By Paul Gattis
It’s been almost four years since then-newly elected Huntsville city councilman Devyn Keith held a town hall meeting in the auditorium at the former Johnson High School and spelled out a vision for the future of the campus.
Now that vision is coming sharply into focus after Keith recently announced the details for the final phase of the campus redevelopment known as Legacy Park.
It includes more new housing – a scarcity in northwest Huntsville – that includes both single-family and multi-family units and townhomes as well as a community entertainment pavilion similar to an amphitheater and a retention pond. Eventually, plans call for a limited retail aspect at the campus.
The project began with the renovation of the Johnson High School gym into a state-of-the-art wellness center renamed the Johnson Legacy Center that opened last year. Construction is ongoing at Jaguar Hills – the subdivision of single-family homes on the north end of the campus.
The new housing and the pavilion will be built on the west end of the campus. Demolition will soon begin on the former high school, Keith said.
“I think the biggest thing to say is even with COVID, considering we’ve done so much in three years and not only the city but the region is taking notice and the nation’s taking notice and northwest Huntsville is aiding and adding to the success of Huntsville overall,” Keith said.
Altogether, public and private investment will be more than $50 million for the entire project with the city of Huntsville responsible for about $25 million of that cost, Keith said. Much of the city’s expense will be on building new roads through the project and in utilities.
Keith said Breland Companies, Davidson Homes and Stanley Construction will be involved in completing the project. Bostick Landscape Architects – which designed the new Councill High Memorial Park on St. Clair Avenue in downtown Huntsville — have also worked on the design of the latest phase of the development. Keith said one task for owner Chad Bostick was to design a setting for an events center in the middle of a residential area, ensuring that sound and noise won’t disrupt neighbors.
“He’s building it considering the sound, considering everybody and it’s going to be unique,” Keith said. “It’s something we haven’t seen before in its design layout. It’ll have a cool little mound deal where kids can ride down the hill. It’ll change the overall landscape of the whole area.
“It’s a very ambitious project, but he’s done a really good job, to say the least.”
The pavilion will have about 500 seats and be used to host community events currently held at the nearby Showers Recreation Center or Stoner Field – locations not necessarily designed for some of those events.
The Johnson Legacy Center has become a new hub of activity in Huntsville with more than 300 memberships while Jaguar Hills has sold 45 of 50 homes so far with up to about 60 homes planned, Keith said.
While Keith stresses that the development is to the benefit of the entirety of Huntsville, it’s also raised the profile of an area of the city that has seen little development for decades and suffered eco nomically as a result. “I think the overall development is special to northwest Huntsville because it shows their private investors can not only invest here and make money here,” Keith said. “But it has something that’s special and unique as well.”