The city has agreed to hire a program administrator for grant administered by the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs, clearing the way for a $250,000 start on an amphitheater at the burgeoning Riverfront Park.

On Tuesday, majority of the Selma City Council approved hiring Janey Galbraith of Galbraith and Associates from Mobile as the program administrator for the amphitheater project.

Council president Cecil Williamson raised objections to paying Galbraith $50,000 for overseeing the paperwork on the project. “I think 20 percent is just too much,” he said.

The state had conditionally approved the grant, but the city council had to approve a contract with a program administrator before the city could receive the money. ADECA had set a deadline of Feb. 28 for the city to complete the deal.

If the city had not accepted the terms of the grant, the money would have returned to the state, city Planning and Development Department director Charlotte Griffeth said.

The amphitheater project has changed since the Riverfront Park’s conception. In the beginning, the amphitheater was an open state structure, similar to the one in Montgomery of the river.

But city officials saw the project under way in Tuscaloosa and other projects similar in Georgia and Tennessee. The amphitheater concept changed.

Now, the city plans to take a warehouse on the site and create a stage in the front. At the rear of the stage, workers will convert the area into dressing rooms and bathrooms. The project also calls for an electrical room. Other plans call for a dock on the back to allow acts to pull up their semi-trucks loaded with equipment.

Eventually, the city will renovate the warehouse’s wings into offices and other offerings.

In front of the stage, plans call for a grassy area from the top, reaching down to a concrete sidewalk. On the other side of the sidewalk, the city will offer VIP boxes to industries and businesses in partnership with bringing acts to the city. Down in front of the state, in what would be orchestra seats in an auditorium, plans call for more room for higher-priced tickets.