The stars will really be falling on Alabama soon. A new entertainment destination is in the works for Houston County.
Several country musicians are already interested in putting themed venues into Country Crossing.
"It’s going to transform our tourism market, we have over 2800 jobs in Houston County that are ties to tourism, tie that to 4800 or so," said Bob Hendrix, Dothan Convention and Visitors Bureau.
The Dothan area chamber of commerce says over a 10 year period, country crossing is expected to create up to 48-hundred jobs, 300 million in investment dollars, and project 206 million dollars on tax revenue.
Houston County Commission Chairman,Mark Culver, said "Revenue the county receives will allow us to provide services to our citizens without having to think about tax increase- increase government revenue with tax base."
Developer Ronnie Gilley compares the project to the entertainment in Branson, Missouri.
"When we formed our alliances in the country music industry the big ones we guarantee success for a Branson, if you will, with a modern day spin on it. So many people a year go to Branson, 20 plus theme venues with their names on it."
Gilley also sees the baby boomer generation playing a major part in the success of the operation.
"That society is retired over the next 10 years. 40 percent of that population is expected to move to the southern region of the United States and a vast majority of that is expected to move to a more condensed sector."
There will also be room for an electronic bingo facility that will carry charitable bingo only.
Despite the new charity bingo restrictions in place, culver says the commission is not trying to create a monopoly, but keep electronic bingo halls to a minimum in the county.
All we know about a location is an unincorporated part of Houston County. We should know a specific location in a couple of weeks.
Some developers say that Gilley was advised to move the location of "Country Crossing" to the Florida panhandle because of increased traffic. But Gilley declined.