For James Clark, the plan for an amphitheater on the former Carraway Hospital site in Norwood has been four years in the making.

Clark was Norwood neighborhood president when developers pitched the proposal for an amphitheater and multi-family housing on the site.

But the plan was eventually nixed by the Birmingham City Council.

Now that the proposal has resurfaced — with single-family housing replacing the original plan for multi-family dwellings and apartments –Clark envisions a return to prosperity for the neighborhood, with rising property values and other amenities joining the amphitheater in Norwood.

“Older neighbors said when Carraway was open, it was the premier hospital in area. There were restaurants, things to do, you could go to a café in the hospital,” said Clark, 61.

“When that died, there was no reason for people to go over there, and it withered. And the neighborhood kind of withered, too.”

The $50 million, 9,000-seat amphitheater would be owned by the Birmingham Jefferson Civic Center (BJCC) and managed by the entertainment giant Live Nation.

It would be located at The Star at Uptown, the $300 mixed-use development on the former Carraway Hospital campus in North Birmingham.

It would also replace the Oak Mountain Amphitheatre in Pelham, which is owned by Live Nation.

“This will bring investment back into the neighborhood,” Clark said.

Jermaine “FunnyMaine” Johnson, a civic-minded Norwood resident and comedian known by Alabama football fans for his “How Alabama Fans Watch” YouTube videos, said he welcomes the project despite joking about how late-night noise emanating from the amphitheater would disrupt his sleep.

“Noise is always a concern when a project of this magnitude is so close, but the new amphitheater is a much needed project for the city’s economy and I support it 100 percent,” Johnson told AL.com in a text message.

“As a neighborhood, we’ll work with project officials to address any concerns and I look forward to a great partnership.”

Earlier on social media, Johnson tweeted: “Them shows better end by 9pm. We like to sleep over here in Norwood.”

Clark said he wasn’t concerned about noise issues from the amphitheater, noting he barely hears noise coming from Sloss Furnace when the venue has concerts.

“We’ll probably hear it, but it’ll be a whole lot better than people driving through the neighborhood with a loud stereo,” he said.

Clark’s husband, Robert Christian, said the project is a net positive for not just Northwood but all of north Birmingham.

“That areas turning into an entertainment destination regionally, and that’s just going to amplify that with this scale of a facility,” he said. “I think it’s going to transform the whole Northside, not just Norwood, per se. The pluses for this really outweigh any negatives such as noise.”

Property values have been rising in the area after years of stagnation, Christian said, with even burnt-out homes in Norwood selling for $150,000.

“The pandemic, the economy around the pandemic slowed the whole process down significantly,” he said of redevelopment at the Carraway site.

“I’m really excited to have something tangible happening with the property,” he said. “I look forward to seeing it change and evolve and the neighborhoods around it evolve with it.”