Five Points Gets Its Grocery Back, and University Boulevard East Gets the Sidewalks Kip Tyner Wanted

"Growing up here, I watched people for years walk in ditches, very dangerous conditions," Kip Tyner said at the January groundbreaking for the University Boulevard East Improvement Project. "This is going to be something I've only dreamed about and now it's reality." Nine months later, about three-quarters of the new sidewalk on the south side of the construction zone is in. Tyner died on September 18 at age 70, and the city now plans to name Alberta Park for him.

Look at the separate pieces of news from this stretch of University Boulevard East since late summer and they have something in common. Almost none of it is new to the street. A grocery store reopened in a building that was a grocery store. A pharmacy moved across the road. People who already walked along the corridor are getting a sidewalk under their feet. A park that already holds the neighborhood's gatherings is getting a new name. This fall the corridor is getting back what it had, in the spots where it had it.

Same building, new name over the door

Tuscaloosa's last Winn-Dixie, at 4205 University Blvd. E., was closing for good when the Tuscaloosa News reported it on January 16, 2026. On September 29, the same paper reported that a Piggly Wiggly had opened in that building. The two reports put the gap at about eight months, from a January closing to a late-September opening. For those months, Five Points had no full-service grocery at the corner of University Boulevard East and 15th Street East.

The store is run by B&W Foods, the family-owned company behind Piggly Wiggly West Alabama. It is the company's sixth Piggly Wiggly in Tuscaloosa County and its eighth overall. Co-owner Jay Welborn described the store as a return, not a fresh start. "Five Points has a long history as a place where people in this community shop, gather and see familiar faces," he said. "We wanted to bring that neighborhood grocery store back while also giving our customers more of the fresh, full-service options they've been asking for."

The building is the same, but some of what's inside is new for this company in Tuscaloosa.

The last row is the move a Five Points regular is most likely to feel. Tuscaloosa Drug Company is a locally owned pharmacy that has served Five Points for more than a decade. When B&W Foods announced the arrangement on August 18, it said the pharmacy would "move just across the street from its current location." Pharmacist and co-owner Andrew Parrish said his team was "eager to move into the new location just across the street from where we've always been," and that current patients would keep being served there while new patients are welcomed.

The prescriptions will stay with the same people and nearly the same corner, only now inside the grocery store. As of the September coverage, the pharmacy was setting up its space, and B&W said it would announce the opening date separately. Until that date is announced, the store across the street is the one to call.

Sidewalks where the ditches were

The $21 million University Boulevard East Improvement Project is an Elevate Tuscaloosa investment, done in partnership with the Tuscaloosa Area Metropolitan Planning Organization. It covers the corridor between Arcadia Drive and Redmont Drive, and the city broke ground on January 8. In September, Mayor Walt Maddox said in his "Mayor's Minute" post that the project had reached 75% completion. He added that streetscaping is "beginning to take shape along the north side of the corridor, offering a first look at the enhanced design."

Here is where the work stands, based on the mayor's update and the city's September 11 project report:

1. Underground utility work. The major part is finished. That is why the mayor expects drivers to see "significantly fewer traffic pattern changes going forward."
2. South-side sidewalk. About three-quarters of it is installed.
3. North-side streetscaping. Visible and still taking shape.
4. Still to come. The finished project includes lighting, security, pedestrian paths, and landscaping.
5. Day-to-day traffic. The city's September 11 update listed continued reduced lanes and temporary road and intersection closures, along with ongoing paving, landscaping, sidewalk, and conduit work.
6. Finish line. In the September update, the mayor said the project is expected to be done in "the first quarter of next year," which means early 2027. Maddox said he is confident it will finish on time and on budget.

So the hardest stretch for drivers is behind the corridor. It hasn't fully reopened, though. The mayor said there will still be temporary road and intersection closures at times, and the September 11 notice is the newest dated schedule the city has posted. The most reliable way to know about a closure before you leave home is the city's text alert: text UNIVBLVD to 888777. Monthly updates are posted at TuscaloosaRoads.com.

The sidewalk follows the same pattern as the grocery store. The project exists because people were already walking this road, through the ditches Tyner described. The city describes the project as part of its continuing effort to revitalize Alberta after the EF-4 tornado of April 27, 2011. Fifteen years on, that rebuild is reaching the edge of the road itself.

The fountain keeps its place and takes his name

On September 28, Maddox announced that Alberta Park will be renamed Kip Tyner Plaza and 26th Avenue East will become Kip Tyner Parkway. He made the announcement at the public Celebration of Life and Service for the late council president. That service was held at the Alberta Park fountain, 2710 University Boulevard East, and University Boulevard East was closed between 25th Avenue East and Durrett Grove while it took place.

"Kip's heart and soul is in this park," Maddox said.

Tyner was first elected District 5 councilor in 1997. He served seven straight terms on the City Council, two of them as council president. The city credits him with leading work on the Tuscaloosa Tennis Center, the recruitment of SWJ Technology, and enhancements to the University Boulevard East Improvements Project. The streetscape now going in along the north side of the corridor is part of that record.

The city says it will release more details on when the new names take effect. Until then, the signs on the park and on 26th Avenue East will keep their current names.

The corridor, by address

The places along this stretch that people already use stayed put through the construction year, and one of them nearly didn't. Listed by street number:

• Tuscaloosa Tennis Center, 715 21st Ave. E. A PARA facility with outdoor, clay, and indoor courts, plus leagues and lessons. It is one of the projects the city credits to Tyner.
• Gateway Innovation and Discovery Center, 2614 University Blvd. E. Free internet and devices, along with meeting, work, training, and presentation space. This spring the city withdrew a proposal to close the center after hearing public feedback, and said it would stay open.
• Alberta Park fountain, 2710 University Blvd. E. Soon to be the center of Kip Tyner Plaza.
• Wright's Restaurant, 3750 University Blvd. E. A family-owned homestyle diner that serves breakfast plus weekday lunch and dinner. When the project was approved in 2025, WBRC reported that it would run up to Wright's, and that officials planned to keep at least one lane open so businesses along the corridor wouldn't be cut off.
• Piggly Wiggly Five Points, 4205 University Blvd. E. Groceries are back as of late September, and Tuscaloosa Drug Company is on the way.

Over the next few months, three dates will round out the fall's changes: the day Tuscaloosa Drug Company opens its counter inside the Piggly Wiggly, the day the Kip Tyner signs go up, and the first-quarter 2027 day the barricades come down between Arcadia Drive and Redmont Drive.

If you own a home near Five Points or in Alberta and are wondering how a reopened grocery, a new pharmacy location, and a finished streetscape might affect your plans, Caitlin Tubbs Wilson is glad to talk it through with you, with no pressure.