Here are five things to look forward to in 2024 in Tuscaloosa
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As the new year rolls forward, here are five major happenings to anticipate in Tuscaloosa for 2024:
Big games in Bryant-Denny Stadium
University of Alabama football fans can look forward to home games against two of the Tide's top rivals in 2024.
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In a rematch of the 2023 SEC Championship Game, the Georgia Bulldogs visit Bryant-Denny Stadium on Sept. 28, with kickoff set for 6:30 p.m. on ABC. And at the end of the regular season, the Iron Bowl, which matches Alabama against in-state rival Auburn University, will be held in Tuscaloosa won Nov. 30.
Alabama's home schedule kicks off Aug. 31 with Western Kentucky, followed by South Florida on Sept. 7. South Carolina visits on Oct. 12, followed by Missouri on Oct. 26 and Mercer on Nov. 16.
Alabama's road schedule includes two games in the state of Tennessee, the Tide's first-ever trip to Wisconsin and the school's second-ever trip to Oklahoma. Here is UA's road lineup: Wisconsin on Sept. 14, Vanderbilt on Oct. 5, Tennessee on Oct. 19, LSU on Nov. 9 and Oklahoma on Nov. 23.
Except for the Georgia game, all other kickoff times will be announced later. Fans who watch on television take note: The SEC has ended its contract with CBS, so conference games in 2024 will be seen on ABC, ESPN and the SEC Network.
Also, because of conference realignment these tradition rivals will be missing from UA's 2024 regular season schedule: Arkansas, Ole Miss, Mississippi State and Texas A&M.
More: Kentuck Festival of the Arts will move to Tuscaloosa for 2024
New site for Kentuck festival
The Kentuck Festival of the Arts will be held in Tuscaloosa for the first time in its more than five-decade existence.
The Oct. 19-20, 2024, event, the 53rd of its kind, will be transplanted from 7-acre Kentuck Park in Northport to either the 40-acre Snow Hinton Park, at the intersection of McFarland Boulevard and Hargrove Road, or much newer and smaller Parker-Haun Park, its 4 acres adjacent to the Mercedes-Benz Amphitheater and western Riverwalk downtown.
The Kentuck Art Center, which made four promotions official Jan. 1, including moving former executive director Amy Echols to a newly-created consulting position, and boosting deputy director Exa Skinner to executive director, has been studying possibilities for the 2024 festival site, and expects to make its site choice within about a month.
Kentuck begins work on each festival days after completing the previous one. The art center's year-around activities, including workshops, classes and other outreach, regular events such as the first Thursday Art Nights and Saturday Art Markets, working artists' studio spaces, exhibits, gift shop and more, depend on a financially successful festival, as do paychecks of full-time employees at the nonprofit organization.
Kentuck puts out an investment of $140,000 or more before gates open. Proceeds can double that, or more, in a good year, drawing 20,000 visitors from far and wide. The fest features 270 folk, outsider and contemporary artists, the Brother Ben Music Stage hosting Americana, gospel, blues, folk and other roots music, the Kathryn Tucker Windham Spoken Word Stage, children's hands-on events, traditional crafts demonstrations, food and drink trucks and more.
Kentuck signed a memorandum of understanding with the Tuscaloosa City Council in December, following contractual and other disagreements with the Northport City Council, over funding and possible issues with the city's planned sports complex, which will be built adjacent to the long-time Kentuck Festival site.
The Kentuck Art Center is housed in a two-building campus at 503 Main Ave., in downtown Northport. Kentuck owns the buildings, and rents its courtyard from the Shirley family. There are no plans to relocate the center, and there remains a possibility the festival could return to Northport for 2025, or beyond.
Bobby Bragg, president of the Kentuck board of directors, said "Everything's possible. Our No. 1 focus, after we got through this year's festival, was to make decisions for the 2024 festival."
"It's a damn big endeavor," he said.
