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Sand Mountain Park and Amphitheater celebrates Alabama’s Albertville community
The Sand Mountain Park and Amphitheater is a 140-acre sports, recreation and entertainment complex that has been a vision of City of Albertville, Alabama, for more than 20 years. Located in north Alabama at least an hour away from a large municipality, the park has become a regional destination since its grand opening in 2021.
Renovation of City of Albertville’s parks and recreation department had long been a dream vocalized by community members and elected officials alike. The previous recreational facilities were outdated, had been poorly maintained, and lacked amenities and equipment storage. The city saw an opportunity to improve its quality-of-life services to meet the requests of the community, but local challenges prevented change from igniting.
Stars finally aligned when Mayor Tracy Honea was re-elected for his second term in 2017. United with a newly elected city council behind a common mission, Mayor Honea and City of Albertville engaged Chambless King Architects and began an almost five-year journey to complete the Sand Mountain Park and Amphitheater.
Master planning and programming for the project spanned 18 months and was intensely focused on listening to residents and community stakeholders. Taking time at the beginning of the project for a detailed and thoughtful planning phase ensured a true understanding of the unique identity of the community — its history, people and resources — for the development of a tailor-made park that could serve both current and future needs of Albertville. The resulting design celebrates the community’s dedication to recreational activities for all age groups and skill levels.
Amenities By the Numbers
The centerpiece of the Sand Mountain Park and Amphitheater is the 100,000-square-foot multipurpose center, which includes more than 100 pieces of workout equipment, two group fitness studios, two racquetball courts, a two-lane elevated walking track, meeting/party space for up to 55 occupants, administrative areas, restrooms, wet/dry locker rooms, childcare, concessions, a café, a retail shop with branded park merchandise, indoor aquatics and a multifunction gymnasium.
The foundation of the gymnasium is four full-size basketball courts that can be converted into youth or volleyball courts. Drop-down curtains can further divide the gym for intramural or tournament play. The space can also be fully transformed for banquets with up to 2,000 guests or community events, such as trade shows, craft fairs and graduation ceremonies.
The indoor aquatics center features an eight-lane competition/lap pool, therapeutic pool and splash elements, along with two birthday party/event rooms, a dedicated water aerobics zone and a highly popular Ninja Cross system. Floor-to-ceiling glazing visually connects indoor aquatics to outdoor aquatics, where visitors can enjoy a 500-foot lazy river, three-lane lap pool, vortex pool, leisure pool, a 5,600-square-foot splash pad with 48 spray elements, shaded lounge areas and a 25-foot water slide.
Outdoor amenities include 15 separate sports fields — nine turf baseball and softball fields, five multipurpose fields, and one Miracle Field — and a tennis center with concessions, an observation deck, and 12 hard and four clay courts for recreational and tournament play. An 18-hole disc golf course weaves between the sports fields, concessions and restroom buildings, covered pavilions, seven playgrounds, two sand volleyball courts, two Gaga-Gaga ball pits, 17-spot RV park, two dog parks, and four miles of hiking and bike-riding trails.
An 8,000-person capacity amphitheater caps the park, hosting an annual concert series with internationally recognized headliners during warmer months and Alabama’s largest outdoor real-ice skating rink in winter.
Dedication to Play Equity
The City of Albertville City Council held a strong belief that all residents deserve access to high-quality sports and recreation opportunities within their community. They understood how improved recreational offerings could deepen its residents’ connection to place, foster a sense of communal belonging and encourage rural population retention. Their commitment to equity was a driving force behind the extensive and inclusive amenities offered at the Sand Mountain Park and Amphitheater.
The nine playgrounds across the property are 97 percent accessible, with almost every single feature able to be enjoyed by children regardless of their ability. The indoor and outdoor aquatics centers provide water-
play options for all ages from toddlers on the splash pad to older adult water aerobics. Age-specific sports programming extends from youth to adult basketball, softball, volleyball and tennis leagues.
The Miracle Field is a point of pride for the Sand Mountain Park and Amphitheater. Created in partnership with the national Miracle League organization, the synthetic turf baseball/softball field is fully accessible for wheelchairs. The Miracle League saw enormous growth from its first to second seasons, doubling from 51 to 102 players and now totaling eight teams.
