Business View Magazine | August 2019

184 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE AUGUST 2019 World class sports AT A GLANCE THE BIRMINGHAM CROSSPLEX WHAT: An indoor track and aquatic facility WHERE: Birmingham, Alabama WEBSITE: www.birminghamcrossplex.com T he Birmingham Crossplex, which opened in 2011, is a $46 million indoor track and aquatic facility located in Birmingham, Alabama. Its mission is to provide a venue for athletes to compete at the highest possible level for indoor track and field, swimming and diving, and volleyball events, among other sports. The Crossplex is comprised of three facilities under one roof – an indoor, 200-meter hydraulically banked track, which can be converted into nine volleyball courts; an Olympic-size natatorium; and the Bill Harris Arena, a 5,000-seat, multi-purpose facility with a floor space of 20,000 square feet. To date the Birmingham Crossplex has hosted 18 NCAA National Championships across all three divisions. In the next three years, that number will have increased to 29 NCAA National Championships, putting Birmingham in the top ten cities that have hosted national championships in that time frame. The Crossplex was originally conceived as a place where high school athletes could hold their indoor track and field events, and only came to fruition through the efforts of a group of concerned stakeholders and one visionary mayor. “The sport of indoor track and field was run at a venue called the Barn outside of a town called