Mercedes-Benz Amphitheater
In November, Mercedes-Benz launched another star into the Druid City's skyline, a not-unfamiliar sight since the September 1993 announcement that Vance would become host to the luxury automaker's first manufacturing plant outside Germany.
The first season of concerts for Mercedes-Benz Amphitheater will begin in April. The venue known for its first 12 years as simply Tuscaloosa Amphitheater received its new name during a Nov. 7 intermission between the Foreigner and Loverboy concert. Tuscaloosa Mayor Walt Maddox and Michael Göbel, president and CEO of the $300 million Tuscaloosa County plant, were joined on stage by other city officials in making the announcement.
Raising the emblem inside and outside the 8,000-amphitheater venue creates major benefits, Maddox said. Both the solid financial backing and image of prestige associated with globally-known Mercedes should help extend the venue's mission to book quality acts, and serve diverse interests, he said.
Opened with an Avett Brothers-Band of Horses concert April 1, 2011, after several years of planning and construction, the amphitheater project cost about $14.9 million, to be paid by the city's lodging tax. Birmingham-based Red Mountain Entertainment books and runs the venue.
Mercedes has been involved from the start, creating the VIP Mercedes-Benz Club, and hosting plant-employee events featuring bands such as Earth Wind and Fire, St. Paul & The Broken Bones and India.arie.
In a written release, Dimitris Psillakis, President and CEO of Mercedes-Benz USA said "Just as our company strives to bring people together through innovation and excellence, this facility will serve as a place where communities unite through the power of music, culture, and shared experiences.
“We look forward to seeing this venue serve as a central location for fostering connections and inspiration for years to come.”
The amphitheater has booked acts including Phish, Def Leppard, John Mayer, Dave Matthews Band, Mary J. Blige, Miranda Lambert, Soundgarden, Rod Stewart, Cyndi Lauper, Ringo Starr and His All-Star Band, Todd Rundgren, Crosby Stills and Nash, Chris Stapleton, Bob Dylan, ODESZA, Brad Paisley, Hall and Oates, John Legend, Merle Haggard, Willie Nelson, Neil Young and Crazy Horse, Alabama Shakes, Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit, the Richard Thompson Trio, Styx, Brandi Carlile, Alan Jackson, Counting Crows, Backstreet Boys, Wilco, Zac Brown Band, Keith Urban, Poison, the Lumineers, Fun, Tegan and Sara, Grace Potter and the Nocturnals, Gotye, Missy Higgins, Kelly Clarkson, the Fray, Daughtry, Live, Neko Case, Pretty Lights, Sound Tribe Sector 9, Jamey Johnson, Sturgill Simpson, Flo Rida, Nelly, Rob Thomas, Jack Johnson, Darius Rucker, Peter Frampton, the Doobie Brothers, Brantley Gilbert, Coolio, Color Me Badd, TLC, Hank Williams Jr., the Commodores, the Blind Boys of Alabama, Moon Taxi, Lynyrd Skynyrd, REO Speedwagon, Parliament-Funkadelic, Sheila E., Dawes, Kings of Leon and ZZ Top.
Here are the first acts booked and announced for the Mercedes-Benz Amphitheater's debut 2024 season:
April 18: Riley Green, Tracy Lawrence and Ella Langley, 7:30 p.m. Tickets through www.ticketmaster.com, and at the Amp box office, 2710 Jack Warner Parkway, for $89.50, $79.50, $59.50, $49.50, and $39.50, plus fees and taxes.
April 26: Travis Tritt, Chase Matthew, Frank Foster, 7 p.m. Tickets for $99.50, $79.50, $59.50 and $39.50.
Sept. 20: Cody Jinks, the Cadillac Three and Calder Allen, 7 p.m. Tickets for $258, $158, $107.50, $87.50, $67.50, $47.50 and $33.
For more see www.mercedesbenzamphitheater.com.
Snow Hinton Park
A $10.2 million project bringing needed upgrades and additions to 40-acre Snow Hinton Park will add a "Wow" factor to what's already the city's most visible park, at the junction of McFarland Boulevard and Hargrove Road, according to John Faile, District 6 representative on the Tuscaloosa City Council.
