After years of planning, months of preparation and weeks of international conference and Zoom calls, Birmingham is ready for the world.
All eyes are on the Magic City for The World Games 2022 (TWG 2022), an event that has the potential to transform Birmingham and its perception, not just this summer but for decades to come, say city and area leaders.
“There is a rare moment in any city’s history, when it is afforded (the opportunity) to add another chapter to who (it is),” Mayor Randall Woodfin said of TWG 2022, which will take place July 7-17. This event “literally adds a new page and additional chapters in the book of who (Birmingham is) as a community. … We get to put on and showcase how beautiful we are, how far we’ve come. … And it’s going to send a ripple because it’s not just about Alabama, the Southeast, America – we’re talking about globally.”
Jefferson County Commissioner Joe Knight said, “We know about the historical perceptions of Birmingham, and I think Mayor Woodfin has said it best: ‘Let’s live for the future.’ We’re not going to forget our past, but we have evolved. … When a lot of people talk about Birmingham, the images that come to mind are (black-and-white photos from the 1960s), but we’re more than that. … That’s not who we are today.”
The games haven’t even begun, and people are taking notice of the new Birmingham. Condé Nast Traveler magazine named the Magic City one of the world’s top destinations to visit in “The 22 Best Places to Go in 2022.”
One reason is undoubtedly TWG 2022, which is drawing athletes from around the globe. The games will take place at venues across the Birmingham area – including Protective Stadium, Legion Field, the Birmingham CrossPlex, the Hoover Met Complex, Oak Mountain State Park, Barber Motorsports Park and Sloss Furnaces – and have an estimated $256 million in economic impact.
Featured events include competitions in martial arts, air sports, water sports, powerlifting, billiards, lacrosse, archery, gymnastics and dance.
“For people coming from overseas to America, this is their opportunity to see Birmingham, see the United States. … We want to leave a great impression that they can go and then spread back to their countries,” Knight said. “That’ll really put a feather in our cap in the long term.”
David Galbaugh, vice president of sports sales and marketing for the Greater Birmingham Convention and Visitors Bureau, said outsiders will get a chance to see a city that locals cherish.
“This is an international, multisport event that’s really going to be an entree for the world to see the great Birmingham we know and love,” he said. “This is going to be a chance for Birmingham to really show what we have to offer and lead to other multisport international events in the future, such as the World Police and Fire Games, which (will be hosted by the city) in 2025.”
‘Incredible city’
When people from around the globe arrive this week, they land at the Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport, which has undergone more than $10 million in improvements.
“What an incredible city we have with incredible history,” said Ron Mathieu, the airport’s president and CEO. “It seems like there’s something historic at every corner of Birmingham … if you take the time to understand it and to see it.”
Improvements at the airport are manifold. For example, all passenger-loading bridges have been refreshed with new carpeting and paint; all terminal seating was replaced to optimize passenger comfort and capacity; new Wi-Fi and cellphone transmitters were installed throughout the terminal to increase cellular and wireless ranges; and all restrooms have been renovated.
Mathieu is paying attention to details large and small to “make sure everything is the way it should be.”
“(There will be) new striping on the roadways, new lighting for the crosswalks. The garage is going to have a new LED lighting system all around it so we can light it up in recognition of whatever the event is – whether it’s pink, whether it’s blue, in fact, in full World Games. (The garage) will be illuminated all around with the different colors of the International World Games Association,” the airport CEO said.
Once inside the city, visitors will have several transportation options. The Birmingham-Jefferson County Transit Authority’s Birmingham Xpress will run roughly 10 miles from Five Points West through downtown Birmingham to Woodlawn, connecting 25 city neighborhoods. The system consists of two transit centers and 16 stops in between. Buses will run at 15-minute intervals during peak periods.
Officials from TWG 2022, the city of Birmingham and BJCTA are encouraging World Games visitors to “Ride the Line” that will shuttle spectators to and from TWG 2022 events.
