When you travel over Pell City’s William C. Ellison Bridge on U.S. 231 over Interstate 20 in years to come, no need to wonder who that namesake might be.
It is hard to look around Pell City and not see a connection to Bill Ellison, even if you’ve never met him. The legacy of his work may be in the grocery store you shop, the mega retail center where you buy clothes, gifts and products for your home or business.
Ellison devotes his talk to the ‘team’ that made the development a reality.
Find it in the hotels where family and friends may stay while visiting or watching a movie at the cinema. The connection is there even when you sit down to eat at a restaurant, enter your favorite fast-food drive-through or fill up your vehicle with gas.
Over the past four decades, Ellison has been the visionary who saw needs in his adopted, beloved hometown of Pell City and blazed many a trail to fill them. A developer by trade and serving as president and CEO of I-20 Development, make no mistake, it’s more than a job to him. It’s a passion.
With dozens of developments throughout the city to his credit, generating 40 percent of the City of Pell City’s tax base, the Ellison connection reaches well beyond those brick-and-mortar testaments to his success stories. Consider the beneficiaries of that burgeoning tax base – schools, roads, law enforcement, infrastructure. The sweeping connection to him in all corners of the city is unmistakable.
As city, county and state officials gathered in September to herald the official beginning of yet another development – a 147,500-square-foot shopping and lifestyle center – they seized the opportunity to give Ellison a lasting thank you.
Unveiling a sign that bears his name was the perfect tribute – William C. Ellison Bridge, connecting the Walmart Supercenter development on U.S. 231 North that sparked Pell City’s largest retail growth with Pell City Square, a 19.5-acre development that takes that growth to the next level.
The link that connects them is Ellison, whose dogged determination brought both projects to fruition. The first started with a convenience store, a gas station and a vision. Now, it’s a sprawling retail, hotel, entertainment and restaurant district.
Cross William C. Ellison Bridge, and the property that once housed only a county hospital and acres of woodland will be home to nationally familiar names like T.J. Maxx, Hobby Lobby, Old Navy, Ulta Beauty, PetSmart and Five Below. And there’s more to come along with those.
Ellison is quick to point out that it’s not a one-man show. He often talks of “team” and “we,” deflecting the credit and the spotlight to others.
“Really, it’s we, not me,” he told the gathered crowd. “I’m just a team player.”
Visibly moved by the bridge name unveiling, he added, “Being recognized by my peers, family, and friends today is the highest honor of my 40-year career. This bridge symbolizes how past, current, and future administrations can all work together to create incredible projects for the community.”
Mayor Bill Pruitt described Ellison as a visionary who “sees what Pell City could be,” noting a long list of developments behind which Ellison was the driving force. “Who is Bill Ellison?” the mayor asked. “He is truly an unstoppable force. He has left an indelible mark on Pell City and St. Clair County.”
Pruitt noted how far the city has come in terms of growth since Ellison’s first development across the interstate. “It’s a short trip from where we were to where we stand now.”
And the William C. Ellison Bridge now connects them both.
Big things happening: Breaking ground on massive retail development
Story by Carol Pappas Photos by Graham Hadley
When ceremonial shovels hit the ground, sending symbolic dirt flying, it signaled a new level of growth for Pell City and St. Clair County.
It has been a long, tough road, but three years later, Pell City Square, a 147,500-square-foot retail and lifestyle center is now official. Officials broke ground Sept. 8 on the 19.5-acre site fronting I-20. It closed the chapter on another historic groundbreaking – St. Clair Regional Hospital decades ago – and opened a new one on the future of the ninth fastest growing city in the state.
It will include retailers Hobby Lobby, T.J. Maxx, Ross Dress for Less, Old Navy, Five Below, Ulta Beauty, PetSmart, Rack Room Shoes and other retailers not announced yet. They describe it as a multi-use lifestyle center, which includes outparcels for such developments as sit-down restaurants and is the largest retail investment announcement in St. Clair County since Springville Station Shopping Center in 2005.
Not COVID, not complex partnerships, legal red tape nor any other hurdle would stop this partnership of Noon Real Estate, St. Clair County Commission, City of Pell City and the St. Clair County Economic Development Council.
