Sandra Moon complex nears completion in South Huntsville
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The Sandra Moon Community Center is set for a late August or early September opening. Photo: Derek Lacey/Axios
Work at the Sandra Moon Community Complex in South Huntsville is nearing completion, nine years after Grissom High School moved to Haysland Road.
Why it matters: The expansive project to transform Grissom's former home is culminating in a facility that's bringing something new to Huntsville's portfolio: a recreation center with a focus on performing arts.
Catch up quick: Work that's finishing up now at Sandra Moon is the fourth and final phase of the expansive project to turn the former nearly 34-acre Grissom site into the home of multiple city amenities.
- They include the South Huntsville-Madison County Public Library branch, pickleball and tennis courts, playground and multi-purpose athletic fields.
- Now, the 92,000-square-foot recreation and performing arts center, the final piece of the Sandra Moon Community Complex, is nearing completion.
Zoom in: Arts Huntsville will have dedicated office and rehearsal space in the facility, as well as a theater that officials say fills a key gap in the city.
- The 618-seat Performing Arts Center, formerly the school's auditorium, features revamped lobby space and updated staging area and dressing rooms.
What they're saying: "This is kind of filling a niche," city administrator John Hamilton told media during a tour of the facility Tuesday. "It's really helping our local grassroots arts community grow."
- That space for Arts Huntsville "is probably the most significant thing that's unique here," Hamilton told Axios.
- The Von Braun Center, while city-owned, is operated at a much larger scale, he said, while the smaller theater space at Cavalry Hill doesn't have the capacity for additions such as the rigging and lighting that are coming to Sandra Moon.
Zoom out: The center has a focus on accessibility as well, with a dedicated adaptive recreation space, sensory room and universal changing room, per the city.
- Also inside is a 6,000-square-foot event center, second-story walking track around one of the gyms, e-sports and gaming center, spaces for video and music production, fitness center and more.
Context: Sandra Moon was a former District 3 City Council member, holding the seat from 1998-2010. She died of cancer in 2013.
- Per the city, the South Huntsville Library complex was a goal she did not live to see fulfilled. The $12 million library branch opened in September 2021.
The bottom line: When city officials cut the ribbon in late August or early September, it will wrap up nearly a decade of work to create a new arts and recreation anchor for the city and beyond.