Opelika council hears plan to convert old chamber into pediatric clinic as city entertains sale

Katie Walter, a pediatrician who owns local downtown businesses, told the Opelika City Council on March 3 that she wants to convert the city's long-vacant former chamber building into a multidisciplinary pediatric clinic. Walter said the clinic would provide general pediatric care, obesity treatment, lactation consultation and behavioral-health and dietetics services, and that she intends to serve patients on a sliding scale and accept Medicaid and private insurance.

"I drive past the building probably twice a day," Walter said, describing her nine years as a local resident and business owner. "I'm a pediatrician by trade...so my goal is to be able to put a pediatric clinic there...hoping to make it a multidisciplinary center with behavioral health and also dietetics too." She told the council she expects to partner with students and interns from nearby institutions for training and staffing support.

City staff told the council the property was appraised shortly after the chamber moved at $600,000 and that the prospective buyer had offered $400,000, reflecting the work needed after roughly two years of vacancy and utilities being off. The council introduced an ordinance at first reading to declare 601 Avenue (the former chamber building) surplus and to approve conveyance to the prospective buyer; no final vote on that ordinance occurred at the meeting.

The proposal drew positive remarks from council members who said a medical business downtown would be an asset. Walter emphasized serving underserved patients through her foundation and the clinic's expected payor mix: "probably about 50% patients who have Medicaid...and 50% private," she said. Council members asked for operational details, including student training and the degree of general versus specialty care; Walter said the clinic would offer both.

Next steps: the ordinance to declare the property surplus and authorize conveyance was read for the first time. The council did not take a final vote on the conveyance at the March 3 meeting, so any sale remains contingent on later consideration and statutory requirements for surplus property disposition.