vice president of Robbins Development | David Blazer | Spring Park | Colbert County

Still, the town had significant assets. As the seat of Colbert County, Tuscumbia has a grand neoclassical courthouse that generates a lot of activity; people doing business there could be lured into town for lunch or shopping, Robbins surmised. The Helen Keller home and museum, known as Ivy Green, brought tourists to town. And although in disrepair, Tuscumbia's historic buildings could be an aesthetic draw if rebuilt properly. "We were lucky in that the town had just been too lazy to tear down all the old buildings," says David Blazer, a lifetime Tuscumbia resident and vice president of Robbins Development.

But Robbins knew the town needed more. "You've got to generate traffic," he says.

To do it, he tried two things. First, he completely rehabbed the town's centrally located Spring Park, which had been overgrown with weeds for years. Shelling out a million dollars from his own pocket, Robbins spiffed up the park and added some significant attractions: a 48-foot waterfall; a miniature train that carts kids and their families around 4,000 feet of track; and a music, water, and light show inspired by the Dancing Waters at Opryland. Soon the park was swarming with more than 1,000 people on weekend nights.

Next, Robbins turned to the very structure that had initially inspired him: the Palace. The floors were replaced, as were the electricity and plumbing. Discarded items found in the basement gained new use as decorations: A red bike with a large basket, once used for deliveries, now hangs from the pressed-tin ceiling; the bathrooms are papered with old prescriptions for remedies like ipecac and glycerin and rose water. "I gambled enough money to fix that thing up, to see if we could get people thinking about what they used to have here," says Robbins.