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Birmingham Business Leadership Group Task Group's Study Recommends BJCC Site for Proposed Multi-Purpose Facility

BIRMINGHAM, Ala.-(Business Wire)-August 29, 2008 - A task group ("Task Group") formed by the Birmingham Business Leadership Group ("BBLG") today announced the findings of its Site Analysis and Feasibility Study for a proposed multipurpose facility in Birmingham, Alabama.

Earlier this year, Birmingham Mayor Larry Langford proposed the construction of a state-of-the art, multi-purpose facility ("Facility") for Birmingham. The Mayor identified three possible sites for construction of the Facility: (1) land adjoining the Birmingham Race Course; (2) the current location of Legion Field; and (3) land adjoining the Birmingham Jefferson Convention Complex. Mayor Langford asked the Birmingham Business Leadership Group to form a committee to study the relative merits of the three sites.

In response to the mayor's request, the BBLG formed the Task Group to study and make a recommendation with respect to the proposed sites. This Task Group was comprised of six community and business leaders: Mason Davis, Jr., a partner at Sirote and Permutt; Ann Florie, Executive Director of Leadership Birmingham; John D. Johns, CEO of Protective Life Corporation; Don Logan, an owner of the Birmingham Barons and Chairman of the Board of Time Warner Cable; Dudley Reynolds, President and Chief Operating Officer of Alabama Gas Corporation; and Reynolds Thompson, CEO of Colonial Properties Trust.

The Task Group engaged internationally recognized sports facility specialist Heery International to conduct the Site Analysis and Feasibility Study of the three sites.

Heery, along with its sub-consultant Conventions Sports & Leisure International (CSL), employed a 20-step process that engaged nearly 800 community members and civic leaders. The process included data collection and site observation as well as meetings and work sessions with committee members, site operators and key Birmingham organizations, such as the Birmingham Regional Chamber of Commerce, Greater Birmingham Convention & Visitors Bureau, and the Regional Planning Commission of Greater Birmingham. The consultants also conducted interviews and surveys with corporate leaders and potential users of this Facility and analyzed and evaluated the feasibility of constructing the Facility at the three proposed sites.

After receiving and carefully reviewing the study, the Task Group concurred with Heery's findings and today recommended to Mayor Larry Langford that the four-block parcel of land adjoining the, current Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex would be the best option should the city decide to proceed with the plan to build this Facility.

Mr. John D. Johns, co-chair of the Task Group, commented: "We appreciate the opportunity to provide input on this important decision and hope the study will be helpful to Mayor Langford and the City Council as they consider the City's options with respect to construction of a multipurpose facility."

Mr. Dudley Reynolds, also co-chair of the Task Group, commented: "We believe the Heery study will give the City an objective analytical framework for evaluating the proposed sites. We hope that the study serves a constructive purpose in the process."

The study only considered the relative merits of the three sites from a business perspective. The study did not address:

— Whether or not to construct the Facility

— The feasibility of financing the Facility

— Ownership and governance of the Facility

— The impact on surrounding neighborhoods or other matters that are of a public policy or political nature

The study was funded entirely by voluntary contributions from BBLG members. No public funds were expended on the study.

The complete study is available to the public at www.heeryae.com.

For Editors:

— The Birmingham Business Leadership Group is made up of about 75 business, community and education leaders in the area who meet informally with the city's mayor and other local elected officials. The group was formed during former Mayor Richard Arrington's administration.

— Heery International is one of the leading planners and designers of sports and multi-purpose facilities in the United States, with a roster that includes over 220 projects facilities worth more than $3 billion for schools in the Big Ten, MAC ACC, SEC, Big 12, Pac Ten and Big East, along with signature professional sports facilities such as the 1996 Olympic Stadium/Turner Field and the Georgia Dome. Heery began its sports facility group in the early 1960s to deliver the Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium in record time. Heery International began in 1952 and is recognized annually as one of the nation's top professional services firms by such industry publications as Engineering News-Record and Building Design & Construction.

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