St. Clair Economic Development Council Executive Director Don Smith talks about Ellison’s contributions as Mayor Bill Pruitt (left) and City Manager Brian Muenger listen.
“They never stopped working,” said Don Smith, executive director of St. Clair EDC. “They banded together to keep moving forward.”
“I share Don’s excitement,” added Pell City Manager Brian Muenger. “This day has been coming for so long. The mayor and council were unwavering in pushing this project to completion.”
In 1968, officials were celebrating the laying of the cornerstone of St. Clair County Hospital. The county’s population stood between 26,000 and 28,000. Today, it tops the 95,000 mark. Pell City was a community of 5,000 people. Today, 15,000 call it home.
“We’re growing,” explained Muenger, and needs change. City officials kept hearing from citizens that they wanted “to keep their dollars here. This shopping center is going to do exactly that.
Muenger talked about the impact of a massive shopping center on a city the size of Pell City, benefitting schools and providing funds for infrastructure to better serve its citizens. “This is a great day for the city. It took a lot to get here.”
Located at the corner of Interstate 20 and U.S. 231 South, it will sit on the site of the former hospital. The property came under ownership of the St. Clair County Commission and the City of Pell City in 2011 to enable building Ascension St. Vincent’s St. Clair, a state-of-the-art hospital just across the interstate.
After years of planning and negotiation, officials agreed to highest and best use would be negotiate an agreement with Noon Real Estate, a seasoned development firm with plenty of retail experience. The goal was to bring in name brand retailers to keep shoppers in the county rather than spending those dollars elsewhere.
“The county commission has a history of supporting our communities to create new tax revenues and jobs in St. Clair County,” said Commission Chairman Paul Manning. “We believe this project will allow us to continue to grow St. Clair County’s economy while filling a retail need in the community.”
Retail Development Layout – Image courtesy of Pell City
Muenger agreed. “The construction of the Pell City Square development is transformational for the city and its residents. The addition of these national retailers will provide our citizens with more options to shop locally than ever before.”
“It’s been four years in coming,” said Noon Real Estate President Kevin Jennings. He thanked “the team” that made it happen, but he singled out a key player that provided the spark. “It all started with Bill Ellison,” who met him at a shopping center convention in Las Vegas to pitch the benefits of locating in Pell City. “Here we sit seeing this happen. Come back next fall and bring your credit card.”
Jennings’ partner, Jamey Flegal, said Ellison’s “vision and passion sold us on it,” and he credited another key player with closing the deal – Council President Jud Alverson, who pored over the numbers to ensure the deal not only could happen but would benefit all involved. Calling him “a rock star,” he said the city should be proud to have him in leadership. “It is rare to have leadership understand the numbers.”
Metro Bank is handling the financing for this project, and Smith lauded the bank’s involvement. “They are an incredible asset to this community.”
He also thanked attorneys John Rea of Trussell, Funderburg, Rea, Bell & Furgerson and James Hill of Hill, Gossett, Kemp & Hufford with helping the team over all the legal hurdles en route to the historic groundbreaking.
In another historic move that day, officials unveiled a new sign for the I-20 bridge connecting the northern and southern sides of the interstate as William C. Ellison Bridge.
Mayor Bill Pruitt talked of Pell City’s “great potential” and how “Bill Ellison saw that.” To Ellison’s credit are developments leading to the commercial district anchored by Walmart Supercenter, the South Park Shopping Center anchored by Publix and now, Pell City Square. Those developments generate 40% of Pell City’s tax revenues.
Humbled by the recognition, Ellison said, “I put my heart and soul into my work every day because I love Pell City.”
Tracy Rybka turns old clothes into heirloom quilts
Story by Elaine Hobson Miller Photos by Richard Rybka
You might call Tracey Rybka a “memory preservationist.” She turns old shirts, used quilts, scruffy housecoats and fabric scraps into quilts that preserve memories of the people who wore or used those original items. She calls them T-shirt and memory quilts. Her customers call them wonderful.
“My dad always wore overalls,” says Vicki Buckner of Springville, a happy Tracey’s Stitches & Designs client. “When he passed away in 2020, I took his overalls to Tracey, and she made miniature overalls for 20 teddy bears. I gave those bears to my nieces and nephews – his grandchildren – for Christmas that year, and they loved them. All of them are in their 20s and 30s, and they say they bring back lots of memories of their grandfather. Tracey did a wonderful job.”
