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Contact: Susette Hunter
Dome No Longer Part of BJCC Expansion Talks
Date: October 23, 2006
The latest talks on expanding the Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex have left out the
long debated and stalled dome proposal. BJCC officials said they are talking to developers about
other expansion proposals, including a 300-room luxury hotel and an entertainment complex.
The debate over the proposed multipurpose facility is delaying work that should be done to avoid
losing convention business, BJCC Director Jack Fields told area elected officials Friday.
“We’re talking about things that need to be done now,” Fields told the officials during a 90-minute
meeting at the Gardendale Civic Center.
State Rep. John Rogers, D-Birmingham, a long-time proponent of the dome, said even if the “d-
word” wasn’t used at Friday’s meeting, he remains committed to building a multipurpose facility
and will not push for an alternative.
“We’re still on Plan A,” he said. “They can call it a Quonset hut, a dome, an expansion or
whatever they want to call it.”
Fields said BJCC officials learned Thursday that a convention they thought they had landed for
next year is going to another city because of the lack of restaurants, entertainment venues and
hotel rooms close to the BJCC.
Negotiations are in the works for a top-flight hotel within walking distance of the BJCC, according
to Fields and Jim Smither, President of the Greater Birmingham Convention & Visitors Bureau.
Source:
The Tuscaloosa News
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