Editor’s Note: The Cullman Times is counting down the top stories of 2023. Here’s No. 10.

It’s officially been in the planning stages since 2019, but this marked the year when shovels finally went in the dirt: After four years of property moves, design work, and a few cost hiccups along the way, the City of Cullman started construction on its new multipurpose civic complex — a 115,000 square-foot facility meant to anchor the array of recreational offerings in its surrounding south Cullman environs.

City leaders broke ground Nov. 9 on the new structure — rechristened in recent Park and Rec promotional parlance as an “Omniplex Sports and Civic Center” — to replace the former civic center, which was sold in 2019 to Desperation Church. The new center, of course, won’t simply replace it predecessor; it’ll expand the old facility’s offerings and capacity with more space, an adaptable configuration designed for mixed use, and a far larger roster of amenities, all aimed at addressing the area’s current and future events and recreational needs.

The main floor space at the Omniplex is designed to accommodate crowds of up to 6,500 people, alongside breakout meeting rooms and a catering kitchen. In keeping with its mixed-use mission, it’ll also feature 10 indoor basketball courts, 19 indoor volleyball courts, and six indoor pickleball courts.

Officials anticipate the new building will be ready for use by early 2025, tying together a larger 140-acre municipal parks district in the south Cullman area near Heritage Park. In addition to the park, the Omniplex will be within arm’s reach of the city’s Field of Miracles, the Cullman Wellness and Aquatics Center, Ingle Park and the Donald E. Green Active Adult Center, and the recently-opened WildWater amusement park.

It’s been a busy year for Cullman Park and Rec all around, as the city took aim at enriching its current lineup of seasonal festivals while continuing work to revitalize the First Avenue-area park corridor that hosts them. With a completed new skatepark and ongoing nearby construction nearby, Cullman expanded its annual Oktoberfest celebration for 2023, while staging an immensely upsized version of its annual German-themed Christkindlmarkt at the freshly-renovated Depot Park.