HUNTSVILLE, Alabama – City leaders have been asking all of us to join them in doing a lot of squinting into the future and becoming imagineers.

The tricky West Huntsville corner where Governors' Drive, Triana Blvd. and Clinton Ave. all shake hands is a good place to squint. It will soon become the site of complex that will host two breweries as well as a landscaped plaza for concerts and other events.

"A phenomenal addition for local businesses and West Huntsville," said Dennis Madsen, the Manager of Urban & Long Range Planning for the City of Huntsville.

It's part of a national trend in contemporary urban development of "unique places taking advantage of existing structures," said Dennis Madsen.

But what of the rest of our area?

Downtown is percolating along nicely. Research Park is taking care of itself. There are grand plans to make Ditto Landing more of a destination without detracting from its natural beauty – "to see Ditto stay Ditto but be more Ditto," as Madsen once told me.

This could inspire imagineers with a checkbook to look outside that proverbial box and do something with the big boxes that sit empty elsewhere across the city. We need to recognize that cities aren't renovated with one long, smooth broad stroke of a brush. Like any home repair, it's fixed up here and there over the course of time.

"It's all coming together for West Huntsville. We have some good things going over there," said Mayor Tommy Battle, making special note of Lowe Mill and the business incubator at the old West Huntsville Elementary site. "All that ties together in an area that's starting to revitalize itself.

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"We're looking now at areas north and south that have become antiquated. After we get the roadways finished, I think you'll see a lot more development in both of those areas."

Roy L. Stone Middle School – the namesake is a former chairman of the Madison County Commission – and its grounds will be the site of the breweries and entertainment plaza. It has been closed since May 2009.

To the credit of Huntsville City Schools, the place is well-manicured and still looks as if it is merely awaiting the ring of a bell to fill up with students. Oh, that other landlords of vacated buildings in our city would take such care in not letting their big boxes become eyesores.

The property's developer, Randy Schrimsher, announced that the gymnasium will be converted into a 40,000-square foot brewery, tasting room and entertainment area for Straight to Ale. A smaller brewery, tasting room and beer garden will be built on the premises for Yellowhammer.

The first reaction is how it could revitalize that stretch of Governors' Drive, but without a loss of its charm. There are some popular eateries there made even more popular by the sense of going to an older part of town and avoiding the chain restaurants. This will serve to simply clean up the area.

But squint down Clinton and let your mind's eye create an architectural rendering.

It's a shorter trek to downtown than you might think. It could be the gateway to so much else, to the VBC, to the new hotel planned by developer Scott McLain behind the VBC, the potential new stadium at the Coca-Cola plant site.

Envision trolleys running from the breweries to a ballpark or a hockey game or concert at the VBC.

"Governors' and Clinton should be a place that has an iconic view, an idea of what the city is all about," Battle said.

Tough on the imagination? Skeptical?

But could you look at Lowe Mill 15 years ago and see pastel lights shining on the water tower, boutique businesses and a gathering place for concerts that's become one of the city's great new treasures?

Now, envision other companies putting a footprint near the breweries' site. Suddenly, empty storefronts or dilapidated buildings become vibrant. The world is full of entrepreneurs who see a thriving pizza palace or sports bar where others see only a shuttered filling station.

"Interesting successful development attracts other interesting successful development," Madsen said.

The last half-century, Huntsville grew because it was full of imagineers who saw great potential in the sky.

For the benefit of us all, it's time to encourage the imagineers who see such potential on the ground.