Jacket made from ‘scrappy quilt’ with pieces that would have ended up in landfill
Tracey has been sewing since she was a child. Her first project was a skirt for 4-H Club, and her first quilt was for her own granddaughter. “My mother sewed and quilted, and she has quilts all over the world,” Tracey says. “Almost 10 years ago, my daughter went through some fertility issues. After five years, she and her husband gave up, then she got pregnant. I wanted to do something special to honor my mom and my new granddaughter, so I made a baby quilt. I was hooked.”
Between them, she and her husband, Richard, have five children, seven grandchildren and one great-grandchild. Tracey has made quilts for all but a couple of those descendants. “I watched YouTube and read quilt magazines,” she says. “I still do. I probably have 50 magazines.” She keeps several projects going at the same time and estimates she has made 50-60 quilts in the past 10 years. “The majority have been memory quilts and T-shirt quilts,” she says.
Her sewing room in her Springville home contains boxes of fleece, rolls and bags of batting, plastic see-through bins of zippers, threads and fabric scraps. Three clothes racks are draped with WIPs (works in progress), including quilts and some finished Christmas stockings. Several fabric animals watch from atop the bins, awaiting their final touches. She makes dogs, bears and bunnies from the same basic pattern, changing the length of their ears for the various species.
Often doing her hand work in a chair draped with the first adult quilt she made, she has a 10-foot long-arm machine nearby for the quilting process. Originally, she quilted on her mother’s long-arm, a 1950 Singer A1 built for use in a sweatshop. “I used it my first four to five years, but it got hard to find parts for it,” she says. “So, I bought another used one.” She in fact has two working long-arms – her mom’s being disassembled and packed away.
She works from home Mondays and Tuesdays from 8 a.m. until 8 p.m., teaches sewing classes for all ages on Wednesdays at Sewing Machine Mart in Springville, then heads to Mentone with Richard, a photographer. They stay through Sundays, working from her shop from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. Tracey opened the shop Aug. 1 and teaches classes there on Saturdays. She and Richard hope to buy land and move to Mentone someday. For now, they have a camper on leased land.
“We fell in love with Mentone 20 years ago,” she says. “It has a touristy, creative atmosphere.” Her shop is in a 115-year-old school building, formerly Moon Lake Elementary School, that has been turned into Moon Lake Village. Rooms are rented to artisans such as Tracey. “We have the fourth-grade classroom,” she says.
In her Springville classes she has taught 9- and 10-year-old Girl Scouts from Trussville, and her eight-year-old granddaughter is getting private lessons at Tracey’s home. “Mine are one-day classes lasting two to five hours each, and the students walk away with a finished project, such as 2-by-2-foot scrappy quilts, pillow cases and zipper bags,” Tracey says. “I usually furnish them a kit with all the materials they’ll need.”
While she orders most of her fabric online because of quality issues, choices, and the ease of getting it – not to mention wholesale pricing – some of her best work has been from scraps. “I save everything,” she says. “I make scrappy-fabric wall hangings from old sheets and pillowcases, stained shirts and torn jeans.”
An example of a “landscape quilt” hangs on a wall of her shop. Another WIP, it is a farm scene with a red truck, ducks, a barn and a house. She cuts wavy strips of fabric for the mountains in the background and the fields in the forefront. “I sold one last year with a swing made of fabric and jute that actually moved,” she says.
She encourages her students to use whatever materials they have on hand. “A quilt backing can be an old sheet, or you can make a quilt reversible with scraps on both sides,” she explains. “Then you just have to buy the batting. Actually, you don’t really need batting if the fabric is thick enough.” Although she pieces her quilts together on a sewing machine, she has no issues with those who prefer to do it by hand. “I’m not the quilting police,” she tells her students.
Dubbing her scrap-method “up-cycling,” she took a king-size quilt with holes and stains, cut all of that out, and made baby quilts, lap quilts, diaper bags and pillows. “That carried on the memories of that quilt,” she says. She has made jackets and vests from old quilts, too. “So, you don’t have enough tees or whatever to make a quilt? Add fabric,” she teaches.
