The new Coca-Cola Amphitheater in Birmingham, just north of Uptown and Top Golf, is nearing completion in time for its first concerts next month on the former campus of the demolished former Carraway Methodist Medical Center.

“It used to be the state’s No. 1 trauma center,” said Jay Wilson, who oversees concerts for Live Nation in Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana. “Now it’s going to be the state’s No. 1 place to rock and roll.”

Wilson gave a preview tour of the new facility to media on Thursday.

The Coca-Cola Amphitheater replaces the now-demolished Oak Mountain Amphitheatre in Pelham for outdoor shows coming to Birmingham.

“We did 36 years, maybe 600 shows there,” Wilson said of Oak Mountain. “It was really a historical moment in Birmingham’s music scene. We’re always going to cherish that.”

But times have changed. Live Nation, the national concert promoter, and America’s touring musical acts outgrew Oak Mountain, he said.

“As the years have gone by, tours have gotten bigger, video walls have gotten bigger,” Wilson said. “They’re using a lot more buses and a lot more trucks. Everything’s different. So, we needed a bigger stage house.”

Walking up behind the stage, there’s a vast paved concrete area and nine truck loading docks, where large numbers of buses can park, and tractor-trailers can unload people and equipment.

Even the biggest acts with the biggest tour productions playing outdoor amphitheaters will have plenty of room here, he said.

“A band like Dave Matthews is going to have 12 to 14 trucks and 10 or 12 buses,” he said.

“Productions are getting much bigger,” he said. “It used to be a tour was six or eight trucks” of production equipment including video, lights and sound. Now there are 15 or 20 trucks. We built it where they can put nine in the dock at a time.”

There is a vast space behind the stage for parking trucks and tour buses.

“We want them to leave and say my day in Birmingham was great,” Wilson said. “Then they’ll come back.”

Between the front of the stage and the first row of permanent seats, there is a large area called the General Admission Pit, with no permanent seats.

“It’s a flexible floor,” Wilson said. “It can be all general admission, so you stand, or there can be a 500 or 1,000 standing pit with seats behind it, or it can be all reserved. We designed it to have multiple configurations. For James Taylor, there’s going to be a front row, a barricade, and the stage, all within six or eight feet. For Dave Matthews, we’ve got a 500 or 1,000 general admission set-up, so it’s an open floor. You can stand there, and then you put seats behind. It’s all on the seating chart, so you know if you’re going to stand or sit.”

“There are some people who don’t want to stand up and get that close. They’d rather be three sections back and have a nice chair. It’s all personal preference.”

There’s also a VIP area called the Vinyl Room on the west side for those who buy boxes and premium seating, with a capacity of 400 to 500, where there will be food indoors and an indoor/ outdoor viewing area.

The new amphitheater is adjacent to the former Carraway Methodist Medical Center, which is still in the process of being demolished. The four former Carraway parking decks will remain, and two of them near the north main entrance are ready to be used, in addition to nearby parking including gravel lots within walking distance.

Shuttles will also run from Uptown, so BJCC parking decks can be used for amphitheater parking. Two other parking decks near the amphitheater on the former Carraaway campus could be ready next year. One was damaged during demolition work.

This summer’s first patrons may notice a lot of demolition still going on at the former Carraway medical complex. The housing being built there in view of the music venue will augment the amphitheater, Wilson said.

“That’s a sign of progress, as opposed the hospital just being torn down,” Wilson said.

From the seats near the back of the 9,100-seat amphitheater, concertgoers will be able to see the city’s skyline, but they will also be in stadium-style seats, not sitting on bleachers, and they will have a clear and fairly close view of the stage.

“The last row’s a great seat,” Wilson said.