Speakers at a City of Anniston presentation described a Foundry District concept to pair a trail‑adjacent park with small, flexible incubator retail bays aimed at helping entrepreneurs launch storefronts with lower upfront risk.

The presenters said the proposal builds on the city’s comprehensive and economic development plans and Main Street Alabama work, and they cited downtown outcomes to justify the approach. Speaker 2 said, “Downtown Anniston has added 104 new businesses and was designated as Main Street town in 2014. And since then, public and private investment downtown totaled over $70,000,000.” Speaker 1 described Main Street’s four‑point strategy of promotion, design, economic vitality and organization and detailed how the incubator would fit into that approach.

The plan envisions a diagonal gateway from downtown into a park-like interior with flexible ‘‘garage bay’’ incubator spaces that entrepreneurs could rent in single or multiple bays. Speakers described typical bay footprints of roughly 15 by 15 or 20 by 20 feet (the team said they had initially considered 12-by-12 bays but increased flexibility). Speaker 2 said the bays are intended to let businesses start small, test concepts and then move to other downtown locations as they grow.

Presenters highlighted a local training pipeline: “In the first session ... we had 40 graduates from the Get Up Anniston program. From those 40, we have had 14 open their businesses so far since January,” Speaker 1 said. The presentation also covered phasing, pricing, sponsorship tiers (including a proposed “wall of founders” and an annual festival), and outreach to potential donors. The transcript cites a ‘‘Paul Broom Historic Remodelization Grant’’ as one source of funding for related downtown work.

Design features discussed included an entry plaza with crosswalks, angled on‑street parking, new sidewalks, lighting, signage and an interior lawn or event space intended to keep trail users on site and support restaurants, seasonal kiosks and anchor tenants. Speakers emphasized the goal of creating a public destination that supports entrepreneurship rather than converting the whole corridor to conventional commercial development.

Presenters invited questions and said more materials (phasing, economic impact projections and sponsorship summaries) were available in a shared drop box. No formal council action or vote on the Foundry District plan was recorded during this session; presenters described the concept, funding options and next steps for outreach and design.