Hoover council goes with voters' 2nd choice for naming sports complex at Hoover Met

The new name for the development that includes Hoover Metropolitan Stadium and the $80 million sports complex and indoor event center being built next to it is the Hoover Metropolitan Complex, Hoover Councilman Casey Middlebrooks announced Monday night.

But that name wasn’t actually the first choice of voters who took part in an online survey the city conducted to help determine the name, Middlebrooks said today.

The first choice was the Hoover Metplex, which was preferred by 515 of the 1,428 people who voted, or 36 percent. The name “Hoover Metropolitan Complex” came in a close second with 468 votes, or 33 percent.

The problem is that the hoovermetplex.com domain name already was taken, Middlebrooks said. An unknown person registered that domain name on Oct. 13, according to Tucows domains, a website that provides information about the owners of domain names.

That was two days after Hoover officials announced they were reconsidering the original name chosen for the complex — the Alabama Sports and Event Center, or The Bam as a nickname.

Middlebrooks said the fact that the city could not own the domain name for Hoover Metplex was a determining factor in the final decision, which was approved by the City Council Monday night.

The third place for the name of the overall development was Hoover Sports and Event Complex with 187 votes, or 13 percent. Robert O. Finley Complex was fourth with 134 votes, or 9.4 percent, and Hoover Met Complex was fifth with 124 votes, or 8.7 percent.

The City Council did stick with the voters’ choice for the name of the 155,000-square-foot indoor event center that is part of the complex. The winning name was The Finley Center, in honor of the late Bob Finley, who coached at Berry High School until he died suddenly of a heart attack while doing maintenance on the school’s football field in 1994.

The Finley Center was the choice of 650 voters, or 46 percent. Coming in second was The Finley Sports & Event Center with 331 voters, or 23 percent. Third place went to Hoover Sports & Event Center with 272 votes, or 19 percent, while the fourth place name was Hoover Sports & Convention Center with 175 votes, or 12 percent.

New Council President Gene Smith thanked the public who participated in the online voting and those who served on the committee that chose the finalist names that were part of the vote.