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Homewood Park’s skateboarding area is being dismantled today as the result of a Park and Recreation meeting held last night. According to some, the skate park had been a place of ill-repute for some time now, attracting kids that reportedly had fights and sprayed graffiti around the city. By this move, city officials hope to remove the unwanted element from the upper-class suburban park and make the area more family friendly. It remains to be seen, however, if actions such as these have any affect on the community they are trying to preserve. Some are predicting an increase in skateboarders moving to more public places in a city already short of appropriate places to skate as it is.

Even more curious is why places home to much more serious offences, namely Banana Joe’s, remain open while city parks are now being targeted as crime hotspots. Some citizens also complain about not having enough activities and places for young people to hang out while at the same time wanting these very same places shut down. It seems clear that the kids of today need somewhere to go as long as it isn’t in our own back yard.

link - ABC33/40 (via - BhamLinks.com)

If you haven’t heard, yes, Mayor Larry Langford wants to bring the Olympics (as in THE Olympic freaking Games) to Birmingham in 2020. And yes, that is going to cost a butt-load of money. However, he has a long road ahead of him if he is going to get the support needed from the city council to approve his application funding plans.

The Birmingham City Council today delayed voting on paying Alabama Sports Festival $250,000 to implement a plan to bring the 2020 Summer Olympics to the city, with council members saying they needed details.

When I first heard of these plans I laughed. Then I got excited. Our mayor certainly has a great vision for this city and is looking well into the future. I really like plans that involve growing Birmingham into a destination town. I also really like Mayor Langford’s appetite for progress.

“Go Big or Go Home”, eh Larry?

However, I’m afraid even as a Birmingham progressive, that this plan may be just a tad too far reaching. I mean, it’s a great dream; it’s just a very very expensive dream that won’t provide the return that we are looking for. Unless, of course, Mayor Langford succeeds and we wind up hosting the world here in Bham in 2020.

Otherwise, let’s start with a dome and a decent NCAA bowl game.

link - al.com

This is a little late in coming, as this was first announced in April, but the PapaJohns.com Bowl - the Cadillac of NCAA bowl games hosted in Birmingham - has changed their format to make the event even better. Traditionally, the bowl was host to a team from the Big East conference and Conference USA. The new format, however, replaces the lame duck Conference USA (sorry UAB) with the best conference in the country… the SEC.

This transition will drastically affect the overall magnitude of this bowl and its effect on Birmingham. Having any SEC team grace Legion Field with its presence is much more welcome, in this author’s opinion, than any possible team in the C-USA. This move makes so much sense that it is surprising that it wasn’t this way from the start.

• The SEC is headquartered here in Birmingham.
• Birmingham is practically the physical epicenter of the entire SEC.
• Birmingham was the traditional home of both the Iron Bowl and the SEC championship.
• With the amount of SEC fans in Birmingham, the bowl game should see a drastic increase in attendance and support.
• I will actually watch/attend this year.

link - PapaJohns.com Bowl (wikipedia)

Last month may have been Earth Day, but I’m usually a little slow to adopt the latest fads. That being said, I’ve wanted to help Birmingham transit authority for a while by making it easier for citizens to utilize the public services offered them.

So, as a service for the downtown residents and workers I threw together a Google Maps version of the downtown Dart bus routes. Save your money, save your environment and try Birmingham’s version of a mass transit system.

Downtown Dart Bus Routes

Work began today on the demolition of the Mountain Brook Inn on Highway 280. The abandoned hotel was closed in 2003 after 30 years of being one of Birmingham’s premier hotels. AL.com reports that the site is to be used as another mixed retail outlet consisting of shops, restaurants, office space and possibly another hotel. However, the final plans for this reconstruction are incomplete.

Is this a positive step for the city? I think so. Even though it was sad to see the city lose another establishment there is no use of letting the prime real estate remain wasted. Much like the Parliament House, which was razed earlier this year, Birmingham seems to be trying to regain some of its lost ground. Hopefully by taking steps like this we can create our very own “stimulus package” for the area’s waning economy.

It seems that Birmingham is constantly in an identity crisis. Either that, or the citizens are so divided on the direction that the city should take that it feels like we are in another civil war. Last month, Birmingham had the honor of hosting the NCAA men’s basketball tournament. That meant millions of dollars of tourist revenue and the opportunity to see Birmingham on virtually every sports channel. However, it also meant another chance for our city to fall short of all expectations and come off, once again, as a not-ready-for-prime-time town.

As I have been trying to listen to the voice of the city on radio shows, local newscasts and various blogs and forums, it seems that the majority of people here genuinely do NOT want Birmingham to grow or even survive. Each time the city is given an opportunity to raise our status in the nation’s eyes it seems that we fall over our own feet in an attempt to make a magically mediocre experience for all those involved.

