The move from Maryland to Alabama has proven to be a very pleasant change and we are adjusting nicely. But while life at home has settled into a peaceful routine, life at Red Mountain Park is still a whirlwind of activity and progress.
Before I report on our progress let me admit that we are in the most difficult and sometimes challenging phase of a park’s development. We are all anxious to open the site and provide you with first class facilities operated by a highly trained staff. But we find ourselves in the development stages. It is hard to recognize our progress because the public can’t yet visit the park. I have no good short cuts to offer. But rest assured the work we are completing right now is vital to our long term future success of a park Birmingham will be proud to claim.The Commission and the staff are observing two complementary stages in our park development plan. The first is “Build the park in the community.” To accomplish this first stage we have begun work on three important initiatives. First, we have engaged Wallace, Roberts and Todd (WRT), authors of the park’s master plan, to provide the Commission with specific design concepts for the first phase of the park’s development. They are looking in detail at potential sites for Red Mountain Visitors Center, the comprehensive trail system and other park features. Once the Commission settles on the parameters for Phase 1 of development we will begin engineering and then building.
The second initiative centers on a number of important surveys that are underway on site. The first is a survey of the park’s physical boundaries. This information will assist us as we manage the site and protect our natural and cultural resources. The second survey is a comprehensive survey of all of the historic mining sites within Red Mountain Park. Park Ranger Eric McFerrin is leading this project assisted by dedicated volunteers. Ranger McFerrin is using historic documents and photographs to research the locations of buildings, railroad beds, crushers, tipples and other infrastructure from Birmingham’s industrial past. After locating these places in the park, he is clearing the areas of vegetation and recording his discoveries with photographs and other documentation. Finally, we will soon begin a survey of the flora and fauna. College interns will assist us as we record the native species of plants and animals currently found at the park. We will also identify the plants and animals that have invaded the site and begin a program to manage and reduce their presence while promoting our native species.
Our last initiative is administrative. I am in the process of developing the administrative documents and programs that will support your expectations and dreams for Red Mountain Park. I am writing, and the Commission is adopting, the policies, rules and regulations, operations programs and manuals that will ensure a pleasing and safe facility for all. This work is vital as it will ensure the safe, smooth operation of the facility, as well as the selection, training and evaluation of staff.
The second stage of the park’s development is to “build the community into the Park.” We plan to give you every opportunity to love this park and weave it into the fabric of your lives. This stage is still in development but in the future you will see Boy Scouts and other youth organizations completing service projects at the park, you will have opportunities to honor a loved one with a dedicated park bench, or to serve your community by volunteering your time and talents. Our goal is to provide a park that you cannot imagine living without.
I predict that Red Mountain Park will one day define our city and our citizens. It will become the place where we meet as a community and where the world will meet us. This will take time. It will be a process, not an event. But we will get there and when we do we will find that today’s efforts have allowed us to arrive with style. You deserve nothing less.
David Dionne, Executive Director, Red Mountain Park
