Auburn Mayor Ron Anders presented his seventh annual State of the City Address at the Jay and Susie Gogue Performing Arts Center on Oct. 2. The address focused on the city’s challenges and successes over the past year.
Doors to the event opened at 5 p.m., and the address itself began at 5:30 p.m. The executive director of the Gogue Performing Arts Center, Christopher Heacox, welcomed attendees and introduced Mayor Anders.
Anders spoke at length about Auburn’s completed projects and future plans, paying particular attention to the city’s efforts to deal with street infrastructure, congestion and traffic flow. He also stated that the Auburn City Council approved the 2026-2027 fiscal year budget last month.
“As I mentioned before, we are always planning,” Anders said. “One of the primary ways we’ve turned those plans and your priorities as residents into action is through our bi-annual budget.”
Mayor Anders also thanked the state and federal elected delegates, particularly U.S. Congressman Mike Rogers, saying that they have been “champions of Auburn and east Alabama.”
Prior to presenting the Lamplighter Awards at the end of his address, Anders recognized the death of Dr. Julie Gard Schnuelle, a retired Auburn University professor who was murdered in Kiesel Park in September.
“The more I learn about her, the more grateful I am [for her],” Anders said. “I was honored to attend the memorial, and I’m confident that her legacy will continue though the practices of her students and the memories of her inspiring work and contributions to all. Our prayers continue to be with her family and loved ones with their loss.”
Public Safety
The mayor first detailed the city’s commitment to public safety, citing 2025 editions to the Auburn Public Safety Training Center. These editions include a burn building and a search and rescue maze simulator. A new Auburn Police precinct in the south side of the city is also planned in order to “ensure that the city continues to provide an optimized response time.” Anders mentioned the police continue to use top technology to make officers as “efficient, effective and safe as possible.”
The fire department, which is a licensed advanced life support provider, now includes 32 state licensed paramedics and 13 advanced EMTs. Anders presented a video of Fire Chief Matt Cain, who went into more detail about the role of the fire department in medical support.
“There’s a lot of things we can do that’s essentially bringing the ER out of the hospital and into your living room if needed,” Cain said in the video.
According to Anders, the Auburn Fire Department had the busiest call volume in history last year and performed more than 1,000 advanced life support interventions.
Bill and Carol Ham Amphitheatre
After speaking on the various partnerships within and outside of the city, Anders stated that the Bill and Carol Ham Amphitheatre, owned by Auburn University, will open in spring 2026. The amphitheatre, which is named after former Auburn Mayor Bill Ham and his wife Carol, was made possible by funding from the city.
Yarbrough Tennis Center
The Yarbrough Tennis Center, which the city owns in partnership with Auburn University, has had “quite the year,” according to Anders. Since last October, over 6,300 youth and adults have enrolled in classes at the center. The tennis center hosted 114 tournaments, the SEC tennis tournament in April, the NCAA regionals in May, and the USTA Alabama State League 40 and Over Championship in June, which had over 730 players. In August, the USTA recognized Yarbrough Tennis Center as one of the nation’s top tennis facilities during the 2025 United States Open.
The Park
Anders continued with his recognition of the important collaboration between the city of Auburn and Auburn University. The Park, previously known as the Research Park, is a result of a collaboration between the city's Industrial Development Board and the University's Research and Technology Foundation.
The Park also contains the Auburn Medical Pavilion, which is a partnership with East Alabama Health. The pavilion has an emergency room and offers a place for residents to go for labs and outpatient procedures.
Auburn University Regional Airport
Anders also spoke about attending the recent groundbreaking ceremony for Auburn University Regional Airport’s new air traffic control tower. Funding for the tower includes money secured by U.S. Congressman Mike Rogers, who currently serves as chair on the House Committee on Armed Services.
Economic Development
The city of Auburn approved 800,000 permits this year, according to Anders. Anders also spoke about the city’s industrial base, which he said includes 43 small to medium-sized corporations. Auburn also saw eight company expansions and two new installations last year, with over $480 million total investments and more than 200 new and retained jobs.
“Auburn is truly the economic engine of Lee County and east Alabama,” Anders said.
Ann Pearson Park
After he presented Auburn’s economic developments, Anders spoke about the newly completed community projects in 2025. The most recent of these is Ann Pearson Park, which opened in August. The park boasts nearly 50 acres and includes 2.5 miles of trails, a new playground, a covered pavilion, restrooms and open green space. The Auburn University Real Estate Foundation, the Georgia-Alabama Land Trust, Walt and Ginger Woltosz and Ann Pearson collaborated with the city to create the park.