The transit system, which is free, will include red, green and blue lines, all converging at the World Games Plaza by the Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex (BJCC) and Protective Stadium.
The blue line will travel from that area to Legion Field. The red line will trace the route of the Magic City Connector and travel between the plaza down 20th Street, or World Games Boulevard, to downtown Homewood, making stops in Five Points South, at Vulcan Park and other areas. The green line will include stops at Sloss Furnaces and Avondale Park.
City Walk BHAM
Seemingly everyone is finding a way to pitch in. The city of Birmingham used $5 million in American Rescue Plan funds to procure equipment for various departments – including Birmingham Fire and Rescue, the Birmingham Police Department, Boutwell Auditorium and Birmingham CrossPlex – to repair and upgrade facilities citywide.
Nick Sellers, CEO of TWG 2022, pointed to downtown entertainment district additions, as well as the new City Walk BHAM beneath Interstate Highway 20/59, which has everything from beer and wine gardens to dog parks.
City Walk BHAM “is going to be an incredible gathering place. It’s also going to be home to our Regions World Games Plaza, and that is going to be the heartbeat of (TWG 2022),” he said. “I really believe that part of the legacy of these World Games will be that we as a community will build more self-confidence in who we are.”
City Walk BHAM is situated on 31 acres from 15th Street North to 25th Street North. The area, comprising 10 city blocks, includes recreational sports space, a regional skate park, performance spaces, water features, market spaces and public art.
Not far from City Walk BHAM is Protective Stadium – the $200 million open-air athletic field with 45,000 seats that is home field for the UAB Blazers football team. The stadium will host the grand opening and closing ceremonies for TWG 2022. Trees were planted around the stadium as part of a beautification project.
Protective Stadium in December 2021 hosted the sold-out TicketSmarter Birmingham Bowl between Auburn University and the University of Houston. Its economic impact could be a precursor to The World Games, according to city leaders.
“When you look at the number of people that stayed in our hotels, the number of people that visited our restaurants and bars, were here for multiple days, visited our museums and went shopping, in and around the area, I just think it has a tremendous impact for our city overall, the amount of taxes and economic impact,” Woodfin said.
Also nearby is the newly renovated 18,000-seat Legacy Arena on the BJCC campus with a new suite level, an upper-level club area, enhanced food and beverage options, new seating, a 360-degree ribbon board in the seating bowl and refurbished lobbies.
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Local benefits
Locals are sure to reap some of the benefits from TWG 2022. Small businesses, such as food trucks and startups, will have the opportunity to be in the spotlight when visitors come into the city.
“Small business is the bloodline of Birmingham,” said Kathy Boswell, executive vice president of community engagement for TWG 2022. “With the games coming, our businesses will be able to single-handedly be placed in the spotlight.”
Residents who live in proximity to Protective Stadium are excited for what the games mean to them and the city. Edward Eaton, acting vice president of the Druid Hills Neighborhood Association, agreed that the event could help reverse the outdated view that outsiders have of Birmingham.
“That stigma is still attached to (the city) – the bombings, the race relations and stuff like that – but we totally have turned that around quite a bit … and people have to see it for themselves to actually have something to compare it with,” he said.
James Sullivan, former president of the Central City Neighborhood Association, said visitors will see that the city has more to offer than what happened in its past. “There is diversity, and people actually talk. … They’re going to see people talking happily. (They’re going to see) growth and development. It will be a welcoming experience.”
Woodfin said he understands why residents are excited.
“People from around the world will descend upon our community and city, and they will get to see who we are. That should excite every single human being that’s a citizen of this city,” the mayor said. “It’s a reset button. Ask Atlanta, (Summer Olympics) 1996. Ask (Los Angeles Summer Olympics) 1984. The last time the World Games was in America, it was held in Santa Clara, California, in 1981. This is an amazing opportunity.”
This story originally was published by The Birmingham Times. Staff writers Ryan Michaels and Haley Wilson contributed.