Outreach is an important aspect of programming at the park. All full-time Albertville City School System employees receive a Premier Membership to the park at no cost, and free, family-friendly activities are held onsite regularly. Special events — like women-only Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu classes and job fairs — also work to gather the community together. Visitors in town for baseball tournaments have access to nearby playgrounds, pavilions and other facilities to help keep family members active and entertained during games.
Locally Focused on Every Level
Consideration of equity extends into the detailed site design where emphasis was placed on the connections between facilities to provide openings for visitors to easily access and experience multiple venues. These in-between spaces also were utilized to create spontaneous moments for rest through dedicated seating and shade areas clustered along the pathway network and for play through the playgrounds sprinkled throughout the site.
Visual connection between facilities was also important. A logo, signature colors and brand standards were established for the Sand Mountain Park and Amphitheater and can be seen on wayfinding and signage throughout the park.
Material selections for the architecture were inspired by the natural environment and industry within the area, further reinforcing a connection to place. The buildings at the park are defined by simple, iconic building forms and clad with linear concrete panels, stacked stone veneer, wood soffits and glazing. Natural daylighting and open circulation were used whenever possible to energize interiors and further blur the line on where the exterior ends.
Landscape design involved planting more than 55,000 plants and 1,400 trees Indigenous to the local ecosystem across the park’s 140 acres. Many wooded areas on the perimeter of the original site were saved during construction and now provide coverage for hiking trails. A remote watering system is utilized to efficiently keep the complex green, and moisture sensors located throughout the park send data to a central computer that notifies the landscape team when a particular zone needs to be watered.
Care was taken to guarantee all elements of the park are locally focused and link back to the park’s mission of community equity. The result is a park that can provide a positive, all-encompassing atmosphere for every single guest.
A Catalyst for Development
Funding for the $79 million Sand Mountain Park and Amphitheater was achieved through the City of Albertville City Council securing a 30-year bond issue and approving a one-cent sales tax increase. At the time, there had not been a sales tax increase in the city for 20 years, and Albertville had one of the lowest sales tax rates in the State of Alabama at 8 percent. Revenue from the tax was earmarked specifically for infrastructure improvements and initially generated $3.1 million a year.
While service to the community was the primary driver behind the project, City of Albertville also saw an opportunity to use sports tourism as a catalyst for economic development. Following the completion of the Sand Mountain Park and Amphitheater — and the resulting economic growth in the area — the city’s revenue from the initial sales tax increase has skyrocketed, enabling repayment of the bond and reinvestment into the community.
Reports boasted $23.2 million in economic impact from the Sand Mountain Park and Amphitheater within its first full year of operations, beating initial projections by more than $10 million. The park’s first year also garnered 5,300 memberships and more than 25,000 one-day passes. Additional revenue resulted from the park hosting more than 75 events.
The project also has been a direct catalyst for substantial retail and hospitality development within the area. Prior to construction of the park, City of Albertville had not been able to attract national retailers but now has five, along with two major hotel chain locations, six additional national food brands, a nine-screen movie theater, and more than 10 new locally owned restaurants and boutiques.
The achievement of the Sand Mountain Park and Amphitheater has spurred similar sports tourism complexes in other parts of Alabama. Team members from the project — notably master planner and designer Chambless King Architects, park manager Sports Facilities Companies, branding consultant A Studio and many of the engineers — are leading the development of Alabama parks in Northport, Montgomery, Tuscaloosa, Gadsden, Gulf Shores and Saraland.
Celebrating and Looking Forward
The Sand Mountain Park and Amphitheater has become a showpiece for the state of Alabama and the ultimate destination for sports, events and community gathering on both a local and regional level. Alabama Mountain Lakes Tourist Association named the park as its 2023 Attraction of the Year, the America Sport Builders Association recognized the gymnasium with its top national award, and the design of the fitness center and amphitheater have both received Honor Awards from chapters of the American Institute of Architects. More significant than the awards, however, is the continued support the park receives from its community. The park is alive with activity every day of the week — from older adults staying active in group fitness classes to families eating picnics in the pavilions and splashing at the waterpark, to guests running on trails and throwing frisbees at the dog park, or visitors in town for a concert or just parking their RV for a few days to enjoy the amenities. With more than 90,000 monthly visitors, it’s hard to deny the Sand Mountain Park and Amphitheater has become the heartbeat of its community and dramatically improved quality of life within the area.
Michael Shows, AIA, is Principal at Chambless King Architects.