Her T-shirt quilts are made primarily from kids’ tees and sports tees. The memory quilts are made from shirts, gowns and housecoats, overalls, blue jeans, baby clothes and just about any other type of clothing. “I’m working on T-shirt quilt now with a little boy’s leather vest in it,” she says. “The vest is a tiny thing. The boy is now in college, and his mom is having it done as a Christmas gift.”
She also makes cork wallets and purses. “I learned about cork on YouTube,” she says. “Thecork is grown in Portugal, where cork oak trees are stripped, and the best bark is used for wine stoppers. The remainder is graded for other uses.”
According to an online article on cork fabric, the outer section of the tree bark is harvested with axes, not machines, then peeled back to reveal the cork layer. The cork is laid out to dry for six months, then boiled in water, flattened and molded into whatever material it’s going to be. “It’s pressed and then pressed again but with fabric the second time, to make cork fabric,” Tracey explains. Stripping the bark does not hurt the trees, and the bark grows back. It can be harvested every 9 to 12 years, causing no harm to the tree, so it’s eco-friendly.
“You can’t sew with cork on a domestic or household sewing machine, though,” Tracey says. “I use an industrial-grade machine. I buy patterns off YouTube. My bread-and-butter is the T-shirt and memory quilts, but my fun is making purses and wallets.”
Denise Key believes she was one of the first people to hire Tracey to make memory quilts. Her husband’s parents had died, and hers were already passed away. While going through each parent’s belongings, she came across some old quilts made from clothes that were, in turn, made from flour sacks, and quilts made from old children’s dresses. “I had quilts made for our children and grandchildren,” Denise says.
There were some items too worn for Tracey to do anything large with, but she made them into small throws and pillows. “My nieces got a baby bag and all kinds of cool things from them,” Denise says. “Tracey probably made a dozen or so things for each side of my family. She would put a new backing on or whatever was needed to preserve it.”
Rhonda Reece commissioned Tracey to make six lap quilts and several pillows from her dad’s shirts. She gave those to her children and grandchildren, then had a tote made for her Bible, a hobo purse and doggy-doo bags to carry doggy bags when she walks her four-legged friend. “The doggy-doo bags are so cute,” Rhonda says. “She does wonderful work. And she’ll sit down and explain how she’s gonna make it or will custom make it the way you want it.”
It’s these kinds of comments and the emotions evoked by her work that give Tracey so much satisfaction.
“One of the first memory quilts I made was finishing one started by a woman whose dad had passed away,” she says. “It was made from his shirts. Her mom had dementia. The day the woman picked up the quilt, her mom was with her, and didn’t know who she was or where she was. But when her daughter put the quilt in her mom’s lap and asked, ‘Do you know what this is?’ the elderly woman looked at it and said, ‘I think this is your dad’s shirt.’ The daughter and I cried alligator tears.”
Helping area veterans and honoring a military son’s memory
Story Paul South Photos by Graham Hadley Submitted photos
Even as a kid, Houston Lee Tumlin “lit up a room” when he entered. The moviegoing public saw his light in the movie, Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, where Tumlin played Walker Bobby, the oldest son of Ricky, played by Will Ferrell.
He played the part to the hilt, his mom, Michelle, remembered. But when the cameras stopped rolling, the then-13-year-old went back to his St. Clair County raising.
“They would be filming, and he would just be cussing people out. But when they would go to break, he would say, ‘May I have a bag of chips?’”
The astonished cast and crew wondered where the on-camera kid with potty mouth had gone. “They were all wondering where those manners came from,” Michelle says.
Houston Tumlin
in uniform
But that was Houston, a class clown and sometimes “hot mess” who loved to make people laugh, who would defend bullied classmates, and competed in sports at Victory Christian Academy, especially football.
Competition began for him as a toddler — baseball, soccer, wrestling, even dabbling in mixed martial arts.
After high school, he joined the Army, earning medals and commendations and numerous training certifications, serving stateside and in South Korea in the storied 101st Airborne, based at Fort Campbell, Ky.
Among his honors: the Army Commendation Medal, the Army Achievement Medal, the Army Good Conduct Medal and the Non-Commissioned Officer Professional Development Medal and many others.
“He was a badass,” his mom says with a laugh.
