Gov. Bentley 'impressed' with Phenix City's riverfront development

Phenix City put its best foot forward Friday when Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley toured the development properties along the Chattahoochee River.

And the governor, who visited the area at the urging of Mayor Eddie Lowe, left three hours later impressed with the investment made in recent years by Phenix City, Troy University and local business leaders.

“In the bible it says, ‘without a vision, the people will perish,’” Bentley told more than 250 people who gathered at the Courtyard Marriott for lunch. “The thing I see here in Phenix City and the thing I see from Mayor Lowe and all of you people here, y’all are trying to make your city better.”

Bentley, a Republican who is nearly a year into his second term, said the riverfront development is being done for all the right reasons.

“You are doing it to try to help people,” he said. “It all boils down to people — to help them get a job, get educated, get a better way of life. But you are selling your city. That is what is important.”

For the first time in decades, Phenix City political, business and civic leaders had something new and shiny to show the governor. At the center of that was the $10.8 million Troy campus between the 14th Street bridge and the Riverview public housing complex.

Everywhere the governor looked, extensive investment at been recently made, or was being made, starting with the nearly $25 million urban whitewater course. The Courtyard Marriott, which opened late last year, came with a $12 million public and private price tag. The city is spending $3.4 million to create Whitewater Avenue, a two-block showcase boulevard along the river in front of the Marriott and the Troy campus. The city hasalso  spent $2.6 million on a new parking deck.

“It is a change in attitude and you are really trying to sell your area,” Bentley said. “When you recruit industry to an area, the locals are the ones who have to sell it. It doesn’t necessarily have to come from the top. That is what Phenix City is doing and I am impressed with it.”

He is also impressed with the cooperation across city and state lines. Several key Columbus business leaders, including Columbus Bank & Trust President Billy Blanchard and TSYS Chairman and CEO Troy Woods, attended the lunch.

But Bentley knows Phenix City has it challenges. Even though it is only 75 miles from Montgomery, Phenix City is snug tight against the Georgia line and is a bedroom community to a larger out-of-state city.

“I don’t want to say that it is a disadvantage, but it does make it a little different,” he said. “It is on a different time zone. But I don’t see that as much as I thought I would. I was here two years ago and have visited with the mayor a couple of times. But today I saw some very positive things for Phenix City.”

Bentley’s visit was a huge success for Phenix City, Mayor Eddie Lowe said.

“He was really impressed,” Lowe said. “But that is why we started off at Troy, showed him the Riverwalk and everything that is going on here. We didn’t get him here to take him on a tour. We took him to the place where we need to capitalize on the successes.”

Lowe put it another way.

“We are raising the expectations for Phenix City,” Lowe said. “I think he saw that.”

It was also positive for Troy University, said Chancellor Jack Hawkins and Vice Chancellor for Phenix City David White. In addition to touring the Phenix City riverfront campus, they took about 15 minutes to address the Georgia, Alabama and Florida water issues while looking out of a third-story window on the Chattahoochee. Retired Columbus Water Works President Billy Turner has joined Troy as the director of the Center for Water Resource Economics. Turner, who is on Bentley’s statewide water policy task force, and the governor talked about the water issues facing the region.

“It was rewarding for the governor to see firsthand the success and the potential for success this area holds,” Hawkins said. “I think for the future of the state and the resolution of that important issue, that may have been the most important 10 minutes he spent.”

This story was originally published September 11, 2015 at 6:16 PM with the headline "Gov. Bentley 'impressed' with Phenix City's riverfront development."