Riverfront Multiplex project moves into design phase 

A multimillion-dollar riverfront development is underway after being narrowly approved by the Selma City Council.  

It took two close city council votes to get the project into the hands of Montgomery-based architecture firm Seay, Seay & Litchfield on May 27. The first vote brought the project out of committee where the city council placed it in mid-April, and then the city council voted to approve the resolution. 

Councilpersons Samuel Randolph, Atkin Jemison, Lesia James and Michael Johnson voted to approve the resolution to move the project forward. City Council President Billy Young and Councilpersons Clay Carmichael and Christie Thomas voted against the resolution. Jannie Thomas abstained, and Councilman Troy Harvill was absent.  

Congresswoman Terri Sewell secured $4 million for the design of the Riverfront Multiplex and Downtown Revitalization Project in 2023 from the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s economic development initiative. The project, now known as the Resilience Tourism Multiplex, could cost around $20 million to complete. 

The Resilience Tourism Multiplex could be “an economic driver and catalytic project,” City Planning Director Danielle Wooten said when it was announced in 2024.  

Quinton Jones, an architect with Seay, Seay & Litchfield, agreed. “(The Resilience Tourism Multiplex) will serve as a catalyst to revitalize the city,” Jones told the city council on May 27. “It will create a ripple effect and set the standard for the design of what should be coming in the years to come for the city of Selma.” 

The architecture firm said in a report that they will design “a multi-purpose public facility campus to contain 20,000 square feet for convention, entertainment and educational services. Additionally, the facility includes the space for the relocation and consolidation of the city’s governmental and administrative services, water and sewer utility services, and options for public safety services including fire and police stations.”  

The city council voted to apply for the grant several years ago, but the project has faced some resistance since the grant was approved in 2023. The city council sent the project to a committee for review rather than send it on to Seay, Seay & Litchfield, who won the bid to draw up the project.  

The multiplex was in committee until May 27, when a majority of the city council voted it out of committee and then approved hiring Seay, Seay & Litchfield to design it.  

At the May 27 meeting, Thomas objected to approving the project because she said the council didn’t have a chance to discuss it in committee, where she said it should have gone in the first place. Wooten pointed out after the vote that she gave the city council information about the project on April 1, and the project was discussed at two city council work sessions.  

Carmichael said that he was concerned that the city was getting ahead of itself by designing a building that it “might not be able to sustain.”  

In a Facebook post after the city council meeting, Carmichael said he was also concerned about cash flow. The city has several federal grants that reimburse the city for money they spend, but he said the city could find itself short on cash while waiting for money from Washington, D.C. 

With the May 27 vote, the Seay, Seay & Litchfield team will begin what architect Jones described as the predesign stage, which will include site planning and getting ideas from city officials and the community about what the project should include.  

The next phase would be designing the building itself so the project can be put out for bid.  

“This is a community effort, not just an architectural effort,” Jones told the city council before their vote on May 27. 

In other business, the city council annexed some property off Highway 22 that is the site of a car wash and a laundromat. 

The city council also held a public hearing and then approved renaming King’s Alley off Dallas Avenue to Langdon Lane.