The Gadsden City Council on Oct. 7 approved contracts to advance construction of the Gadsden Athletic Center and authorized city counsel to negotiate acquisition of an adjacent parcel needed for the project.

Councilwoman Menacher presented a resolution awarding bid number 3610 for the Gadsden Athletic Center site work contract in the amount of $673,400, to be funded from fiscal‑year 2026 bond proceeds. The council voted to consider the item as new business and adopted the resolution.

Councilman Smith then presented a separate resolution awarding bid number 3611, a pre‑engineered metal building (PMB/PEMB) contract for the shell of the main building on West Meagan, in the amount of $2,973,000, also funded by FY‑26 bond proceeds. The council suspended rules to consider the resolution immediately and adopted it.

Councilman Wilson presented a resolution authorizing the city to acquire a piece of property adjacent to the athletic center and gave the city’s general counsel, Lee Roberts, permission to proceed with negotiations to purchase the parcel and to use eminent domain if necessary. Council members voted to consider the item under new business and then adopted the resolution; the clerk recorded one abstention on the final adoption.

Council members discussed that the site‑work contract covers preparing the pad for construction and that the shell contract funds the metal building shell of the main structure. A point of lighthearted discussion addressed signage and naming conventions for the facility; that exchange did not change the contracts or project scope.

All three measures were presented as time‑sensitive and funded by FY‑26 bond proceeds. The council did not specify a final construction schedule during the meeting. The resolutions were adopted without recorded roll‑call tallies beyond the single abstention on the property acquisition vote.