Donald Brown, a 28-year resident of Tuscaloosa, spoke to the council of his concerns about transforming the building into a party venue. Brown, a member of the Original City Association, began protesting the sale 11 months ago.
“Your ‘yes’ vote has symbolized your allowance for a party house full of drinking, drunkenness and disruptions,” Brown said.
Brown said he does not like the idea of the transformed facility being so close to himself and his neighbors.
“I believe it’s a misuse of the facility, and a little party turns into a rowdy gathering for my neighborhood,” Brown said.
Brown said he makes these statements based on his past experiences dealing with similar issues.
“Not that I have anything against parties or the University as a whole, I just know from my past experience what this kind of thing will bring to my neighborhood, and I don’t like that at all,” Brown said.
Brown said he isn’t the only one on his block upset about the new party hall, but he was the only one to stand up for the block as a whole.
“Although I knew it was a done deal, and I knew I wasn’t going to change any minds, I wanted a chance to exercise my right to speak and speak for myself,” Brown said.
Brown said he hoped to let city council members know how he felt about the situation and point the council’s attention toward downtown and the historic district.
“Me and my team have really set our focuses on downtown,” Mayor Walter Maddox said. “We have taken our downtown from where it was to where it is now.”
Maddox said the city has funneled $600,000 into the downtown area over the past year.
“We 100 percent support our downtown and historic districts, and they are incredibly important to our success,” city council member Matthew Calderone said.
