After a more than 20-year hiatus, the state track meets are returning to Selma, and the city is preparing to accommodate the thousands of visitors the meets bring.

The Alabama High School Athletic Association Class 1A, 2A and 3A state track championships will take place Friday at 8 a.m. and Saturday at 5 p.m. on Shug Jordan Track and Field at Memorial Stadium.

It’s the first time that Selma will host the AHSAA state track meets since 1990 — back when it used to host the event for all AHSAA classifications — and Selma Parks and Recreation director Elton Reece said it’s taken over a year of preparation for the event’s return.

“Some people don’t realize just how much work it takes to put on a track meet,” Reece said. “When you take 1,700 athletes, 300 coaches, and 2,000 or 3,000 people and put them in the stadium, everything has to be organized and run smoothly or it turns into chaos. That’s what we’re trying to do and cover every base that we can.”

Reece said 150 schools and about 1,700 athletes from around the state will be in Selma for the meet, adding the event has a big financial impact.

“Other than the financial gain for the city, the hotels, the restaurants, the revenue that comes off of the gasoline and shopping, it brings probably 4,000 people to our city and it’s a great economic impact for our city,” Reece said. “We want to make sure it’s done right, that the people enjoy themselves and see our new, renovated stadium and see our facilities. It’s just we’re trying to sell the city of Selma.”

Selma Mayor George Evans agreed that hosting the state track meets are significant to Selma financially and from an image perspective.

“It’s significant because we have a state-of-the-art track facility here and the fact that we have roughly 7,000 people coming here this weekend and we have about 1,700 athletes who’ll be running here through Saturday evening,” Evans said, “and that impacts our hotels and restaurants in the city, and it sends a positive message that the quality of life is good. I think it’s a golden opportunity and one that we have not had over the last 20 years that is back here. I think it sends a good message to the surrounding areas that we have a destination place here.”

Local businesses are already seeing the impact of the state meets, and are glad to see them return.

“We have at least three high school track teams coming in today (Thursday) and staying until Friday,” said Rufus Ford, general manger of Hampton Inn-Selma. “This year has been exceptionally well because normally we don’t have that many. I know for a while the city had lost the track meet, but now they’ve got it back, and it will certainly help out with the economy.”