Lake Wilmore Recreation Center and Multiuse Athletic Fields
Earlier this year, Lake Wilmore Park opened a recreation center that features indoor and outdoor athletic facilities, a heated and covered pool, meeting spaces, fitness rooms, indoor concessions and pickleball courts. According to Anders, work is almost done on four additional turf fields that are usable for several different sports, along with six more covered pickleball courts. Last year, Auburn hosted 52 tournaments for team sports, including baseball, softball, basketball, soccer, tennis, gymnastics, kickball and jiu-jitsu.
“These tournaments created millions in economic impact and utilized thousands of hotel room nights,” Anders said.
Boykin Community Center
As he outlined the future of the city, Anders spoke about expansions to the Boykin Community Center. The plan includes expanding the community center campus from Boykin Street to North Donahue. This expansion includes new services and amenities, such as the first ever branch location of the Auburn Public Library, Auburn’s first splash pad, a cultural center, walking trails and green space with a recycling drop-off center just across the street.
Environmental Services & Public Works Complex
This past year, the city recovered more than 11 million pounds of recyclables and disposed of more than 48 tons of household hazardous materials. This Saturday, Oct. 4, the city will also host another household hazardous waste day at the Environmental Services & Public Works Complex on Wire Road.
Richland Park
Anders revealed another project, Richland Park, which will sit at the corner of Richland Road and Will Buechner Parkway. According to Anders, the city will complete the design of the project in 2026, with phase one bringing baseball and softball fields to west Auburn. The park will also include trails and a pond located on a 125-acre site.
Road and traffic improvements
According to Anders, the majority of the city’s projects next year will focus on road maintenance, traffic and construction. Design work will begin next year to add turn lanes at North College Street and Drake Avenue to help with road congestion. A similar project at the intersection between North College Street and Shelton Mill Road will improve existing turn lanes.
Construction will begin in 2027 to improve the intersection at Opelika Road and Dean Road. Improvements will extend through railroad crossing road and into Sage Road.
There are also plans to increase North Donahue Drive to five lanes and to both improve existing sidewalks and create new ones.
This year, the city also tested an X-crossing pattern at Toomer's Corner to help decrease traffic for both vehicles and pedestrians.
In 2026, Auburn will put $6 million into the annual road resurfacing plan, which is the city’s second year of putting “more money than ever” to ensure good road conditions. The city will also launch a citywide street assessment in the coming year alongside a comprehensive traffic study.
“Auburn people want to live here, and Auburn University continues to grow,” Anders said. “We’re working to accommodate increased traffic and all that brings.”
Auburn City Schools
Anders then spoke about Auburn City Schools, which he said are nationally ranked.
“The caliber of young adults graduating from Auburn is exceptional,” Anders said.
The 2025 class included nine National Merit Semifinalists, 42 AP scholars, six U.S. Service Academy appointments and more than $26 million in scholarships offered.
Future plans for the city schools include the construction of a second high school, renovations to the existing junior high school, a new middle school and the reconstruction of Dean Road and Wrights Mill Road Elementary Schools.
Anders also thanked the private schools in the area for “what they contribute to our community into Auburn’s future.”
Public Works
Before presenting the Lamplighter Awards, Anders highlighted the contributions of Auburn’s public works crew, who keep the city clean and beautiful. The workers begin their days before sunrise, cleaning the roads in the downtown area. Public Works Coordinator Don Ballard, who appeared in a video presentation, outlined the work people do and the compliments they received for their efforts.
2025 Lamplighter Awards
At the end of the address, Mayor Anders presented the 2025 Mayor’s Lamplighter Awards, which honored five community members. The awards are presented to community members for their outstanding service to their city, as people who, as Anders said, are "punching holes in the darkness."
2025 Lamplighter Award Recipients
- Sam Hendrix, former Auburn University staff member and author of “Auburn: A History in Street Names”
- Dolly Marshall, owner of eight McDonald’s and a member of the Auburn City Schools Board of Education
- Dr. Alan Moore, a doctor at the East Alabama Medical Center’s Emergency Department
- Dale Peterson, a composer at Auburn First Baptist Church
- Lillian Worley, who works at Auburn High School’s ISS program
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