More than 100 people attended a public meeting Tuesday to offer their thoughts about what Pell City should do with the former Avondale Mills property.

“We are really happy with the turnout,” said Blair Goodgame, a member of the Avondale Committee, which hosted the meeting with the Pell City Council. “I hope this project is something that will pull the community together.”

Residents offered a number of suggestions for potential uses of the property, including a community garden, a cultural center, a hotel, retail space, a farmer’s market, and an amphitheater.

“Nothing will be disregarded,” said Joseph Sawyer, a representative of Barge Waggoner Sumner & Cannon, the Birmingham architectural and engineering firm hired by the city to develop the Avondale revival plan.

“We will tabulate the information we are given by the citizens of Pell City and develop a master plan that will help the city council visualize how the suggested uses relate to each other.”

The city council purchased the 27-acre property — along with another 15-acre tract near Highway 78 and a few residentally-zoned lots in Pell City’s “mill village” community — last year for $1 million.

According to city manager Patrick Draper, environmental studies must be conducted before any development begins.

Councilman Jay Jenkins, who also serves on the Avondale Committee, said that Pell City residents should not expect the revival project to be a quick process.

“At this point, we’re just gathering information to get a concensus of what people want,” he said. “Right now, we have no budget for this project as such.”

No budget exists, the councilman said, because it is unclear how much the revival project will cost.

“This is the start of the process,” he said. “We have no preconceived ideas about what should or should not be there, but it is a good opportunity for us to do something nice over time. There’s no better time to get started than now.”