County to get new $3.1M welcome center
Visitors to Colbert County will have a new place to stop, take a break and learn about The Shoals sometime within the next few years.
Tuscumbia Mayor William Foster and State Representatives Kerry Underwood and Jamie Kiel officially announced a project to build a new welcome center in Tuscumbia will be moving forward.
Underwood presented Foster with a check for $669,000 at City Hall on July 18. Underwood said that was the balance due to turn the idea into a reality.
“Today is a special day for us,” Foster said. “This is something we have been working on for about three years. It’s a big plan, and it takes time. We started three years ago with a grant. We started working on a way forward to have this building put in Tuscumbia. The location has been moved a couple of times, and we finally found a home.”
The new building will be called the North Alabama Welcome Center and will be located near the Alabama Music Hall of Fame on U.S. 72.
An artist rendering of the new North Alabama Welcome Center.
The total needed for the project is $3,185,000. Funding began with a grant from the United States Economic Development Administration for $1,716,000. The project required a local match of $1,469,000.
The Cities of Tuscumbia, Muscle Shoals and Sheffield each contributed $50,000 along with the Colbert County Commission.
The Colbert County Tourism Bureau will contribute $600,000 total, $300K from its allotted Alabama State Tourism budget this year and next.
That left $669K needed for the center. Underwood and Kiel were able to secure those funds through an appropriation from the state budget.
“In the legislature in two years I have learned there are 105 people in the House with their own motives for their own cities and districts, plus 35 in the Senate,” Underwood said. “That’s the way it works. Jamie and I were successful in this one, and I am forever grateful for the fact we could make this happen.
“This is not a one-man success. The check we have is for the balance due. There was a deficit of $669,000, and today we have a check for that amount. I think that’s a God thing. This will serve the entire county, and it is well deserved for the people who live here, because we have a lot to offer. It is my pleasure to be able to be a part of this and working with Jamie to be able to make it happen.”
“This has been a passion of Rep. Underwood for the past several years, and he has pulled this project together and done a phenomenal job,” Kiel said.
Foster said the land where the center is planned to be located is currently being appraised. He said the next steps will be to acquire that land and taking bids on the center’s construction.
Because of this, there is currently no specific start date for construction, as well as no specific timetable for completion.
The EDA grant specifies the project must be completed by July 6, 2026.
