Pedestrian bridge and more as work continues on Gadsden’s waterfront project
Story by Paul South
Submitted Photos
Two projects aimed at transforming the Coosa Riverfront and making Etowah County’s largest city into a destination locale are inching closer to completion after clearing regulatory hurdles.
Coosa Harbor, a combination residential and commercial complex being developed by Scottsboro developer Patrick Lawler is awaiting Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) approval for the project.
“I know that Patrick is through with the architectural design and almost ready to take it to bid,” Gadsden’s Director of Commercial Development and Community Affairs. “We’ll be pushing hard on FERC. They’re the ones who permit our shorelines on the Coosa River. After that, we’ll be full speed ahead. I foresee that happening in the next couple of months. I think a fall groundbreaking wouldn’t be out of the question.”
The complex includes waterfront condominiums selling for $500,000, which have already garnered interest in the pre-sale phase, city officials said.
A second project, a pedestrian bridge that will traverse the Coosa River is also in the permitting phase. Gadsden has received a $690,000 grant from Innovate Alabama that will pay for engineering and design of the pedestrian bridge, Moore said.
“That’s good because once we get the engineering, we’ll be able to pinpoint how much the project is going to cost,” Moore said. “It’s a $690,000 grant, but the (total) cost is probably somewhere north of $1 million.”
The span will link parks, trails and a planned hotel near the Venue at Coosa Landing. The new bridge will be located at the site of the old Gadsden Police station at the corner of Walnut Street and U.S. 411. The bridge – estimated between 700 and 900 feet long – will end on the other side of the Coosa near Buffalo Wild Wings.
“It will give us some more space and an opportunity to grow that area,” Moore said. “We’re going to start working on a concept design.”
Groundbreaking for the bridge is 24 to 36 months away, Moore said. Construction is expected to take a year.
The pedestrian bridge will dovetail with another major development, construction of a Mariott Tribute hotel that the city announced in early July. The hotel is expected to have at least 100 rooms and a rooftop bar and restaurant.
“We think we’ll be in line with what they’re (Mariott) is doing,” Moore said.
The goal of the bridge?
“I think it’s to make the city more walkable, where you can actually be walking downtown and you can go down and go across the bridge and go to something at The Venue,” Moore said. “Or, if you’re in East Gadsden and you can cross and come to downtown. So it really connects east Gadsden more with our downtown. That really helps our shopping and our eating. It gives a whole other economic driver when it comes to our downtown.”
He added, “It’s a complete economic development plan when it comes together. It opens doors and opportunities for the city.”
At their heart, the projects are part of the ongoing effort by the city to make Gadsden a destination point. The projects, combined with hotel and restaurant developments and family friendly events that once required residents to travel to Birmingham, Atlanta, Huntsville or Chattanooga, are the muscle behind the message. And more people are coming to town from locales within a 100-mile radius.
“We want to try to bring more people to Gadsden,” Moore said. “We have found that in looking at other cities, the one thing they can do is they have walkability,” Moore said. “You can go and stroll … and you can walk from one end of the city to the other without having to get into your car. When that happens, people start wanting to stay in those hotels, and you can do what you want to do without having to get into your car and drive.”
Along with the Mariott Tribute, the city is looking at a second as yet unnamed hotel brand for the riverfront.
While pedestrian bridges and multiuse complexes may not have the splash of events like the Lantern Festival at Noccalula Falls, Christmas season ice skating and bashes like Freedom Fest, America’s 250th birthday celebration, they are just as important, Moore said.
“One thousand percent. At the end of the day, I need Coosa Harbor in Gadsden. I need the condos. I need the hotels. Because at that point, that’s what brings the people to Gadsden. When you have the opportunities and the availability to stay at those hotels and then we build more and more events around that vicinity, that just continues to give people more reasons to come to Gadsden,” Moore said.
City Council President Kent Back agreed.
“What we’re trying to do is to bring things to Gadsden that you normally have to go out of town to experience,” he said. “We want to do things to improve our quality of life in Gadsden and Etowah County. That way, people can stay home and enjoy things that everyone else has enjoyed.”
Across town, the city is building a 200,000 square-foot indoor facility for basketball, volleyball and pickleball. There’s also night golf available in the city, along with the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail.
Coosa Harbor, the pedestrian bridge, hotels, restaurants and a calendar full of events are fueling a Gadsden renaissance – from a city that a few short decades ago was known for closed plants and shuttered downtown buildings.
World Atlas has taken notice, naming Gadsden as one of the best places in the South to retire.
“I think that Gadsden is going to be one of those places you’re going to enjoy coming and visiting,” Moore said. “If you don’t already, you will. Right now, we’ve got so much between the falls and the river and the mountains and the cool downtown, we have so many people coming to Gadsden already,” Moore said.
“But once we complete these projects in the next 24 to 36 months, Gadsden’s not going to be the same place it was. It’s going to be one of those up-and-coming cities you want to be a part of.”
