Montgomery Mayor Steven Reed speaks about the future of Montgomery Whitewater
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WAKA) – As Montgomery Mayor Steven Reed held his regular media briefing today, Action 8 News asked him his thoughts on the future of Montgomery Whitewater and how to get the outdoor recreation complex on solid financial footing.
As Action 8 News has reported, Montgomery Whitewater suddenly closed for the season in early September, which led to layoffs and the cancelling of fall and winter activities, other than a few private events. Officials hope to reopen the 120-acre complex in March.
Reed says the city has remained outside the governance of Whitewater, which the county has supported, but that he wants it to succeed because it’s in city limits.
He says in order for that to happen, financial management must be examined but that it has not reached full expectations since it opened in 2023.
“A lot of community members, a lot of local residents have never been to Whitewater,” Reed said. “A lot of them don’t know what it offers, and so I think basic community outreach is part of that and I think that’s something that may help it succeed because we need it to succeed. We want the county to be successful. We want the authority to be successful. We want the entire corridor to be an attraction that brings retail and residential investments to this part of Montgomery.”
Reed says Whitewater was never meant to be a stand-alone project, but something that would spark more development on Maxwell Boulevard between downtown and Maxwell Air Force Base.
He says the current struggles don’t mean that the goals won’t be reached, but that the facility has to be managed in the meantime.
For that to happen, Reed says Whitewater’s management has to do a better job reaching out to the community. He says certainly you want to market to people who are in the State of Alabama looking for tourist attractions, but that an effort needs to be made to attract local people.
An audit of Montgomery Whitewater’s finances and spending is due to be released later this year.