But in his last military posting, life took a tragic turn for Houston Tumlin.
“The year in Korea was not good for him,” Michelle Tumlin says. “There was a lot of bad stuff that happened. “
But on March 23, 2021, the light turned to the deepest darkness. Suffering from PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) and what researchers at Boston University later determined was CTE (Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy), Houston took his own life. For Michelle Tumlin, “It was the worst day of my life. The thing that I hold onto is that the doctors said to me that the CTE took away his impulse control. He had an on-off switch, and his flipped that day.
“You add the brain damage and some personal stuff and then you add the bad stuff that happened in Korea, and it was literally the reason he got out of the military.”
Daily, 22 past or present American service personnel commit suicide, their brains shaken by the blasts of battlefields, souls shredded by nightmarish memories, or concussions caused in competition. In Tumlin’s case, between sports and military service and two car accidents, he suffered an estimated 22 concussions between the ages of 14 and 28, Michelle Tumlin says. Those injuries triggered personality changes, alcoholism and changed Houston. His light was gradually fading to black. Depression, alcoholism, multiple head trauma: the recipe for CTE.
“He suffered the last four years of his life,” she says. “It was confirmed after a brain study at Boston University that he had CTE.” Among other contributing factors, “That’s the reason he committed suicide.”
CTE triggered his symptoms – headaches, happy one minute, sad the next, anger from out of nowhere and a descent into becoming what his mom called, “a straight-up alcoholic.”
“When he was drinking beer with a group of friends, he was fine. When he drank liquor, he would turn into the saddest, most depressed person who never thought he was good. He became a completely different person. That had a huge impact on him doing what he did. It was his kryptonite.”
The Tumlins are one of a growing number of military and NFL families that have donated their loved one’s brain for research at BU. CTE can only be determined after death.
While the Tumlin family’s grief will never die, a year to the day after Houston’s death, Michelle opened the nonprofit Houston Project. Proceeds from the sale of patriotic hats, T-shirts, popcorn, candles and “a little bit of everything” at the store go to help vets and their families. Every cent goes to veterans and their families.
In the Cogswell Avenue storefront, Michelle Tumlin fights a quiet battle. Armed with smiles and encouragement, she wants to give veterans hope.
“I started Houston Project because I needed something in my life that felt good, but to also raise awareness for mental problems, PTSD, alcoholism, CTE – all of the above – mental health, period. Raising awareness was important to me.”
She adds, “I wanted to do both of those things and honor my son.”
While the focus of the project is on veterans, the Houston Project is working with other area organizations to help in the fight against mental illness.
“Mental health is important, whether you are a veteran or not,” Tumlin says. “My platform is to be my son’s voice here on this earth. I’m here to tell his story and to try to keep others from doing what Houston did and help give them awareness before it gets to that. That’s why I exist.”
In other times in other wars, PTSD went by other names: shell shock, soldier’s complaint, combat fatigue or war neurosis. The historical record dates such illness as early as 2,600 years ago. And while researchers and medical professionals know more about PTSD, Tumlin believes veterans aren’t receiving adequate help.
“When (service personnel) get out of the military, they need a way to get back to who they were before they joined the military,” Tumlin says. “The military teaches them to be strong and to be tough and to be soldiers. It was hard for Houston to feel normal again. Not being in the military, he just didn’t feel right, if that makes sense.He couldn’t find his way.”
Houston missed the camaraderie of the military.
“He struggled with depression, nonstop. He was a happy person and a funny person. But he couldn’t find his right place.”
While Army Specialist E-4 Houston Lee Tumlin is gone, he is far from forgotten. While at the time of his death, sordid celebrity news outlets centered on the “Child Actor Commits Suicide” angle, so many others – in Pell City, in the Army and elsewhere – remembered him as so much more – son, brother, fiancé, a soldier who served his country with honor.
The family takes a stroll on the beach.
Houston Tumlin packed a lot of living into 28 years.
“He walked into a room and took it over. He had the most beautiful smile. He could make people laugh. I mean, the people that started reaching out to us after he passed – from all of these soldiers from all over the map – messaging us, calling us, telling us it was his goal to make people happy,” Michelle says.
There is another story that the Tumlins heard about their son, from a girl recounting the story of a date she had with Houston in the cold of winter.
