Railroad Park

[kayman]

I see that it is a go with it groundbreaking to occur before month's end. I'm excited that finally something is going as plan in this region. Hopefully, the entire plan for the park comes to fruition.

[Blazer85]

So the city did approve the spending for it? Awesome

I was hoping they wouldnt screw this one up.

[Blazer85]

What all is included in this Phase I and what's the timeframe we're looking at?

[kayman]

Phase I includes a 8 block portion of the park from 14th Street to 18th Street and 1st to 3rd Ave that includes a playground and recreation area. That's all I know right now.

[ZachariahDaMan]

Can one of you guys get pictures of it when it opens? I'd be interested to see what it looks like.

[Blazer85]

The master plans for the Railroad Park are in the hands of city leaders and the Friends of the Railroad District. Having already gotten the necessary funding, groundbreaking should be on the horizon very soon.

[convulso]

no idea whether tom leader studio will continue to be involved in the development of this project, but i hope so (if they don't get tired of the bham red tape). here's the link to his site:

http://www.tomleader.com

there is a synopsis of the landscape architect's role in analyzing the project, along with 14 or so renderings.

it's a flash site, so the simplest way to get to the railroad park section is to launch the site from the main (html) page, then navigate to projects --> current --> birmingham railroad reservation park.

god, what a great opportunity for bham to turn a dividing line into a unifying asset without beotchizing the railroad's historical significance. it'll be fun, evil, sad entertainment to watch them blow it (that IS a joke - i must look like such a defeatist. go birmingham!)

Edited April 13, 2006 by convulso

[Blazer85]

The City of Birmingham is set to hire a project coordinator for the Railroad Park tomorrow. This is very promising news after having not heard anything about the park in a while.

[kayman]

Interesting enough later this month the Southern Heritage Festival is suppose to occure at the Railroad Park's eastern end.

[kayman]

Article from The Birmigham News

Work on the park is set to begin next year.

[Blazer85]

Friday, October 6th a ceremony will be held with many of the areas top leaders. The groundbreaking ceremony will be held at 10AM at 18th Street and 1st Avenue. Everyone is welcome to attend. Finally glad to see this thing getting some legs under it.

Edited October 5, 2006 by Blazer85

[Dystopos]

The prospect of a October 2006 groundbreaking doesn't seem to jibe with the "Project Status Report" that the Mayor's office delivered Tuesday. The report indicates that, as of August 2006 we were still anticipating the following tasks toward completion of Phase I: Pre Design (Fall 2006), Schematic Design (late 2006-early 2007), Design Development (through mid 2007), Construction Documents (2nd half 2007) with a Bid awarded around New Years 2008. The schedule shows about a year for construction, with Phase 1 Complete sometime around January 2009.

The chart also shows a Property Acquisition Phase running through the 1st quarter of 2007 (I guess this might involve imminent domain for those 2 warehouses in the middle of the site) and Demolition running up until Fall 2007. A green bar showing "Capital Fund Raising Campaign" extends through 2007 as well. (Even though $12.5 million has been committed in public funds already)

[AlabamaGuy2007]

I'm glad this is finally going through, maybe they'll get most if not all of it done by the time I plan to move to town. It'll be great.

[davidzLA]

Does anyone know if the boundaries of the park will contain the former location of the old Terminal building?

I've heard many in Birmingham say it was a terrible mistake to demolish that building. I've only seen a few pictures - it was gone years before I was born - but it did seem to be Birmingham's Grand Central Terminal. I'm unclear on exactly where it was located, but it might bear consideration one day of rebuilding it, either as a transit center, shopping facility, or sports arena.

[Birmingham Bound]

Does anyone know if the boundaries of the park will contain the former location of the old Terminal building?

I've heard many in Birmingham say it was a terrible mistake to demolish that building. I've only seen a few pictures - it was gone years before I was born - but it did seem to be Birmingham's Grand Central Terminal. I'm unclear on exactly where it was located, but it might bear consideration one day of rebuilding it, either as a transit center, shopping facility, or sports arena.

The park's boundaries will come close to the former location of the Terminal Station, but as of now the Red Mountain Expressway runs directly on top of the site.

[kayman]

The park's boundaries will come close to the former location of the Terminal Station, but as of now the Red Mountain Expressway runs directly on top of the site.

In the future it will include that former Terminal Station site. The Railroad Park is to extend from I-65 all the way to Sloss Furnances once complete.

[Dystopos]

In the future it will include that former Terminal Station site. The Railroad Park is to extend from I-65 all the way to Sloss Furnances once complete.

Are you sure? Yes, the RR Park will extend along the Railroad Reservation, but the Terminal Station was on 5th Avenue North, 6 blocks away.

[kayman]

Are you sure? Yes, the RR Park will extend along the Railroad Reservation, but the Terminal Station was on 5th Avenue North, 6 blocks away.

The display of the entire proposa wasl online a couple of months back and I saw it on display also at RPC last year.

Edited October 10, 2006 by Leonard23

[kayman]

Landscape architect picked for RR park

It's apparent that the project is just in its planning process still as mentioned above. To be honest, I don't see the purpose of the groundbreaking of the project if actual construction won't begin until next year or early 2008. Oh yeah, Dystopos, it has been offically described to stretch from Titusville to Sloss Furnances.

[kayman]

The plans for the initial piece of the park is impressive, IMO.

The Initial Railroad Park plans

It calls for a pedestrian walkway over the railroad tracks, multiple points of entry from the street, an open park area for events, lake, and areas for the rain water that may cause flooding to runoff towards Village Creek.

[AlabamaGuy2007]

The plans for the initial piece of the park is impressive, IMO.

The Initial Railroad Park plans

It calls for a pedestrian walkway over the railroad tracks, multiple points of entry from the street, an open park area for events, lake, and areas for the rain water that may cause flooding to runoff towards Village Creek.

I like the way that sounds. But, where are they going to find room to put in a lake??

[kayman]

I like the way that sounds. But, where are they going to find room to put in a lake??

I haven't looked at the map for the park lately but if I have some extra time I will see.

[AlabamaGuy2007]

I haven't looked at the map for the park lately but if I have some extra time I will see.

Do they have a rough map yet?

[davidzLA]

I looked for a map online also but couldn't find one. Is there a map of the plans on the web?

[Dystopos]

I looked for a map online also but couldn't find one. Is there a map of the plans on the web?

The proposed lake is only about half city block. There are drawings of the conceptual design for the first phase at BhamWiki:Railroad Reservation Park.

I know that the overall plan extends from Titusville to Sloss, but the RR reservation follows an east-west corridor between Powell Ave to the south and Morris Avenue to the north. The former Terminal Building was at 5th Avenue north under the present Red Mountain Expressway - so if the park were to include that site (which I don't think has ever been shown) it would have to extend a leg north for five blocks around 26th Street.

A view of the entire proposed park, can be found in the City Center Master Plan update. (See p. 31) (48.5 MB PDF).