By the beginning of 2020, a shuttered high school gym in Huntsville will be transformed into a multi-million-dollar recreation facility that could spur economic movement for the northwestern part of the city.

The Johnson Legacy Center is part of the redevelopment plans for the 44-acre J.O. Johnson High School site. The city has owned the property since 2016, after Huntsville City Schools moved Johnson students to the Mae Jemison High School up the street from the old property. City Administrator John Hamilton said they will start renovating the gym building this year.

The renovation will include amenities that aren't available at the other city-owned recreation facilities, including two indoor soccer courts, a rock-climbing wall, a larger fitness area and a sauna. Greenspace and a flood retention pond will be created near the facility.

Hamilton said they will start accepting bids later this month for a construction that's estimated to cost between $7 to $8 million. The renovation itself could take a year to 14 months after workers break ground, Hamilton said.

"It will be a unique recreation facility for us," Hamilton said. "We don't have any other in the city that provides any of those kinds of uses that will be operated by parks and recreations. This will be the first time we put any real, significant money into upgrading a facility on the property."

City councilman Devyn Keith, whose district includes northwest Huntsville, believes the gymnasium renovation will be a catalyst for economic change. He mentioned the development that followed the creation of the Village of Providence in west Huntsville. Although the mixed-use MidCity development on University Drive is still ongoing, Topgolf, Dave & Buster's and an entertainment venue called the Camp at MidCity have already claimed their spots.

Keith said the Johnson Legacy Center will create leverage for a side of town that hasn't seen as much development as other areas of the city.

"North Huntsville has stagnated. The parkway has died while other places in the city are growing," Keith said, "If we let this property sit, it will be a blight so big it will become impossible to catch up."

While the gym's renovation will start this year, the remaining development on the Johnson site will occur in different phases over time. The school's main building, which is separate from the gym, will be demolished. Currently, less than 10 percent of the main building is being utilized by Huntsville police and fire departments for the classroom portion of their training classes, Hamilton said.

"The ongoing cost for that little bit of square footage is for basic janitorial and utilities, but there's not any real money going into the renovations of that building," Hamilton said.

City officials said traditional single-family homes will be located on the northern part of the campus. Single-story "senior-friendly" housing will be located on the western side, closer to the greenspace near the renovated gym. Hamilton said they are currently negotiating with a housing developer, but he didn't name of the business. Once a developer is selected, the city can work on a more concrete timeline for the housing portion of the development.

"It’s a big enough property to do two or three types of construction (for homes) and make it a nice neighborhood," Hamilton said. "These things sometimes take on a timeline of their own when we are looking for a private partnership, both sides have to be willing to make the investments necessary."

Keith said northwest Huntsville is battling a negative social perspective when it comes to redevelopment on his side of the city. He witnessed the impact of the perception himself as he asked multiple developers if they would consider building homes on the site.

"(The perspective) is known across the city --that north Huntsville is full of crime, the schools there are failing, the houses are so dilapidated, so vacated, so rental-market driven that there is no redevelopment opportunity," Keith said. "We had six homebuilders tell us ‘No’ because of a social perspective. They didn't cite money. They didn't cite home potential. All they said was, 'We don't believe our clientele would want to live in north Huntsville.'"

Hamilton said only two developers responded to the city's request for proposals. Keith said the unique services being offered at the recreation center will draw citizens from all over Huntsville and start the process of changing people's opinions about the area.

"We have to redevelop northwest Huntsville in a way that's so progressive that it changes social perspective," Keith said.

It would be tricky to attract big, commercial stores to the site, Hamilton said. Johnson sits inside of a neighborhood set back off Winchester Road and is surrounded by houses. Thus, the traffic isn't enough for a big-box retailer.

"Where people will like to see more commercial development in that particular part of town, unfortunately this campus is not suitable for commercial development where it is located," Hamilton said.

Both Hamilton and Keith do foresee smaller businesses, like a coffee or sandwich shop, moving onto the site. Keith said adding in the smaller, mom-and-pop businesses will benefit the neighborhood locally while people across the city utilize the services at the legacy center.

"I'm arguing that if we sit on that 44-acres, in six years a developer would come along and say, 'I will give you a million for it.' And then I would have nothing else to say, but OK. It's a million dollars," Keith said. "Whatever they do on their private property, how do I stop them? I can't. But if I own it and I control the development along the way, the product in six years is what I originally wanted."

The legacy center is the result of an effort that included multiple community meetings. In a survey issued to residents in northwest Huntsville in April, the city asked citizens to select three priorities for their area from a list of nine options. The top three changes were improved housing options, dining and parks and recreation offerings like greenspaces and trails.

Improved housing options 50.5%

Dining 49%

Parks and recreation offerings 48%

Shopping 47%

Job opportunities close to home 32.9%

Entertainment 28%

Public transportation 17.6%

Nothing - I'm satisfied 3%

Other 0%

Keith said they couldn't satisfy everyone's opinion about the campus. During a community meeting in August 2017, residents' pitched several options including a manufacturing facility and a fish farm. A domed soccer arena was one of the pitches. While the public's opinion was considered, Keith said they need to invest in a plan that will benefit the future of north Huntsville.

“This is the new ‘Providence’ of northwest Huntsville. This is the spot where relators will say, ‘We have another place in north Huntsville I want you to look at,’” he said. “If I’m not attracting families, I’m the home of retirees and I’m the home of the disenfranchised. Once they begin to polarize, that part of the city will carry a social perception that it will never ever be erased unless a generation literally leaves this earth.”