City approves feasibility study for Burrow property

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July 8, 2012

City approves feasibility study for Burrow property

By Trent Moore The Cullman Times The Cullman Times Sun Jul 08, 2012, 09:00 AM CDT

CULLMAN — Be it a park, amphitheater, or something else entirely that is eventually built on the Burrow property — the City of Cullman doesn’t want to do anything until they have a full survey of the recently purchased land.

“We felt like, whatever we do, we didn’t want to just jump out there on our own and it be a mistake, and something we have to go back and correct down the road,” Cullman Mayor Max Townson said. “We want to have a professional look at it, and give us some options for what could work, and where. We need to see the topography, and the lay of the land.”

The council has now approved a feasibility study for 110 acres at the property, which was set aside for public use.

The city purchased the 170-acre Burrow property on County Road 222 earlier this year from the Burrow estate for $1.5 million, and part of that agreement requested the 110 acres on the south side of the road be designated for a public project, while the 60 acres on the north side could expand the nearby industrial park.

Though the feasibility study has been approved, the city has yet to officially commission the work, so an exact cost is not yet known.

Officials don’t know yet what they plan to build on the property, though ideas such as an amphitheater, or large park, have been considered. The council is also looking at the viability of luring potential attractions to the site, and Townson said that is where a feasibility study will be most useful.

“It will take about 90 days to do, but we’ll be looking at the probable radius we would be able to draw people in from, and tracking things like that,” he said. “We want to know how successful, and how much access people would have to something done there. We’d like to have something there to serve as an anchor, that could maybe draw people year-round, but we need to see how it could all work.”

City parks director John Hunt, whose department is playing an active role in development, said the site’s size and location makes it an excellent potential park site.

“We’re looking at all our options for what this could do, trying to find the very best use for that property,” he said. “We’re trying to see what would work best in that space.”

But, before the city is able to do any major project at the site, Townson said there is still one variable — the long-delayed Interstate 65 interchange on County Road 222, which would tie in approximately one mile from the Burrow property. The project has been on the state and federal government’s to-do list for years, and Townson said any more delays could be a problem.

“Getting an interchange off Co. Rd. 222 is extremely important, and we need to continually push the state and federal government for that, because it was promised five years ago,” he said. “It would be hard to do anything recreational, on a large scale there, without the interchange.”

* Trent Moore can be reached by e-mail at trentm@cullmantimes.com, or by telephone at 734-2131, ext. 220.

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City approves feasibility study for Burrow property

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