HUNTSVILLE, Alabama – By next summer, the old Stone Middle School campus on Governors Drive could be home to two popular Huntsville breweries as well as an outdoor concert amphitheater.

The Huntsville Board of Education on Thursday authorized Superintendent Casey Wardynski to negotiate the sale of the sprawling Stone Middle building to developer Randy Schrimsher, who already owns part of the school grounds.

Plans call for converting part of the Stone Middle building into a 40,000-square-foot brewery for Straight to Ale, currently located in a warehouse on Leeman Ferry Road. Yellowhammer intends to build a new 6,000-square-foot brewery – complete with beer garden and tasting room – on land that used to be the school's athletic fields.

Between Straight to Ale and Yellowhammer, the city is looking at creating a large amphitheater for concerts and other outdoor events.

"This is the kind of thing that could draw people from all over the Southeast," Keith Yager, Yellowhammer's head brewer, told AL.com Friday. "Huntsville is really doing something special here."

Straight to Ale founder Dan Perry. (Eric Schultz | eschultz@al.com)

Straight to Ale founder Dan Perry said the craft brewer will be the anchor tenant for a revamped Stone Middle building that could eventually also include a restaurant and other uses. The move will allow Straight to Ale to expand its beer production three-fold, he told AL.com. There will also be a larger tap room and more space for Straight to Ale's popular Saturday tours.

"We want to show more people what we're doing – just get them in there and expose them to craft beer," said Perry.

Yager said Yellowhammer has outgrown its current brewery on Clinton Avenue, just east of the Stone Middle property. The new building will have more than double the beer-making space, he said.

"This site will be something new for Huntsville, and we're pleased to be a part of it," said Yager. "Thanks to the city and to all the fabulous and loyal consumers of our beer. We look forward to being able to soon supply more."

He and Perry both said the side-by-side breweries should open in about a year.

Officials from the city, Straight to Ale, Yellowhammer and Downtown Huntsville Inc. have scheduled a news conference for 2 p.m. Monday to officially announce the project.

"This is an exciting, game-changing redevelopment for West Huntsville and the city's western gateway into downtown from I-565," Downtown Huntsville Inc. CEO Chad Emerson said Friday. "We're excited about what it can do for West Huntsville, for downtown and for our entire community."

While terms are still being finalized, Schrimsher is expected to pay about $1.13 million for the old school building. A person familiar with the deal said the city would pay $489,000 for the four-acre amphitheater site.

The Huntsville City Council would have to OK the purchase.

City Councilman Bill Kling said the proposed redevelopment sounds like a "positive, neighborhood-friendly outcome" for a building that has been empty since 2009. The 10-acre Stone Middle property at the corner of Governors Drive and Clinton Avenue was originally home to Butler High School.

"It will create entertainment and, I think, revitalize west Huntsville," said Kling.

Updated at 2:15 p.m. with comments from Downtown Huntsville Inc. CEO Chad Emerson and information about Monday news conference. Also corrected that Stone Middle closed in 2009 rather than 2008.