On Thursday August 15, Mayor Tommy Battle and several other city officials toured the Dr. Robert Shurney Legacy Center in anticipation for its upcoming makeover set to happen within the next two years.

The announcement comes just in time for Music Month here in HSV.

Huntsville city leaders are officially in the planning stage of an upcoming expansion at the North Huntsville Library. The revitalization focuses on the facility’s vacant second floor.

According to city officials, the plan will expand the vacant space in an effort to introduce teens and young adults to the technology of music and for workforce development programs within the creative sector.

The project will build on popular music programs already offered at the library and give young people an opportunity to begin learning various music production related technologies.

“The idea behind it is that we’ve got our own conservatory right here, located on Spartan drive in North Huntsville,” Mayor Battle explained. “We’ve got our own conservatory here. This is where young people can come and they can learn the arts, and as they learn the arts, this is an introduction to it, and that goes on to the bigger and better thing. So we’re really excited about it. This is one of those things that just adds to emphasize the artistic ability throughout the city of Huntsville, and especially in this area.”

Council Member Devyn Keith, whose district includes the Shurney Legacy Center, was also on hand for the tour and spoke about his excitement for the project’s potential.

“This is another promise kept to the community that we were looking at unique ways to integrate public spaces for public use,” Keith said. “We made a commitment to that site to be unique, for it to magnetize and give people from all over the city a reason to come to north Huntsville.”

This project will seek to partner with professionals in the music industry and will remain in the design and planning stages for the remainder or 2024 while construction will begin in 2025.

Huntsville Music Officer Matt Mandrella is hopeful that the space will result in partnerships with local music professionals, making it more dynamic in the process.

“I think that the professionals, both in the area now, and the ones that have that are from here, will potentially come back because of this space,” Mandrella shared. “I think that it’s important for our community data and our partnerships within the community for professionals to help with this space. Everything from an instructional phase to helping us plan content, helping us plan programming. It’s definitely going to be a community effort and that’s what’s needed to make it really dynamic.”

For more information, please visit www.huntsvilleal.gov.