Tag Archives: B’ham

Birmingham-JeffCo History Museum is full-speed ahead

Photo by Bob Farley/f8PhotoThe Birmingham-Jefferson History Museum is getting close to keeping its promise of opening this spring. We first mentioned the effort’s new home last summer once we’d figured out that the murals that had been in the Lyric Theater had been moved to the museum’s soon to be temporary space.

We shared some photos that took a closer look at the unfinished work of art that will no doubt play a prominent role in the early days of the facility ion this site’ Gallery back in June. We’re using one of those images here in this piece as well.

Laura Kate at Magic City Manifesto recently stumbled across the museum’s hopefully temporary home over at the Center for Regional Planning and Architecture (a.k.a that building on 18th Street and 1st Avenue North) and found out that it is indeed planning to open in late April (the 29th to be exact).

Hopefully folks will learn more about additional plans in the coming weeks.

Photo: Bob Farley/f8Photo

UAB awards scholarship to newborn

Jakaila Humphrey (left) and La'Issac Smith - courtesy UAB News La’Isaac Smith is a pretty lucky newborn. He was selected in a random drawing by the UAB Health System to receive a full, undergraduate tuition scholarship to UAB (which should no doubt come in quite handy when he’s eligible to enroll in 2027). His sister is shown here congratulating him as his parents, Kwanetta Humphrey and Bruce Smith, received the news on Monday afternoon.

La’Issac was the first of five newborns to enjoy the comforts of the new UAB Women and Infants Center when it opened this past Sunday, February 21, providing the back story (via UAB’s News service) for his good fortune. The 430,000 square foot facility is the newest addition to the university’s medical center campus, carrying with it a $164 million price tag.

That translates into a state of the art facility – one that does indeed “…feel more like a first-class hotel than a hospital.” Got a feeling that the patients will appreciate it.

Photo: Jakaila Humphrey (left) and La’Issac Smith. UAB News

Travelogue: Not quite abandoned yet

A look up into the Lyric Theater. acnatta/FlickrJJ MacCrimmon is a photographer out of Huntsville, AL who recently posted these images of the historic Lyric Theater on his blog Orbits of a deluded mind. He’s promised to share additional photos from his trip this past July soon.

The upper floors of the building that housed the theater has been vacant for many years now, but as many of you may know (and as JJ points out in his first post of photos back in December) there are many people working to restore the property and have it see use again as a performance venue for Birmingham, AL. The Lyric is currently owned by Birmingham Landmarks, Inc., the organization that currently operates The Alabama Theatre. Folks looking for additional information about the theater can check out this entry on BhamWiki or this post from Cinema Treasures.

Folks looking to find out how they can help with the theater’s renovation efforts should check out the official Lyric Theater website.

Photo: A look up into the Lyric Theater. acnatta/Flickr

The Barons are looking for a few good voices…

New Barons primary logo - Courtesy of Birmingham Barons The Birmingham Barons announced early this morning that they’ll be hosting auditions for those wanting to sing the National Anthem before home games this season early next month.

According to the notice on Facebook the tryouts will be held on Monday, March 8 from 5:30 – 7:30 p.m. at Regions Park in Hoover.

For those keeping track, there are only 44 days left until minor league baseball returns to metro Birmingham on April 8 against the Mudcats. If you can’t wait that long to see some baseball at “The Reg” (and it could be too long for some) or to hear some games on the radio, you can always head on over there to watch the Crimson Tide play the Georgia Bulldogs on March 3. The game, which won’t count in the SEC standings, is currently set for a 6:35 p.m. first pitch.

We’re looking for a few good contributors

We’re always looking for folks to add their voice to this website. It’s become a top priority now as we prepare to turn 3 in a few weeks (March 14 to be exact). I’m interested in what needs to happen next as we prepare the site to see its fourth year. I’ve got a few ideas and there’s been some interest shown in getting a few of them off the ground, but the most important thing to do right now is expand the number of voices speaking from the pages of this website.

So I’ll be at Shift Workspace in downtown Birmingham (directions) this Thursday evening, February 25 ready to talk to anyone who’s interested in what the plans are for the site starting at 5:30 p.m.

If you’re looking for guidelines, we’ve got a few of them, but they are also under review right now. If you plan on attending or are interested in picking my brain just a little more about some of the crazy ideas I’ve got, drop me a line via Twitter (@acnatta) or via email (andre[at]bhamterminal[dot]com).

BTW – If you’ve got any ideas about how we should be celebrating three years next month, pass them along too.

Everyone’s been ReThinking 280

Photo courtesy of ReThink 280 Forbes Magazine recently published a report listing Birmingham, AL as one the worst city for a commute in the United States (granted it was 52nd out of the top 75). Folks in the metropolitan area have felt that way for a long time, fueling proposals from several groups about what to do to alleviate traffic along one of the major routes, U.S. 280.

Our state department of transportation and Gov. Riley have presented a proposal to make the well-traveled thoroughfare into a toll road with elevated lanes between I-459 and Double Oak Mountain. Another group has voiced concern about that proposal, calling themselves ReThink 280. Their blog currently serves as a clearinghouse of information for those wanting to keep track of the proposed changes and what work is already taking place. They also present their own solution for the road.

There’s no doubt that some of those in support of the group’s efforts will be at the presentation being made on March 8 at 10 a.m. at Mountain Brook City Hall by ALDOT representatives and project consultant Linda Figg.

Photo: Courtesy of ReThink 280 website.