A proposed $50 million amphitheater that could seat up to 9,000 people received a less-than-enthusiastic reception when it was presented during Tuesday’s committee meeting of the Jefferson County Commission.

Commission President Jimmie Stephens doled out copies of The Star Uptown Amphitheater Opportunity, a seven-page information booklet produced by Corporate Realty, to fellow commission members.

The plan calls for an amphitheater that could seat from 8,500 to 9,000 and would be owned by the Birmingham Jefferson Civic Center Authority and managed by Live Nation.

The downtown entertainment venue would be located north of Protective Stadium and west of The Star at Uptown development on the old Carraway Hospital campus. It would replace the “aging” Oak Mountain Amphitheater, which is managed by Live Nation.

The proposal calls for Jefferson County, Live Nation and the BJCC to contribute $5 million apiece as a one-time investment in the project.

“I’m very concerned as a commissioner and co-chair of economic development that these facts are now being brought at a time when there is a possible vote that is being asked for by this commission,” Lashunda Scales said. “This is not the time when you find out what is going on with a multimillion-dollar project that the county is being asked to give $5 million. As a matter of fact, the county just gave an additional $4 million (via ARPA federal funds) to bail out The World Games.

“Now here we are talking about something else that may be entertainment-related but not (adding to) quality of life, in its initial stages,” Scales said.

Scales also expressed concern about Jefferson County’s upcoming refinance of its sewer debt.

Stephens initially called the proposal “our project.” When other commissioners pushed back on that term, he said Jefferson County “could be” part of the project.

Reading from the packet, Stephens said the new urban amphitheater would host 15 to 17 shows per year, selling 120,000 tickets annually and generating approximately $7 million in gross ticket revenue annually.

Commissioner Joe Knight was skeptical of those figures.

“That’s a pretty high prediction, but also the numbers that Live Nation presented in the packet, there’s a big bold thing at the bottom that says, ‘We won’t guarantee these numbers. This is the just an estimate,’” he said. “It’s hocus-pocus to me.”

Knight added that no source was given for the figures presented. “My teacher told me you need to show your work,” he added.

Scales expressed concern about traffic near Protective Stadium when events are hosted there or nearby.

“No one is talking about the infrastructure that’s going to be required in order for this to … make sense,” she said. “When you start talking about building out projects of this magnitude, you’ve got to start talking about some infrastructure. You currently don’t have that.”

Commissioner Steven Ammons said the amphitheater will offer a chance to expand the entertainment district around the Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex, thus improving the quality of life for residents.

“I’m not necessarily against it,” he said. “I think it’d be a good opportunity. But financially, I want to make sure that it makes sense. I want to make sure that we’re not the backstop (guaranteeing funds if there is a shortfall) if we do cash up front.”

Said Stephens: “I don’t want to be the backstop. I feel the same way. It was my suggestion in that meeting with the BJCC to take the Jefferson County off of that guarantee.”

The Jefferson County Commission president is a member of the BJCC board. Knight is on the board of the Greater Birmingham Convention and Visitors Bureau.

The BJCC Authority is looking to un-encumber existing payments in lieu of taxes (PILOTS) revenues from the operations of the Sheraton Birmingham and Westin Birmingham hotels that by agreement go to GBCVB. According to the plan, that action would allow those PILOT revenues to be pledged to long term debt.

The Alabama Legislature enacted PILOTS in 2003 on behalf of the BJCC Authority.

Stephens said the amphitheater plan will “just go away” if it is not approved at Monday’s meeting of the GBCVB.

In committee action, the commission moved to the agenda of its meeting Thursday in Bessemer an agreement with the Regional Planning Commission of Greater Birmingham to receive funds for a study for the Fultondale-Gardendale Connector.

Gonzalez-Strength and Associates has been selected to perform the study to reevaluate the feasibility of constructing a new road from Walker Chapel Road in Fultondale to Fieldstown Road in Gardendale.

“We’re looking at the westside of I-65,” County Manager Cal Markert said. “If we can connect up that westside, there would be a lot of potential for industrial development on that undeveloped land.”