City working on transfer of downtown parking lot for dance studio

Sep. 22—The city parking lot next to The Brick deli at the corner of First Avenue Northeast and East Moulton Street will soon belong to the Alabama Community College System, which plans to build a dance and music studio on the lot.

The Decatur City Council voted unanimously on Monday to transfer the 0.4-acre tract to the college system so it can build a $19 million dance and music studio.

Assistant City Attorney Ruth Priest told the Planning Commission on Tuesday that the Decatur Housing Authority owned a large number of properties, including the parcels at the corner of East Moulton Street and First Avenue, in the downtown area until agreeing to deed them over to the city in the early 1970s.

Priest said the city set the covenant at the time to allow only a parking lot on the parcels.

On Tuesday, the Planning Commission completed the approval process when it voted to allow the covenant change, a change approved by the City Council on Sept. 5.

City Attorney Herman Marks said the council and Planning Commission approvals allow construction of the studio on the property.

"Now we (Legal Department) have to prepare a deed and have it delivered," Marks said. "We'll probably do that by the end of the month."

Marks said the deed delivery officially passes the ownership to the Community College System.

The downtown dance and music studio will be the third phase of the Alabama Center for the Arts, a partnership of Calhoun Community College and Athens State University. Decatur City Schools will also be a partner in the venture, which will especially cater to dual-enrollment students.

Council President Jacob Ladner said the college system has already begun the environmental and soil testing as it prepares for construction.

Councilman Kyle Pike said the transfer is a big step for the studio project as the arts center continues to expand its footprint in the city's downtown.

"That's going to be an incredible project based on the renderings," Pike said. "It's going to be a great addition to the overall arts and entertainment downtown."

Pike said it's hard to know what the impact of the arts center will be in 15 or 20 years. He believes the center is a game-changer for the downtown. He pointed out the arts center is building a residence hall just down the street.

"It's great just to have the art center and, obviously, this is a chance to continue to expand the center's footprint," Pike said.

The business owners in the area have been concerned with the loss of parking, but the city is building a $9.53 million parking deck across the street at the corner of First Avenue Southeast and Moulton Street.

The parking deck, with about 230 parking spots with two electric vehicle charging stations, is scheduled for completion by the end of the year. The new Fairfield Inn by Marriott is also nearing completion next door. As part of an incentive for the hotel to be built downtown, the city will allocate 90 parking spots in the deck to the hotel.

"With the parking deck, we're going to be net positive on spaces," Pike said.

Pike said the biggest concern — "other than 'I'm not going to be able to park right in front of the restaurant I want to go to'" — is the need for handicap parking.

Pike brought up the handicap parking issue in Monday's council meeting.

"We do have handicap parking on the street on most blocks downtown," Pike said. "There are three spots or so in front of The Brick that could easily be turned into handicap spots. Or, we could space them out along East Moulton Street."

City Engineer Carl Prewitt agreed in the council meeting to look at the issue.

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