Ronnie Gilley talks about Country Crossing

Debbie Ingram/Dothan Eagle

Published: May 15, 2008

The B-I-N-G-O word hardly came out of Ronnie Gilley’s mouth Thursday when he addressed the annual meeting of the Dothan Area Convention & Visitors Bureau.

Country Crossing, he said, was never ABOUT bingo. It is about entertainment. Country music entertainment, and creating a destination unlike any in the world. Where else could you pick any weekend of the year and find a top country act performing. This will happen, he says, on Highway 231 South at Smithville Road, the site of the development.


Click here to see a sketch of Country Crossing.

Gilley hopes, once again, to break ground on the site within 90 days. The project has been delayed by boundary surveys and legislative, uh ... “issues.“ Houston County records do not show where Gilley or his partners have purchased the land yet, but there is a conceptual drawing, based on the general layout of the land. That drawing is prone to change.

And the clock is ticking. He hopes the second annual BamaJam Festival will coincide with the grand opening of Country Crossing. That would be early June 2009.

For the first time, Gilley talked about the project’s residential component. That’s right. Your address could be Country Crossing, Alabama, and your new home could be a patio home, luxury condo or townhouse. Gilley is clear that his target market are the boomers. Their numbers are increasing, they have money and they are prone to move. They are also very interested in entertainment when it comes to vacations and relocating.

Gilley took a question from someone who asked about the prospect of Dolly signing on as one of those top country entertainers at CC. Gilley response drew laughter. “I can’t get close enough to her.“ In all likelihood, he said, Dolly would stick to her own developments/interests, which are many, and not be inclined to commit to Country Crossing.

Gilley did tease the audience with a vague comment about a potential NFL and sports connection to the development, but said nothing is set in stone. He declined to speak further on it.

Right now, those 600 or whatever acres of land about seven miles north of Enterprise are being prepared to host the first BamaJam Music and Arts Festival. Thirty entertainers have signed on to perform. There will be three stages and the 3-day festival is getting plenty of play in the music circles. A quick google search turns up the BamaJam name in various country music publications, radio station Web sites, blogs and on the sites of musicians. Word is getting around.

The husband and I will for sure be there. With his camper and Harley and my laptop. I will be both blogging and filing stories from the festival and depending on when we can set up camp, we might even get there early. I’m shipping the 6 year old off to her grandparents’ in Georgia and will work hard to see that the teenager has a full work schedule that weekend at Chick fil A. Sometimes the best vacations are those right at home.

$3.59 gas anyone?