HEROES Experience
The NFPA HEROES Experience is a planned $100 million firefighter-themed visitor attraction which will anchor a planned 200-acre development at the intersection of U.S. Highway 31 and Shelby County Highway 52, near I-65 Exit 242 (the "Tank Farm Exit") in Pelham. It is anticipated to open in 2021
The attraction is under development by the National Center for Fire and Life Safety (NCFLS), with the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) as naming sponsor. The NCFLS had formally announced an Alabama Firefighters Museum & Education Center in Calera as a joint development of Shelby County, the City of Calera, the Calera Industrial Development Board, the Calera Chamber of Commerce and the Alabama Fire College. Lindsay Schluntz, formerly of the Nebraska Firefighters Museum, was announced as director of the new museum in 2013, but it never opened.
Announced five years later, the NFPA HEROES Experience is expected to offer high-tech educational exhibits in a 100,000 square foot facility. Verner Johnson Architects of Boston, Massachusetts is working with BRC Imagination Art and the Jim Henson Company on the design of the exhibits and the building. According to the NCFLS, the exhibits will teach about the history of firefighting and emergency medical services; communicate the mental, physical and intellectual requirements for effective emergency services; and promote understanding of how to make the world a safer place. The historical exhibits will include equipment and artifacts donated by former Birmingham firefighter J. D. King and his wife Bobbie
The site for the project will be donated by the City of Pelham, along with other unspecified incentives.
References
- Reed, Martin J. (July 8, 2013) "Alabama Firefighters Museum in Calera gets first executive director." The Birmingham News
- Harris, Brianna (April 18, 2018) "Major development announced for Exit 242 in Pelham". Shelby County Reporter
- West, Ty (April 18, 2018) "Pelham selected for $100M major national attraction." Birmingham Business Journal