MOBILE, Ala. (WALA) – A quasi-government board that promotes industry has hired a real estate firm to scout locations for a possible education and workforce training site.
At this week’s meeting of the Industrial Development Board, Hank Aaron Stadium was discussed as a possible site. But the board’s chairman, Patrick Murphy, told FOX10 News that the idea is in the preliminary stages and that no specific site has been chosen.
“The Industrial Development Board is focused on supporting economic development and enhancing the local community where we live and work,” he said in a statement. “As we explore options, the IDB has partnered with a local real estate firm to help identify potential sites that might be suited to help us further our mission.”
John Vallas, of Vallas Realty, told FOX10 News that it was premature to comment.
Discussions have centered on a possible partnership between the Mobile County Public School System, Bishop State Community Center and the Mobile Area Education Foundation, which runs Accel Academy. But there is no agreement at this point, according to people familiar with the issue.
“MAEF is excited to support new opportunities for education and training that allow our young people to thrive in our growing economy,” the foundation’s CEO, Jeremiah Newell, said in a statement. “While a final location has not been secured, we are partnering to consider several potential sites suitable for the innovative campus we all envision and our youth so critically need.”
Mobile County schools Superintendent Chresal Threadgill told FOX10 News in a statement that the system has had a “preliminary discussion on the proposal and is looking forward to receiving more information so we can make the decision that is best for our students.”
Bishop State spokeswoman Courtney Steele told FOX10 News that the idea has not moved past the discussion stage and that it is premature to comment.
The baseball stadium, which has been vacant since the minor league baseball team left after the 2019 season, is a possible location because of oversight in 1996. At the time, the city signed a 99-year lease that restricted how the property off of Interstate 65 could be used. But no one ever filed that document in Mobile County Probate Court. As a result the owner, McGowin Properties, has great flexibility in determining how the property will be used.
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