The deadline for purchasing the 1,108-acre Red Mountain Park passed Friday with organizers saying they had nothing to show but continued enthusiasm that they will raise $7 million to buy the land from U.S. Steel Corp.
”We are working with U.S. Steel and hope to have something very exciting to announce in January,” said Wendy Jackson, executive director of the Freshwater Land Trust, which is heading the campaign to buy the park.
She said she could not say whether Pittsburgh-based U.S. Steel had agreed to extend the option to buy the land atop Red Mountain. ”They continue to be champions of the project,” she said. Efforts to reach U.S. Steel’s executive on the project were unsuccessful late Friday.
Two-year option
Two years ago, the Freshwater Land Trust and U.S. Steel came forward with an idea for a large park that would unite and serve communities on all sides of Red Mountain. U.S. Steel offered the Land Trust a two-year option to buy the property for $7 million, less than half the $16.5 million appraised price.
The company also offered to donate $1 million toward development costs. The gift would be the largest in the company’s history.
Jackson said the land trust is continuing successfully toward its $7 million goal, but the project took a blow when it lost nearly $1.4 million in federal money recently. Congress wiped all of the appropriations for local projects from the budget bill for this year.
”But the fund-raising is going very well, thanks to all our supporters in the community,” Jackson said.
The land trust has raised money from several sources, including the Jefferson County Commission, which agreed to contribute $7 million over several years. The park has also received numerous small, private donations.
The Hugh Kaul Foundation, the Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham and Alabama Power Co. also have made contributions, and a grassroots group named the Friends of Red Mountain Park has held several fund-raisers.
The Freshwater Land Trust is not allowed to buy the land with its own money, because its mission is to protect land along rivers and streams.
The park would extend 4.5 miles from Homewood on the east almost to Bessemer, on the crest of Red Mountain. Landscape architects have been holding public meetings to determine the design of the park, taking requests and comments from the public. The park is large enough to accommodate wild areas for hiking, mountain biking and bird-watching, as well as soccer or other ball fields and paths that would be accessible to everyone.
The park would be among the largest urban parks in the nation, surpassing in size some of the nation’s best-known parks, such as New York’s Central Park and San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park.
However, cost could stop the landscape architects from building everything everyone wants in the park. The steep terrain on much of the site makes it extremely expensive to grade enough land for some fields and open areas, for example.
But park planners say they will save millions of dollars by clearing former railbeds and logging trails to make paths. The land was once used to mine iron ore for U.S. Steel’s Fairfield Works.
The park is expected to cost $30 million to $50 million, including land and development. It would be run by a nonprofit commission, and the land would belong to the state.
Eventually, the park’s planners hope it will connect to Vulcan Trail, the Shades Creek Greenway and other trails. At the beginning, though, the primary entrance to the park will be from Venice Road, on the southeast end of the park.
EMAIL: kbouma@bhamnews.com