"This will be the Central Park of Tuscaloosa. When people drive down this road, they're gonna have a 'Wow' moment when they see this," he said.
Work began in fall 2023, and is expected to be completed by this October. Named for the city's 33rd mayor, who served from 1969 until his death in 1976, the park was purchased by the city in 1975. Mayor Walt Maddox said C. Snow Hinton, Jr. was a force behind major developments including Lake Tuscaloosa, the City Hall building, widening of 15th Street, other park acquisitions and more.
Improvements will be made to the walking track, parking spaces, vehicle access, and lighting and camera systems. A central plaza will be added to the existing park's pavilions, climbing net and slide, public art displays and other attractions.
Elevate Tuscaloosa, a three-decade, $500 million-plus plan for education, transportation, recreation and public safety projects, funded through a 1-cent sales tax increase, is paying for the park upgrades.
University Club
The venerable University Club plans to re-open at 421 Queen City Ave. in May, after a $17,430,000 facelift spanning roughly a years' worth of demolition and construction.
The University of Alabama project will add about 3,000 gross square feet to the previous 12,840. New bathrooms have been constructed, and the front upstairs balcony will be walkable, with replicas of the original wrought-iron railings in place. Elevators ― replacing the one that opened in the center of the space, creating traffic-flow issues ― have been added on the side away from University Boulevard. Opposite, facing UA's main drag, the downstairs veranda has grown. Upstairs' ballroom, private event spaces and offices have been expanded.
Other facets of the project include needed repairs, and consistency work to bring the nearly 200-year-old building's facade, interiors and materials into architectural coherence.
"There's a lot of stuff that was falling apart on the inside," said Matt Fajack, UA vice president for finance and operations. "So (we needed) complete renovation of ceilings, walls, and windows. We have tried to keep as much of the old style, the original style, as possible, while also bringing it up to modern standards."
Beginning in March 2020, at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the club closed for what turned out to be years. As threats from the pandemic diminished and UA considered re-opening, it took into consideration the club's issues, including concerns quality had diminished, and that opening hours weren't sufficient.
To raise service quality and functionality required addressing deferred maintenance, including replacement of 15 original windows, five transom windows and four sidelights, and extensive work on stormwater, domestic water and fire water lines.
"We decided if we're going to bring it back, we're going to bring it back right," Fajack said.
So in fall 2022, UA announced renovation plans, with funding from University Central Reserves. In addition to the elevators, the club was also gaining a second stairwell, dining and event space, and a second-floor veranda and balcony overlooking the south garden. The south parlor was to be repurposed as a bar-lounge and casual dining area. The north parlor would be converted to a hotel lobby-like workspace.
"And you know we never had made money when we ran it," Fajack said. So UA chose to partner with Invited, the leading owner and operator of private clubs in North America.
Invited President and CEO Bob Morse spoke at a November topping-out ceremony how his company, founded in 1957 as Club Corp to create private venues where all were welcome, regardless of age, race, religion or background, had collaborated with UA. Invited was originally interested in creating a stadium club here, before hearing about the University Club project.
Invited plans to program music, speakers' series and other celebrations, in addition to wine dinners and the like. Membership and other information can be found at www.invitedclubs.com/clubs/university-club-alabama. The University Club hopes to eventually host 1,500 members. Invited will also offer internships and employment opportunities for UA students, experiences that could lead to jobs in the company's network.
The original building was constructed by steamboat Capt. James H. Dearing as a private residence. It became the Alabama governor's mansion from 1837-1841, as Tuscaloosa was state capital, 1828-1848. It passed through several owners until H. David and MIldred Westervelt Warner donated funds to buy, renovate and furnish the building. The Warners donated it to UA, and the old residence re-opened in 1946 as the University Club.
Reach Mark Hughes Cobb at mark.cobb@tuscaloosanews.com.
This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Five things to look forward to in 2024 in Tuscaloosa
