Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

By NOAH WORTHAM | Managing Editor

ALABASTER – Construction on the city of Alabaster’s new recreation center and library will begin this summer after the Alabaster City Council approved a nearly $44 million bid for the project during a regularly scheduled meeting on Monday, April 14.

During the meeting, the Alabaster City Council unanimously approved the awarding of a bid of $43,676,000 to Clements Dean Building Company for the construction of the city’s new rec center, library and retail development.

“We’re so excited to move forward with this plan to breathe new life into one of our most high-profile parts of town and finally have an opportunity to give our residents the recreation center and library they deserve,” Alabaster Mayor Scott Brakefield said. “This will allow us to continue our vision of creating a true city center, including the police department, city hall, senior center, entertainment options and future recreation center and library.”

Alabaster received a total of four bids for the construction of the recreation center and library with Clements Dean Building Company, LLC being the lowest responsive bidder. According to Councilpersons Jamie Cole and Zach Zahariadis, the bids were highly competitive and came in under budget.

The new recreation center and library will be located near the intersection of Highway 119 and Thompson Road at the site of the old Thompson Intermediate School. The rec center is designed to include multiple indoor courts, event and meeting space, an indoor walking track, a workout and fitness area and an outdoor pool and splash pad.

The new Alabaster library will be nearly triple the space of the Albert L. Scott Library, providing room for greatly expanded collections and greater space for library programming and community events.

“I would like to (share) how excited I am about the recreation center and library project,” said Rick Ellis, councilperson for Alabaster Ward 2. “It’s been a long time coming”

Improvements are also being made to the Hwy 119 and Thompson Road intersection, including a new right turn lane on Hwy 119 and traffic signal improvements. The rec center, library and retail development will also have ample on-site parking.

According to City Administrator Brian Binzer, a significant amount of the project was a part of the Alabaster Forward comprehensive plan which was adopted by the city in 2016.

“The vision is to deal with the city center and to have new things that are beneficial to the community, like the new police station that was built a few years ago, the addition of the stage amphitheater that was built just last year and now the rec center and the library and then ultimately connecting everything with Buck Creek Trail,” Binzer said. “At this point, to see this happen and come out of the ground—we’re more than excited.”

Work on the site of the recreation center and library started in January with the first phase of demolition on the old Thompson Intermediate School facility. Phase two of the demolition will begin later in 2025 after the Alabaster City Schools Central Office moves out of the remaining half of the building and into its new facility on the grounds of Thompson High School.

In addition to the new recreation center and library, another project is planned to be developed on the corner of Highway 119 and Thompson Road. According to Brakefield, the city is in talks with developers to create a mixed-use facility on the property that would involve multiple businesses and compliment the new recreation center. Brakefield shared that, if an appropriate plan is put in place, the city hopes to begin development on the project at the same time as the recreation center.

The city of Alabaster set aside $5 million in its fiscal year 2025 budget to begin construction on the new recreation center and library. The city also had an issuance of $80 million of bonds for the project’s construction.

If the current projected timeline does not face any delays, the city plans on build out of the project being completed in December 2026 with Alabaster opening up the facility in Spring 2027.

“We’re really excited to get that out of the ground and hopefully by early 2027 we’ll have a new rec center, a new library and even some other development on the corner there to keep forming our city center on 119,” Cole said.