Council hears updates on new civic center

Supply chain issues continue to disrupt the completion of the new Vestavia Hills Civic Center, Scott Kenny with TCU Consulting Services told the Vestavia Hills City Council on Oct. 11.

At the Oct. 11 meeting, Kenny told the council the contractor is having supply chain issues, which is disrupting construction projects all over, and is a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Still, the project is progressing as best it can, Kenny said, and was not too disrupted by heavy rains that came in early October.

Kenny asked the council what the consensus was on whether to obtain furniture before or after the center’s opening. The council expressed a desire to have furniture in the Civic Center before it opens.

“We don’t want to open a facility that doesn’t have furniture in it,” council member Paul Head said.

City Manager Jeff Downes said the Community Spaces fund does have enough money in it to cover the cost of furniture. In his report to the council, Downes announced plans for a new and renovated Dogwood Festival, coming next spring. There will be two months full of activities in all of the city’s business districts from March through April 2022, Downes said.

“When you start seeing the new brand of the Dogwood Festival and all the promotion that will go on, this has a dollar benefit to our community, but it also has a morale benefit to our community,” Downes said. “We come out of hibernation, and we can really celebrate so many beautiful things in Vestavia Hills.”

In other business, the council approved the refinancing of bonds, which will provide additional cash for the Community Spaces project.