Cleaning out garage and ran across this old yard sign. If memory serves me (correctly) it believe this was circa: 1998:
MAPS (Metropolitan Area Projects Strategy) for $500 + million sale of bonds to be paid off by an increase in sales and lodging taxes to build a new
Dome Stadium next to the BJCC
I think Jimmy Blake and Bernard Kincaid and others help to defeat it with a group called "RAPS" (Real Accountability, Progress, and Solutions).
The citizens of Birmingham supported it but the surrounding cities did not
I'm new at this so you have to click the embedded link to see the pic. I thought it loaded automatically
MAPS YES
I was able to find additional info, which follows:
"The MAPS proposal outlined 14 specific projects that would be funded by the bond sale. The following list is ranked by popularity according to polling done in July 1998"
McWane Center
Domed convention center
High-tech library system
Birmingham Zoo expansion
Downtown improvements
Regional transportation hub
Light rail system
Vulcan renovations
Alabama Theater and Lyric Theater renovations
Walking and biking trails
Swimming and aquatic center
Funding for the majority of these projects has since been pursued successfully despite the defeat of the MAPS proposal. Some of the projects were funded by a smaller-scale city-wide sales tax hike, the "Birmingham Economic and Community Revitalization Ordinance", which took effect on January 1, 2008.