At Thursday night’s “Community Come and Go” hosted by the Selma Redevelopment Authority (SRA) at ArtsRevive, citizens of Selma had the opportunity to share with the architects, designers and city planners of DesignAlabama their hopes and ideas for the future of the city.

The building filled with applause as SRA Chairman Juanda Maxwell thanked the citizens of the city of Selma and the event’s supporters before turning the floor over to DesignAlabama Team Leader Jason Fondren.

“We have brought together a team of design professionals from different parts of the design spectrum,” said Fondren as he greeted the crowd of Selmians. “Tonight, we want to hear from you. What are Selma’s assets we can build on? What are the issues we need to overcome? What are the sacred places we need to protect? We hope with all the information that you’re willing to give to us tonight will come back out in what we give back to you in the process.”

After Fondren’s introduction the crowd dispersed, and surrounded members of DesignAlabama, eager to share their ideas.

While some of the attendees went directly for the members of DesignAlabama, others wrote down their ideas for the future of the city on sticky notes and placed them on a wall.

Before long, there was a colorful collage of notes with all manner of suggestions including, “revitalize downtown”, “utilize riverfront property”, “illuminate the Edmund Pettus Bridge” and “more restaurants, bars and nightlife”.

After speaking with several Selmians, Architect Jeremy Cutts felt he began to get a feel for the citizens of Selma and what they want for their city.
“The people of Selma are very friendly, caring and welcoming,” said Cutts. “Selma seems to be a place that draws people back, even if they’ve been gone for a while. The people of Selma are proud of their city but they want the best for it. Restaurants and entertainment, organized tourism and a thriving downtown are some of the things that I’ve been hearing. I think we’re getting lots of good information to create a plan for that.”

SRA Vice Chairman Billy Young was ecstatic as he shook hands with and hugged attendees, thanking them profusely for attending the forum.
“I’m very, very, very excited about this turnout,” he said. “We’ve got a good crowd tonight. This shows that people in Selma still care about making Selma the best it can be. They really do.”

Maxwell expressed her surprise at the community support for the event.

“I’m really speechless,” she said. “I thought we’d have a handful, but it looks like there’s 150 people here. We know the community loves Selma and that’s why they turned out tonight.”