Selma’s Riverfront Multiplex tabled as council balks at funding, timing   

A multimillion-dollar riverfront development is ready to take its next step, but at least some members of the Selma City Council expressed concerns about the project.  

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. 

City Planning Director Danielle Wooten came before the Selma City Council at their April 17 work session to present a resolution to hire Montgomery-based Seay, Seay & Litchfield to start architectural and engineering work on the project. She also asked the council to move $250,000 into the Selma Planning Department’s budget so she could pay bills as they came in. 

The request met so much resistance that it was tabled until a future meeting.  

City Councilperson Jannie Thomas said that she was concerned about spending money on a multimillion-dollar downtown complex when there are so many unaddressed needs in the wards “where people live.”  

“I get up in the morning and look around the street, and I see the same old picture for nine years,” Thomas said. “Things are crumbling. That’s the picture I look at.” 

She also questioned whether the current council should start a major project so close to an election.  

City Councilman Clay Carmichael said that he was concerned that embarking on a major project that will depend on federal funds “is not in tune” with the current administration.  

Wooten was taken aback.  

“I’m confused,” Wooten said. “Technically, you agreed to this (project) when you accepted the grant award.”  

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Wooten said that she has had no issues with receiving funds from federal grants, and not moving ahead with the multiplex would not mean any additional funds would be available for street paving or other projects. “Those are different pots of money,” Wooten said.  

She also pointed out that the planning department helped secure $20 million for repaving downtown streets, and two grants are underway now to help residents remove lead and improve their homes.  

If it gets off the ground, the Resilience Tourism Multiplex will be “an economic driver and catalytic project,” Wooten said when it was announced in 2024. 

The city wants to have facilities available to host groups that come to Selma to visit the historic sites so they will stay and conduct meetings in Selma within walking distance of history, she said. 

“The Resilience Tourism Multiplex consists of the design and construction of a multi-purpose public facility campus to contain 20,000 square feet for convention, entertainment and educational services,” according to a report from Seay, Seay & Litchfield. “Additionally, the facility includes the space for the relocation and consolidation of the city’s governmental administrative services, water and sewer utility services, and options for public safety services including fire and police stations, to enhance city operations and safety services on one public campus.” 

Carmicheal asked what the city would do with the existing city hall if it moved to the new facility on Water Avenue. Wooten said the plan would consider that question, but she said it’s about more than a new city hall.  

“It’s about creating a space where we can capitalize on visitors,” she said. Hundreds of tourists come to Selma every week, “but they can’t stay here because there’s no place to stay, no restaurants or hotels. We want to plan out what the future looks like. This is the funding that starts that process.”  

Councilman Troy Harvill said the city “may end up with nothing more than a new police department and a new jail,” but the city won’t get anything “until we come up with at least a plan.”  

Councilman Atkin Jemison said he had “high hopes” of visitors seeing a major project when they come off the Edmund Pettus Bridge. He said costs will only increase with time.