By NEAL WAGNER / City Editor

Alabaster could be getting a new Dick’s Sporting Goods store in the South Promenade shopping center if the deal is approved by the Alabaster City Council.

Outgoing Mayor David Frings announced the sporting goods retailer is looking to come to the city on his last Friday in office.

Frings said Dick’s is looking to construct a new 45,000 square-foot store between the existing Target and Maurices locations.

“We are at the point of getting the final deal before the City Council,” Frings said. “ My understanding is that construction would begin next year if the final papers are signed soon.”

New Alabaster Mayor Marty Handlon, who was sworn in on Nov. 5, said the City Council has not yet reviewed the deal, and said Target has only agreed to sell the land to Dick’s if the final deal is approved by the council.

“Right now, they just know that if they want to come to the city, they will have a place to build,” Handlon said. “The final agreement has not been made. The City Council has not even seen it yet.”

If constructed, the Alabaster store will be the third in the Birmingham area. The sporting good retailer also operates stores in Hoover’s Patton Creek shopping center and in the Brook Highland shopping center off U.S. 280.

Dick’s offers a wide range of sporting goods, from team sports to hunting and fishing and fan apparel.

Frings said on Nov. 1 he had been working on bringing the sporting good retailer to Alabaster for the past two years.