Bridge Streetis 'destination'for poll voters

'Lifestyle center' grabs attention with big opening

Is it the gondola rides?

Or the 40 retail shops in a village-type setting?

Or maybe the 14-screen Monaco Pictures movie house?

Whatever the reason, visitors to al.com selected last month's opening of Bridge Street as the top business story of 2007.

The $210 million project, formerly called World Famous Bridge Street, was announced in September 2002. The open-air "lifestyle center" includes shops, restaurants, an office building and a 210-room four-star Westin hotel - the only Westin in the state - with its 74 condominiums.

The Monaco theater and about 20 retail shops have already opened in the unique complex, which has been called a "destination" by Mayor Loretta Spencer. Bridge Street also features a walking trail, paddle boats, a gondola for the 10-acre lake and a carousel ride on the edge of the lake.

Stores include Ann Taylor Loft, Bath & Body Works, Chocolate Crocodile, Clarks, Fossil, J. Jill, Kay Jewelers, Limited Too, Lucky Brand, Mountain High Outfitters, Reeds Jewelers, Strasburg Children, Sunglass Station, Victoria's Secret, White House/Black Market, Banana Republic, Chico's and Kate Spade. Restaurants and other shops should open early next year.

"This is such a unique property. We will get those additional persons from southern Tennessee and other places in Alabama. We are a destination," Spencer said last month. "You can come shop here, see a movie, eat dinner and get back home in a short amount of time."

Finishing second in the online balloting was the controversy surrounding Cinram bringing 1,350 unskilled workers from overseas to work at its plant here.

The No. 3 story of the year, according to voting at al.com, was the Tennessee Valley Authority restarting Browns Ferry Reactor 1 in May after it was shut down in 1985 for safety reasons.