It Started With A Bold Idea
The idea for a brand-new multi-purpose venue at BJCC has been a part of the long-term strategic plan for the Birmingham Jefferson Civic Center Authority (BJCCA) for many years. In December of 2018, that idea began to come to life, when the BJCCA, working hand in hand with many stakeholders including the City of Birmingham, Jefferson County, the Jefferson County Legislative Delegation, UAB, and the Birmingham corporate community coalesced support to finance, design and construct a new stadium for Birmingham, Alabama on property at the BJCC.
Protective Stadium Timeline
Beginning with a conversation between the Birmingham Jefferson Civic Center Authority and the University of Alabama Birmingham shortly after the school’s football program was re-instated in 2015, momentum began to solidify around the idea of constructing a new multi-purpose stadium on property previously acquired at the BJCC.
Discussions picked up momentum with support from Jefferson County, the City of Birmingham, the Jefferson County Legislative Delegation, and corporate community support. Shortly thereafter, the BJCC Board of Directors pushed the project forward by retaining the world-renown Kansas City architectural firm Populous to begin developing concepts for a stadium on the new site at the BJCC.
With the financing model solidified in late 2018, site work started in 2019, construction began on the stadium in January of 2020 after construction firm Brasfield and Gorrie were awarded the contract to construct the stadium following a public competitive bidding process.
Timeline
Over the following four years, enormous fiscal support pours in from countless businesses and government agencies: