FROM STAFF REPORTS

Several new developments are coming to U.S. 31 in Calera.

Dunn Building Company is looking to develop a 23-lot retail center across from Wal-Mart. To prepare for the development, Calera has already agreed to pay $1.5 million to run water and sewer lines to the 40-acre site.

The city also is spending $27,000 to design the intersection, which will have to move Shelby County Highway 304 nearly 375 feet eastward.

Also in late June, owners of Atkins Furniture in Fort Payne announced they are building a 78,000 square-foot showroom and warehouse to be called Alabama Furniture Mart. Construction has already begun on the store.

Calera&8217;s population has exploded in the last five years, growing 115 percent between 2000 and 2005 according to U.S. Census estimates