Reviewed by: Caleb Turrentine
Dothan City Center and Opera House set for major transformation [PHOTOS]
Reading time: 3 minutes
According to the City of Dothan, after years of dedication and planning, the downtown area will undergo a revitalization that will pave the way for Dothan to become a “next-level city.”
Continue reading to discover the exciting impact this project will have on Dothan, project updates, completion timelines and photos.
Rebirth of Dothan: What to expect
The City of Dothan will be introducing the Wiregrass Innovation Center, a cutting-edge 45,000-square-foot facility that will serve as a focal point for:
- Collaboration
- Education
- Entrepreneurship
- Research
“It’s a journey whose path will be long, it’s a journey that will have many turns, but it is a journey that will make the Wiregrass Innovation Center a home for the visionaries who will shape the future of the Wiregrass and the entire world.”
Mark Saliba, Mayor of Dothan
Expected upgrades to the historic Dothan Opera House include:
- Audio-visual upgrades
- Back-of-house improvements
- Event plaza
- Expanded lobby
- Lighting upgrades
- New HVAC system
- Outdoor dining space
- Outdoor performance area
“The conceptualization [photos] merely allows us to see how certain structures fit within the downtown city-center footprint. The base elements will exist, but forms may change depending on several factors. Rest assured; this will be a generational shift in re-imagining Dothan’s downtown.”
City of Dothan
Expected completion dates for the projects are:
- Dothan Opera House: May 2025
- Porter Park + Events Plaza: July 2025
- Wiregrass Innovation Center: February 2026
Major construction began in 2024
As we reported in January 2024, Phase I of the City Center project commenced when ground was broken on the historic Dothan Opera House and the new Porter Park and Events Plaza.
City leaders are working with the design group RDG, a national leader in re-imagining cities’ core spaces, to conceptualize what Dothan’s city-center could become.
Since then, Phase II of Dothan’s City Center project broke ground May 2024 to begin work on the Wiregrass Innovation Center.
“This is a great day for Dothan, the Wiregrass region and the entire state of Alabama. The Wiregrass Innovation Center will be a destination for innovators and a place for experiential learning, and the nerve center for economic development.”
Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey, while in attendance at the Wiregrass Innovation Center groundbreaking
The facility has been made possible by grants from the state of Alabama ($20 Million), The Wiregrass Foundation ($10 Million) and Innovate Alabama ($375,000).
HudsonAlpha Wiregrass will serve as the flagship tenant, leading advancements in genomic research and agricultural technology (agtech) initiatives.
For more info, visit The City of Dothan’s website + view up-to-date photos of the construction here.
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