Where does a downtown Tuscaloosa family go on a cold December afternoon this year? For close to four decades, an easy answer was a few blocks away at 2213 University Blvd. That building is closed now. The museum that filled it won't reopen downtown until the Saban Center is finished, and that is now projected for spring 2028.
So for this holiday season and probably next, downtown's family calendar comes down to a six-week outdoor window on Government Plaza, plus a children's theater schedule that has moved past Christmas. The dates below show how that works.
Thirty-eight years on University Boulevard ended Aug. 1
The Tuscaloosa News reported in late August that the Children's Hands-On Museum had closed. Its last day at 2213 University Blvd. was Aug. 1, and the building has been listed for sale. The museum served Tuscaloosa for nearly 40 years, 38 of them at that downtown address.
The museum is moving to the Saban Center and will reopen there under a new name, IGNITE. The new building is going up on the former site of The Tuscaloosa News building. In an Oct. 20 Tuscaloosa News story, the paper put the $120 million project's projected opening in spring 2028. The Saban Center's own site also points to 2028.
When the Saban Center reached its topping-out milestone in March, the project announcement described a 118,000-square-foot campus that will hold:
- IGNITE, the successor to the Children's Hands-On Museum
- The State of Alabama STEM Hub, with hands-on STEM labs and exhibits
- Tuscaloosa Children's Theatre, as a campus partner
In the meantime, IGNITE has no public programming on the calendar. Under upcoming events, the IGNITE Community page on Eventbrite reads "Nothing planned right now." The museum's old events page still shows flyers from this past July and nothing after the closure. This is the first December in decades without a children's museum downtown, and IGNITE has nothing on the calendar in its place.
Government Plaza carries the season, and its dates are fixed
Most of what is left lands in one place. The City of Tuscaloosa's Holidays on the Plaza, presented with Coca-Cola, sets up an outdoor ice rink on Government Plaza along Almon Avenue. It also brings Santa visits and community events, with the Tinsel Trail running alongside. The season runs from Monday, Nov. 23, 2026, through Sunday, Jan. 3, 2027.
Tuscaloosa's One Place Tinsel Trail opens the same evening. The tree lighting starts at 5:30 p.m. on Nov. 23 at Government Plaza, with performances and free photos with Santa. The trail is presented by Pepsi, the City of Tuscaloosa, University Medical Center and Townsquare Media Tuscaloosa.
Put the rink and trail dates together and the season looks like this:
| Date | What's happening | Where | Details |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mon., Nov. 23 | Rink opening day and Tinsel Trail tree lighting | Government Plaza | Rink open 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.; tree lighting at 5:30 p.m. with free Santa photos |
| Sun., Dec. 6 | Pet Palooza | Tinsel Trail | Listed trail event |
| Sat., Dec. 12 | Holiday Market | Tinsel Trail | 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. |
| Fri., Dec. 18 | Family Night | Tinsel Trail | 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. |
| Sun., Jan. 3 | Rink closing day | Government Plaza | Open 1 p.m. to 8 p.m. |
Six weeks is a short window. Almost all of it is outdoors, and in other years an indoor museum a few blocks away would have balanced that. This year the plaza has to carry the season by itself, so the details of the pass matter more than they used to.
How the skate pass math works
The city's pricing is simple, and a few details are easy to miss if you're planning more than one visit:
- A $15 skate pass covers the whole day and includes skate rental. You can leave for lunch on Greensboro Avenue and come back on the same pass.
- Tuesdays are Family Skate Day, at $12 a pass. The same $12 rate applies any day to active-duty or retired military with ID.
- A $75 season pass is good through Jan. 3. That equals five regular $15 visits. Anyone who expects to skate more than five times at the regular price between Thanksgiving week and New Year's weekend comes out ahead, and a Tuesday-only skater would need seven visits before the season pass saves money.
- The rink is cashless. Passes are sold on site.
The city's event page also links to a skater waiver alongside its calendar and directions. If you're hosting a class party, a church group or a birthday, Holidays on the Plaza rents a private party tent and the rink itself, with discounted group skate rates.
The children's stage moved to the week after Christmas
Tuscaloosa Children's Theatre is the other future Saban Center partner, and its 2026–27 public season skips the holidays. Mary Poppins JR played Oct. 2 to 4. The next public production is Seussical JR, Jan. 22 to 24, 2027, followed by Peter Pan JR, April 23 to 25.
The theater's holiday programming is in camps. During the gap between Christmas and New Year's, Monday, Dec. 28, through Thursday, Dec. 31, it runs two winter camps, both from 9 a.m. to noon:
- "Page to Stage: How the Grinch Stole Christmas," for ages 5 to 12, at $200
- "Historic Holiday: Hamilton Winter Camp," for ages 11 to 18, at $175
One date comes well before the camps. Seussical JR tickets go on sale to the public Nov. 16, a week before the rink opens. Seats are $20 premium, $15 adult and $10 student or senior, plus facility and convenience fees. The theater's weekly classes continue through April 15, 2027.
For a full holiday production, you'll have to leave downtown. Theatre Tuscaloosa, a separate company from the children's theater, is staging a family-friendly world-premiere musical, Home for the Holidays, Dec. 11 to 20. It plays at the Bean-Brown Theatre on Shelton State's Martin Campus, 9500 Old Greensboro Road. That's a drive from the plaza, but it is the one holiday stage show listed for families this December.
Put the three schedules together and a downtown family's December looks like this. Weekend evenings in the first three weeks go to the plaza and the Tinsel Trail. The Theatre Tuscaloosa show fills the middle of the month, Dec. 11 to 20. The children's theater camps take the four mornings after Christmas, and the rink stays open through the first Sunday of January.
Next December is likely to look the same
The construction schedule shows how long the gap could last. In the March milestone announcement, the Saban Center gave 2027 for completing the building and spring 2028 for opening. Holiday 2027 falls between those two dates. Even if the building is finished on time, the projected opening comes after next December, so families should expect the plaza and the theater camps to carry a second holiday season as well.
The Children's Hands-On Museum's website still gives a late 2027 reopening. The Saban Center's August announcement said "early 2028," and October's reporting says spring 2028. For now, the later date is the one to plan around.
Work on the building is still moving. According to the Tuscaloosa News, the Alabama STEM Council, part of the Alabama Department of Workforce, announced on Oct. 15 that it is investing $251,939.59 in the Saban Center to expand hands-on learning for students and educators. The Saban Center's homepage invites the public to sign up for updates, and that is where an opening date and IGNITE's first public hours are most likely to appear.
Until then, the next fixed dates are Nov. 16 for Seussical JR tickets and Nov. 23 at 5:30 p.m. for the tree lighting on Government Plaza.
At Caitlin Tubbs Wilson, we keep a close eye on how downtown is changing, including the Saban Center's progress, because those changes affect day-to-day life downtown for families. If you'd like to talk about how downtown fits your household over the next few years, we're glad to sit down with you whenever you're ready.
