The Jefferson County Commission is expected to commit $30 million towards a stadium to be built on Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex property downtown.
The commission's finance committee on Tuesday approved allocating $1 million a year from the county's economic development fund for 30 years to the debt service on the multi-purpose facility, Commissioner David Carrington said.
The full commission will vote on the measure on Thursday.
The proposed $174 million open air stadium was designed by Kansas City, Mo design and architecture firm Populous. It was included in the BJCC's master plan released in 2016.
Carrington said the BJCC has held multiple meetings over the last few months with the commission, city of Birmingham, UAB, Birmingham Business Alliance, state lawmakers and other parties to look at the feasibility and desirability of the project.
"The commission had already decided what commitment we would make" so the body decided to bring it to a vote, he said.
The proposed stadium will include 45,000 permanent seats and space for 10,000 more temporary seats. The facility would also have 90,000 square feet of meeting and exhibition space.
Carrington said the facility could be used for UAB football, soccer, high school football playoffs, extreme sports, concerts and other special events.
He said the project needs to move forward to have it complete by the 2021 World Games.
The city of Birmingham has yet to commit funds to the project.