The commission planning Red Mountain Park is showing its plans for the 1,108 acres for the first time today.
The plan includes a 6.7-mile loop around the park that runs along the route of the historic Birmingham Mineral Railroad. The path would travel through woods and open meadows, past Red Mountain’s old iron mines. It ultimately would link picnic grounds and other recreational features.
The public is asked to attend a meeting tonight to tell park designers what else they would like to see in the park, which would link communities as diverse as Homewood, Ishkooda and Fairfield.
The meeting will be 5:30 to 7 p.m. at the downtown Birmingham Public Library.
”The public is going to design what this trail will lead to and the other amenities,” said Wendy Jackson, executive director of the Freshwater Land Trust, the Birmingham nonprofit that is leading the push to buy the land on the crest of Red Mountain. In the past, people have requested soccer fields, mountain biking trails and birdwatching areas.
The Land Trust came forward last year with an idea for a large park that would unite and serve communities on all sides of the mountain. U.S. Steel offered to sell the land for $7 million, less than half the $16.5 million appraised price, and donated $1 million toward development costs.
The land trust is not allowed to buy the land with its own money because its mission is to protect area rivers and streams. However, it is heading the effort to raise money to buy and build the 4.5-mile long park that would stretch from Homewood on the east almost to Bessemer.
The park is expected to cost $30 million to $50 million, including land and development.
Besides the U.S. Steel donation, Jefferson County has pledged $7 million. The land trust also has received federal and private grants for the land purchase, fund-raising costs and development.
A nonprofit commission is expected to manage the park after it has been purchased.
The Hugh Kaul Foundation, the Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham and Alabama Power Co. are paying for the team of landscape artists. They are expected to present their final plan in December, after considering tonight’s comments.
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.
The trail will have a surface that is suitable for wheelchairs, hikers and cyclists – even vehicles in emergencies. It will be 8 feet to 12 feet wide.
The park’s planners have said using the former railbeds and logging trails for paths will likely save millions of dollars on the rough and steep mountain. The area was once used for mining iron ore for U.S. Steel’s furnaces at Fairfield.
Other paths that may be put into the plan would all connect up to the central loop: an adventure path for hikers and mountain bikers, a scenic ridge path and street level paths.
EMAIL: kbouma@bhamnews.com