“She said they were driving in downtown Birmingham,” Michelle recalls. “Houston stopped the car and told her he’d be right back. He got a coat from the back of the car, locked the car, and took the coat to a homeless man across the street. Hearing these stories just filled my heart. I could not be a prouder Mom.”
The Houston Project, created by a grieving family to help veterans and to honor their fallen son, not only helps vets with things like household repairs and moving expenses. It recently helped a veteran’s family in a poignant, particular way, a fitting tribute to the kid who lit up a room.
It paid the family’s utility bill and kept the lights glowing.
Editor’s Note:The nonprofit Houston Project is open Thursdays and Fridays from 11 a.m. until 5 p.m. The store is located at 1916 Cogswell Ave. in Pell City. Find the store on Facebook. Every cent of sales goes to help local veterans and their families.
He sights his target at the end of the alley, some 12 feet away. Picking up the axe, he loosens his grip slightly to allow a perfectly timed release. Keeping his eye on the prize, he pulls the axe back, steps quickly forward and releases his throw. The resulting sound of axe blade meeting wood brings a smile to the thrower. This is the sport of axe throwing, and that thrower could be you.
Brand new to Pell City, Logan Martin Axe Throwing may be the new perfect date night activity for your next Saturday night. Or it may be a great option for your next birthday party or group event. They even offer discounts for groups of thirty or more.
Axe throwing is nothing new, but really gained recognition as a sport due to competitions involving logging camps. By the mid-1900s, logger sports were gaining in popularity as loggers looked for ways to entertain themselves while living in camps for months at a time.
Less than a century later, the urban version of the sport of axe throwing is becoming wildly popular around the world. There are even international leagues like the World Axe Throwing League and the International Axe Throwing Federation for competition level players.
“We’re not part of any league; it’s just for fun for groups, date nights and for families. The reason I wanted to open a place here is that my wife and friends and I had to drive to Trussville, Birmingham or Gadsden to enjoy the sport,” explains owner Zayne Ferguson. “Especially now, with the price of gas, it’s nice not to have to drive far. My brother and I always threw hatchets at trees growing up. It’s a lot of fun!”
Ferguson shows just how easy it is to hit the target.
His new venture shares the space with the CrossFit gym he opened in 2020. A competitive powerlifter for five years, he left his job at a local paint store to open a gym in a storefront on U.S. 231.
“Fitness is my passion,” he says, “especially CrossFit.” So, he got certified as a coach and called his business CrossFit231. He quickly outgrew that space and rented the current 8,000-square-foot warehouse building on Cogswell Avenue. He moved into the space in July and quickly realized he had room to start his own axe throwing business inside the gym.
“I was at a birthday party at an axe throwing business in Birmingham. I did the math and calculated startup and operations costs,” Zayne explains. “Then I went to work making it happen.” He admits he probably works more now, but enjoys it much more.
Zayne grew up in St. Clair County, graduated from Pell City High School, played football for a Mississippi college, then returned to his hometown. He and his wife, Irish, enjoy living in the Pell City area.
His extended family has a sawmill in Cook Springs, which is a big help in getting the wood for the targets. They have to be replaced every week or two as the wood wears out from the repetitive strikes of the axe blades. He says using poplar or pine is best.
As expected, the targets have the usual rings and bullseye, but there’s also something perhaps unexpected to the new thrower. At the top of the targets are two blue dots. A strike between those two dots, referred to as “the clutch,” represents extra skill and comes with extra points.
The axes here are a much lighter version than typical throwing axes. Whereas competition axes weigh over two pounds and have long, wooden handles, those at Logan Martin Axe Throwing are under a pound and are made of high-carbon steel. This allows the thrower to easily utilize a one-handed throw style.
“I did extensive research on this,” adds Zayne. “Most places use axes that have a rubber grip, which can make it harder to release right. I purchased lighter, more throwing-sized axes.”
While people are waiting for their turn in the throwing stalls, they can enjoy a quick game of cornhole or giant Jenga. “We want it to feel like we’re just hanging in the backyard having fun,” Zayne says. “That’s what I always shoot for.”
To add even more to the atmosphere, they’re scheduling live music as often as they can. Local food trucks will be set up outside the rollup doors to enable patrons to enjoy a full evening of entertainment.
