Right People. Right Place. Right Time. That’s Dothan’s new unofficial motto. Dothan has witnessed a convergence of these elements, all pushing the city toward a bright future. Here are some of the projects that are leading the way.
City Center project
The City Center project has been years in the making. Cities typically develop around a core downtown area and many times experience declines, over time, in that same area. In recent years, southern cities have made efforts to revitalize their core areas, and Dothan is no different.
The vision for the City Center project was shared with the public on April 11, 2022, at the Dothan Civic Center. Hundreds of interested citizens came to learn about the plan to re-envision downtown Dothan. The gathered crowd cheered as the plan was revealed. Since that night, Dothan has been working toward making the vision a reality.
The ground was broken on the project on Jan. 16, 2024. The first phase of the City Center project is now coming to a close. Phase I consists of a three-story addition to the historic Dothan Opera House along with the adjacent Porter Park and Events Plaza, which will serve as the gateway into the City Center.
The Opera House addition consists of 7,700 square feet of event space, additional restrooms, a warming kitchen for caterers and a large video wall to display images or presentations. The Opera House also has undergone major renovations, including new sound and lighting systems and upgraded stage amenities.
Another Phase I project within Dothan’s City Center is the Wiregrass Innovation Center, a 45,000-square-foot structure that will be the home of HudsonAlpha Wiregrass, which is focusing its efforts on genomic research as it relates to agriculture and forestry. Co-located within the Innovation Center will be other startups from the world of agriculture technology. The structure also will house a business incubator where entrepreneurs can have access to the resources they will need to get a fledgling business off the ground.
Plans for Phase II of the City Center project already are underway. Phase II will include a new City Hall and an adjacent City Hall Annex. The new City Hall building will be more than 65,000 square feet and house the mayor, city commission, city manager and other departments including legal, finance, planning, city clerk and public works. City Hall also will house the city commission chambers, where all commission meetings will be held.
The City Hall Annex structure will be more than 20,000 square feet and will house the personnel and information technology departments.
Wiregrass Pets Rescue and adoption center
While it’s not located in the city’s downtown area, Dothan is collaborating on a new, 22,000-square-foot facility to house local cats and dogs. Rachel Smith, executive director of the shelter, said, “Wiregrass Pets is a 501c3 nonprofit that was established for the sole reason to build a new animal shelter and to assume responsibility as the manager of the animal shelter.”
When the new shelter opens, Wiregrass Pets will manage and operate the shelter and be in charge of all on-site animal care, animal placement through adoptions, fostering, transport and all humane education and community programming, including birthday parties, youth summer camps, movie nights, literacy programming, puppy and kitten yoga and foster and volunteer training and classes.
Economic development activities
Not only is Dothan redeveloping its downtown area, but it is also recruiting and attracting new businesses to the area. Here are a few of the newly relocated businesses:
SmartLam, with operations in Dothan and in Montana, is the largest glulam manufacturing facility in the United States. SmartLam’s new $70 million facility has initially hired more than 60 people.
Peak Renewables uses wood residuals from neighboring sawmills and other wood product facilities to manufacture wood pellets, used as sources of energy for homes and businesses around the world. Peak has initially hired 27 employees and has invested more than $30 million in its local operation.
Southern Roots Nut Co. has relocated to Dothan and has invested $17 million in its local processing facility and hired 120 workers. The company will distribute, process and cold-store pecans.
Dothan has also developed two new industrial sites to accommodate future business.
Westgate Super Site, a 446-acre industrial site owned by Dothan’s industrial development board, is a collaboration between the city and county, with state funding. It has water, sewer, power, gas and a CSX Rail line.
Napier Field Industrial Park is a new, 86-acre industrial site with road, sewer and gas connectivity. Funds from the Dothan City Commission and Houston County Commission have been used, along with a Growing Alabama grant from the state, to make these infrastructure improvements.
Community development initiatives
Dothan has received a $7.75 million Housing and Urban Development Grant to construct a community center that will be located on the Wiregrass Public Safety Center’s campus. This facility will allow gatherings of more than 200 people for training purposes to support the mission of the safety center. This facility is one of only a few in the United States where citizens can learn and train along with public safety personnel for the good of the community.
Henry County
The latest U.S. Census data shows Henry County as one of the fastest growing in Alabama. An AL.com report shows Henry County in the top 10 counties for growth in Alabama in 2024.
Also, in 2024 the Abbeville Municipal Airport’s runway expansion was completed. The runway now stretches more than 5,000 feet, a significant difference from the previous 3,800-foot runway.
This article appears in the July 2025 issue of Business Alabama.
