This amazing year in review—our favorite stories from 2023

Well, 2023 is about to come to a close, and as we look back on the year, we can be pretty happy to be here in the Rocket City. The Huntsville area continued to see tremendous growth, and with it, some major accomplishments and developments.

Looking at the year in review, here are some highlights from our coverage of the amazing energy that has come from the Huntsville area in 2023:

More accolades for Huntsville

In 2022, Huntsville topped the U.S. New & World Report list of Best Cities to Live in the U.S. In 2023, the Rocket City continued to receive accolades in a variety of categories.

Honors and accolades from 2023 include:

U.S News & World Report again listed us among the Best Cities to Live in the U.S.
World Atlas named the city among the Most Charming Cities In The Appalachians.
Huntsville was recently listed by Architectural Digest among the top 100 for rising luxury cities in the country.
The city topped the list of Top Tech Markets in North America.
We were named one of the best cities for families in the country by U.S. New.
USA Today listed Huntsville Botanical Garden as the 6th best in the nation.
Madison County was named the best county to live in Alabama.
The Rocket City also ranked among the best cities for new home buyers by SmartAsset.

Development + construction dominated the year in review

groundbreakings year in review — The Wellory at MidCity was one of the biggest groundbreakings of the year. (Michael Seale/Hville Blast)

As we recently reported, 2023 was a year of groundbreakings in the Huntsville area. Some of the biggest and most discussed among Huntsville area residents included:

In January, officials broke ground on The Wellory at MidCity, a “net zero energy” multifamily development.
Ground was broken in 2023 on a new student apartment complex near the UAH campus.
Fite Building Co. broke ground on a new Advanced Manufacturing Center at Drake State in September.
BJ’s Wholesale store in Madison broke ground in February and opened in November to a tremendous amount of fanfare.
Huntsville City Schools broke ground on its new Central Office and Career Technical Facility.
A new College of Engineering building is coming to UAH, with the groundbreaking for the building taking place in April.

Progress on the new Huntsville City Hall

The new City Hall building took several steps forward in 2023 — a project that was also part of our 2022 year in review report.

The City Hall project hit a construction milestone over the summer with the removal of the large tower crane, a downtown skyline fixture for over a year. The topping out of the new building was celebrated earlier this year, and much to the dismay of many Hville Blast readers, the City Council approved the details surrounding the demolition of the current City Hall building.

The new City Hall building, a seven-story, 175,000-square-foot complex, will be nearly twice the size of the current Municipal Complex, which has been the home of city government for more than half a century now.

The problems with City Hall over the last decade or so have varied from water leaks, old plumbing, HVAC issues and the city is growing so much and so quickly that municipal services have expanded to the point where there simply is not room for everyone in the current building.

The new Joe Davis Stadium + the Huntsville City FC

Joe Davis Stadium, which had long been the home field for the now-relocated Huntsville Stars minor league baseball team, received a major renovation this year and was transformed into a multi-sport facility that is now home to Huntsville’s newest professional sports team, the Huntsville City Football Club — or the HCFC for short — which played its inaugural season this year.

Here are some of the features of the new version of The Joe:

Seating has been reduced from 10,000 to 6,000
Terrace seating has been built in the east end zone for fans to spread a blanket and watch the game
Bleachers built in what once was the Huntsville Stars outfield
A new synthetic turf field
LED Sports Lighting with Full Color Animation
A new restroom and concession building with expanded food service options
Renovated locker rooms
Officials locker rooms
Field-level boxes

The HCFC drew impressive crowds and amassed a huge following here in the Rocket City. The team’s second season kicks off in the spring.

The Orion Amphitheater’s 2nd season + developments

When discussing a 2022 year in review story, you would have to put the opening of the Orion Amphitheater at the top of the list, but in 2023 the incredible music venue continued to make headlines with some amazing shows and a few cool announcements.

The second season for the venue included acts like Snoop Dogg, Alison Krauss and Robert Plant, Jason Isbell and more.

One announcement this year was news of a new parking garage for the venue, and a new in-venue dining experience. Also the venue’s adjacent bar, Jeff & Blues opened this year.

Also announced this year was the partnership with Huntsville Transit to provide shuttle service to and from the Orion, which is also an indication of how popular the venue has become.

What was your favorite story of 2023? Let us know on Facebook and Instagram, and don’t forget to sign up for our newsletter!