Every group will receive safety training from one of the coaches or “Axe Masters,” as they are called here. Closed-toe shoes are a must and the minimum age to throw is 10 years old.
Logan Martin Axe Throwing just opened a month ago and are already booking weeks out. They are open Saturdays from 1 to 11 p.m. and additional times for group reservations.
Online pre-booking is highly recommended. Individual throwers pay $25 plus tax for an hour. l
Editor’s note:You can book your axe throwing experience at loganmartinaxe.com.
It has been little more than a year since the U.S. Census Bureau released its 10-year data report on the nation’s people and economy. And one year out, statistics show Pell City has reason to celebrate.
Ranking the population growth of Alabama’s cities, Pell City came in as the ninth-fastest growing city in the state. No.1 was Foley in Baldwin County, and 10th was Fairhope.
In its report of fastest growth between 2020 and 2021, Pell City showed a 2.7 percent jump in population. And while that’s welcoming economic news for the city, it’s not surprising, according to City Manager Brian Muenger.
Vulcan Tire and Automotive coming soon to Pell City
“For the last several years, we have experienced extremely high volume” of new home construction, he said. In fiscal year 2021, the city issued 214 new home permits. This year, the number already issued stands at more than 100, and there are still several months left to go. Over a three-year period, that adds up to 500 new homes – “well beyond anything we have seen,” Muenger said.
In years prior, the average was “strong and steady” at about 50 to 60 new homes a year, he added.
He attributes what some may see as a sudden boom to years in the making. It takes time to move a new development through the permitting and legal stages and into the construction phase. When historically low interest rates intersected with high demand for new housing, it was a “perfect storm” for developers.
He pointed to developments in Horizons and Fox Hollow that has attracted new construction firms with national-level reputations coming into the area alongside local contractors, as well as a “steady influx” of lake-property seekers and buyers as contributing to the growth.
And that’s just inside the city limits. Residential growth’s impact on the economy includes areas on the “cusp” of the border as well as growth on the Talladega County side of Logan Martin Lake. Those areas do business in the city. “Even if it’s not in Pell City, there is a lot going on right around us that is attractive to new investment,” Muenger explained.
Signs of that attraction are already taking shape. Vulcan Tire and Fort McClellan Credit Union are going up on opposite corners of U.S. 231 and Alabama 34/19th Street. Strip centers at Publix are building out. Freddy’s Steakburgers has opened in Bankhead Crossings development near Walmart, and other property is expected to be developed near Buffalo Wild Wings.
Starbucks and Jersey Mikes already drawing new business in Pell City
Just across Interstate 20 at U.S. 231 and John Haynes Drive, newly opened Starbucks and Jersey Mike’s are going strong. In that same complex, construction is moving along on a sit-down restaurant called The St. Clair.
Muenger noted that Starbucks and Jersey Mike’s are “doing incredibly well already.” It is an encouraging sign that what people in the area said they wanted, literally came and in turn, the people are supporting it. “It is testament to our retail capacity.”
Muenger sees it all as a win-win-win. It was the former location of a single business – Hardee’s – which served the community well for many years. But in its place, three businesses will be generating revenue, jobs and filling needs the community identified.
Of late, much focus is on the property just a few hundred yards away on John Haynes Drive. St. Clair’s old hospital has been demolished to make way for a much-anticipated retail center, which will include Hobby Lobby, T.J. Maxx and other nationally known retailers. Trees are being cleared to make way for grading – a welcome sign of progress to passersby and to those involved in the project.
The property, owned by the city, is under contract to be purchased by a Chattanooga-based development company. Final legal requirements of the deal are fulfilled, and officials were awaiting the appraisal and closing in mid-July.
Tree removal began in early July, and traffic-control improvements are underway to accommodate the extra traffic expected in that area. Signals at John Haynes Drive and nearby Jeanne Pruett Drive will be upgraded and timed with signals at Vaughan Drive and Walmart to support better traffic flow through the entire area of U.S. 231 around those developments. Eventually, three lanes will be a part of John Haynes Drive to ease congestion.
“It’s very quickly heading toward something tangible that people can see,” Muenger said, “and that’s very exciting.”