For the NCAA tournament, Birmingham was only one of two cities that didn’t sell out their tickets. Why? Perhaps it is because we had insufficient lodgings around the BJCC, insufficient restaurants and attractions around the BJCC, and insufficient publicity for the entire event. I feel like I’m a reasonably plugged in guy as far as Birmingham media goes and do you know the number of commercials I saw/heard advertising the tournament in our town? Zero. In the weeks after the tournament it has been rumored that this was our last shot at hosting the tournament. According to the radio stories I heard, the NCAA “appreciates the work the city has done but feel that it’s time to give other cities a chance to host”. That means “Bye bye NCAA tournament.” It’s kind of like “Bye bye SEC championship”, “Bye bye XFL, USFL, and SteelDogs”.

If we are offered a chance to host an event or institution (SixFlags, International Airport, etc) we need to take advantage of the situation and not foul it up. The powers-that-be who want to keep Birmingham a small town and let all the money and jobs and sporting events move to Atlanta or Nashville need to wake up. We can’t keep Birmingham “the way it was” by burying our heads in the sand. If we do, then even what we have will be gone before long.

-Johnny Birmingham 

This was a submitted editorial and does not necessarily reflect the opinions of BirminghamDome.com. To submit an editorial for publishing please send it to our email address.

It was announced recently that the ESPN regional NCAA bowl game that has been hosted in Birmingham for the last two years will remain in the city for at least another two. Boasting 30,000+ tickets sold each year ESPN claims that they have been reasonably happy with the Birmingham support.

” ‘With the Papajohns.com Bowl being the highest-rated event on ESPN2 during the month of December for two consecutive years, we think continued support of the bowl makes great business sense for us as we continue to strengthen our leadership position in online ordering and our connection with college football fans,’ said Chris Steinberg, the senior vice president in charge of communications at Papa John’s.”

Hopefully, this good news will continue with the renewal of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament being hosted here as well. Birmingham is a great place for spectator sports, at least for one-off events. The question is: “Can we be a regular season city?” If the powers that be can grow support and belief that we ARE such a city then surely a dome will have no problem. However, the answer to this important question is yet to be found.

source Al.com

The All American Football League is the newest concept in a long line of professional sports leagues to come to Birmingham. Building on the deep traditions of college football here in Alabama, the AAFL is hoping to attract Alabama and Auburn fans out to games to see some familiar faces. Former in state college football stars that were unable to go to the NFL have found a home in the new league. Instead of disappearing into oblivion, these players are giving it one last shot with a fan base that’s already familiar with their names. Alabama alumni like Reggie Myles, Marcus Spencer and Alonzo Ephraim are teaming up with the likes of Tre Smith and Cody Bliss from Auburn to form the unfortunately named Team Alabama (whose colors are even more unfortunately red and white).

You may not know it, but amongst the Birmingham sports scene, the AAFL has been getting a great deal of press. The powers that be are really doing their best to make sure this isn’t another XFL, WFL, or *FL failure. Their games will be played at the illustrious Legion Field until either A) the league collapses due to lack of fan support, or B) the Birmingham Dome is built to house the team permanently. Obviously, I hope for the latter, as this league actually shows some creativity on the part of the management. Many fans would love to see Alabama college heroes battle the likes of Chris Leak and the Florida team. Also, unlike previous failed leagues, those in charge seem to really be doing things the right way. They are starting small by building teams in only a few cities. But eventually they plan to build teams around every major NCAA school.

At the very least, this team could supplement the ticket sales for the future dome when UAB isn’t playing.

source - Team Alabama 

This isn’t a Dome post but it is equally important. Today is the day that Alabama has their presidential primaries. Known to the nation as Super Tuesday and to Louisiana as Mardi Gras, it is the day that we all need to get out there and vote. I don’t know what any of the candidates think about having a domed stadium in Birmingham, but I do know that I want the metro area to be well represented when it comes to choosing our new president. Please, if you can find the time, get out and vote for your candidate of choice. It’s so much fun to play a part of the election game.

More Dome goodness coming soon!

BirminghamDome.com has only been around for a month or so, but it is already seeing some great traffic. I’d like to thank all who visit and have linked to the site. It is really encouraging and much appreciated!

Initially, the plan for this site was for me to express some of reasons that I felt a Domed Stadium would benefit the city. However, there is such an interest in this topic and such a wide range of opinions on the matter that I’d really like to open up the playing field. As with any big decision, there are pros and cons. But what is really important is open and honest discussion. So, if you have any interest in this topic and want to add to the conversation please feel free to comment on the site or even drop me a line about post suggestions or what you’d like to see more of. In the future I’d also like to add editorial type posts from both sides of the aisle.

In the meantime please subscribe to the site’s feed to keep updated on the latest posts and news. You wouldn’t want to be left out would you?