needing from one acre up to parcels large enough for an entire shopping center,” Blair said. “It’s a real opportunity for growth.”

Nearby Pell City’s Civic Center and Sports Complex and Lakeside Park draw substantial traffic. Lake residents like the convenience of shopping and doing business in the area, and Ellison sees the properties that are available now as prime spots for medical offices, hardware, convenience stores, restaurants and office space.

“We’re seeing new rooftops,” she said, and demand is resurging. Household income is increasing, and interest in the lake is on an upward trajectory.

All those signs point toward major growth on the southern end of the city, and coupled with the growth on the northern end, Pell City appears to be in just the right spot heading into the future.

“You can get to Pell City from downtown Birmingham in just over 30 minutes most any time of day. Pell City is easy to access via free flowing I-20 compared to other growing areas near Birmingham,” Blair said. “That should continue to promote positive growth.”