Category Archives: Parks

Ruffner Treetop Visitors Center earns LEED Gold

Posted on June 21, 2011 | Leave a comment

New Ruffner LogoRuffner Mountain Nature Preserve recently learned that their Treetop Visitors Center had earned LEED Gold status. The $4 million building is one of only five new construction projects in the state to ever receive that designation as part of the environmentally friendly certification system. A glass plaque is being sent to the facility in recognition of the achievement. The new center opened last spring.

The organization is in the process of changing its name from center to preserve to reflect their focus on conservation. They’ve also begun to use a new logo (that’s it off to the left if you’re reading this via the site) and have plans to roll out a redesigned website in the coming months.

Incidentally, the current fiscal 2012 city budget does not provide any funding for Ruffner Mountain. The organization is under contract with the city to manage 500 of the 1,011 acres of land contained within.

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Stocking East Lake for a rodeo this weekend

Posted on June 1, 2011 | Leave a comment

Stocking East Lake for 2011 Fishing RodeoNo, this photo doesn’t catch a catfish sliding into East Lake Park‘s namesake early Wednesday afternoon. There were several folks present though who did see several fish dive in as the lake was stocked for Birmingham’s 14th annual Family Fishing Rodeo this Saturday, June 4. They were delivered by Stearn’s Fish Farm of Wetumpka, AL.

It’s the largest community fishing event in the state, drawing thousands to Birmingham’s eastern area. It’s also an opportunity to participate in giveaways and learn more about local non-profits and community organizations. It’ll take place from 8 a.m. – 1 p.m.

If you want a better idea of what it looks like when you load a few thousand pounds of fish into a city lake, check out this video via al.com from last year’s stocking.

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Check out the floating Christmas tree!

Posted on December 10, 2010 | Leave a comment

Railroad Park's first Christmas tree. acnatta/FlickrUPDATE: According to the park’s Twitter account, the tree’s already floating before 5 p.m. (complete with a photo to prove it).

Well, it’s not floating yet, but it will be before the end of the night…

Birmingham’s Railroad Park ushers in its first holiday season this afternoon starting at 5 p.m.

Sometime between 5 and 6 p.m. this tree will be “launched” into the park’s man-made lake.

The event was originally scheduled for Saturday, though weather forecasts calling for a 90% chance of rain and a low of 32° were reasons enough for Mayor Bell to request a time change.

Those attending can bring g a new, unwrapped toy to support the Mayor’s Office Division of Youth Services Toy Drive and enjoy hot chocolate and music from Neo Jazz Collective.

Incidentally, if you attend tonight’s event, you may get a chance to introduce yourself to the park’s new executive director, Camille Spratling. The former executive assistant to the president of Birmingham Southern College started last week. Katherine Billmeier will continue on as a consultant to the park until the end of the year.

Photo: Railroad Park’s first Christmas tree. acnatta/Flickr

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Railroad’s next phase

Posted on August 4, 2009 | Leave a comment

RRP-Amphitheater

There’s been a lot of conversations about Railroad Park recently, particularly about the status of work on what’s been called Birmingham, AL’s living room. Two weeks ago during a presentation at the Operation New Birmingham breakfast, attendees were given an update on the progress of Railroad Park, complete with renderings of the proposed 3,000-seat amphitheater and of the signage that would great users as they entered from the corners. Funds must still be raised for its construction, which means it will most likely not be completed until it is a part of phase II of the site’s development

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It’ll take just a little longer at Ruffner

Posted on June 25, 2009 | Leave a comment

Tree Top Vistors Center - Ruffner Mountain Nature CenterWe’ve just received word that the repaving of the parking lot on Ruffner Mountain Nature Center‘s East Lake side that was scheduled for this week will now not start until tomorrow morning (BTW, they’ve launched their new website earlier this week).

If everything goes according to plan, officials at the center hope that hikers will be able to access the hiking trails from the East Lake side of the mountain beginning on Tuesday, June 30 (though they would rather you call the center before you head over there just in case bad weather causes additional delays).

The new visitors center is still not scheduled to be open to the general public until August; so for now you’ll just have to watch it from afar – after Tuesday – until then. The website’s front page has information about other access points for folks wanting to hike.

Image: courtesy of the organization’s website.

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Ruffner Mountain to close (but only temporarily)

Posted on April 30, 2009 | Leave a comment

You’ve got one more weekend before Ruffner Mountain Nature Center closes its facilities temporarily to complete construction of their new Tree Top Visitors Center. They made the announcement via a press release earlier today that it will be closed beginning next week Monday, May 4, through June 15 so that the existing structure can be demolished and so that the parking lot can be resurfaced. According to reports, the trails will be reopened after June 15, though the new building will open late summer/early fall, the first of the three Parknership projects to be completed. However, construction has been well underway for some time.

I actually serve as the vice president for the center’s board of directors and was photographed in front of the new building on the day that windows were being installed for Birmingham Magazine‘s March edition. You may want to head over there this weekend and see how much has already been completed – albeit from a distance…

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