Tag Archives: City of Birmingham

UAB and the larger Division I picture (and things to keep in mind about Legion Field)

UAB students watch the announcementAs we watched events unfold alongside students on Tuesday, much of the focus on UAB president Ray Watts’s announcement about the discontinuation of the football, bowling, and rifle teams has focused on UAB being the first NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) school to do so since 1995. It’s important, but it’s necessary to look at the bigger picture in Division I in order to see a larger trend and to find a possible solution.

A review of a list of discontinued football programs shows that UAB is the sixteenth Division I school overall to make the choice in that time period.

Institution State Year discontinued

Current total enrollment

University of the Pacific CA 1995

6,196

Boston University MA 1997

30,009

University of Evansville IN 1997

2,526

California State University, Northridge CA 2001

38,310

Canisius College NY 2002

4,537

Fairfield University CT 2002

4,991

St. John’s University (New York) NY 2002

21,354

East Tennessee State University TN 2003

15,536

St. Mary’s College of California CA 2003

4,228

Siena College NY 2003

3,247

St. Peter’s University NJ 2006

2,987

La Salle University PA 2007

7,554

Iona College NY 2008

4,065

Northeastern University MA 2009

20,034

Hofstra University NY 2009

12,400

University of Alabama at Birmingham AL 2014

18,568

The majority of those schools compete in the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) with 10 out of 16 located in the Northeast — the place where football was born; three other schools are located in California (including the largest of them, Cal State Northridge with more than 38,000 currently enrolled). It may not seem like it makes sense to talk about the FCS schools until you realize the most recent example of a relaunched program comes from those ranks — East Tennessee State University. As you can see above, the program did close in 2003, but is scheduled for a return next fall. The full explanation is included as part of an editorial over on Dear Birmingham.

Legion Field

Another angle that has received significant attention these last two days is the potential fate of Legion Field. The Football Capital of the South. Realize if all options are on the table, there are two things that need to be remembered.

Legion Field is McLendon Park — the football stadium is located within the largest piece of property dedicated to park use in the city of Birmingham. (Yes, Red Mountain Park is huge, but it’s technically overseen by a state commission; Ruffner Mountain Nature Preserve is as its name change states, a preserve, and its managed by a non-profit organization.) If (as unlikely as it should be) considered options include demolition, file away the fact that it means we could see the land transformed into the city’s largest park. This could be seen as a catalytic project for the surrounding blocks.

Non-park use requires a public vote — Yes, it’s true. The property is dedicated for purposes related to parks and recreation. According to the city code, if it is to be used for any other purpose, a public referendum will need to be held and it pass in order for that new type of solution to move forward. The called meeting of the city’s Parks and Recreation board to discuss possible options is currently scheduled for next Monday.

Birmingham’s newest municipal website makes its debut

City of Birmingham website 2014 650Visitors to the city of Birmingham’s website (birminghamal.gov) since close of business last night have been pleasantly surprised. The newest iteration of the city’s digital facing first impression has launched quietly, though it is our understanding a more formal announcement should be forthcoming. It replaces the one used (with only minor tweaks) since January 2008This latest version was created by locally based web design firm Kinetic Communications. They have also been working on a new Birmingham City Council website that launched last month, replacing one in use since May 2012. The sites are so similar visually most visitors will not notice they are not one in the same when navigating.

This redesign is the latest effort to tackle an issue faced by many cities — how to build a useful website for its citizens and business owners. A look back at earlier iterations should give a pretty good idea of just how far the city’s come from 2001.

Boutwell’s the tipping point tonight

This morning’s Birmingham News points out the frequency that days of prayer are held in the city (as Mayor Langford prepares for one this evening officially announced earlier this week) well as the rumblings about legal action that may be taken if it’s found to be an official government event. The event has definitely drawn some criticism, even locally. We even have our own veiled opinion, though from a slightly different angle.

We’ve gotten a few responses to our current Magic City Question; as we get ready to change it later on today, we’d welcome anyone else that wants to lend their voices to the conversation.

Comparisons of biblical proportion today in City Hall

There are days when you just want to curl up and hide; unfortunately that was one of those days for me, so I was not in attendance at the weekly city council meeting when Mayor Larry Langford drew comparisons between The Magic City and the City of Nineveh in the language used for his proclamation announcing “a day of prayer in sackcloth and ashes”. Like we said earlier, today was a busy day for the city’s chief executive.

Check out the Birmingham Weekly for a PDF of the proclamation and some video to go along with it.

You may want to let us know what you think about it… preferably over on Magic City Question.

So Birmingham, what’s “IN”?

“In” Birmingham campaign in use on CVB website

Screenshot of Greater Birmingham Convention and Visitors Bureau website.

It’s the newest cooperative marketing campaign from the visitors bureau, the Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex, the Birmingham Regional Chamber of Commerce, the Birmingham Metropolitan Development Board and the City of Birmingham. The CVB has even changed their website to coincide with the official launch of the campaign taking place later today.

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The First 100: City of Birmingham launches new website

Screenshot of new City of Birmingham websiteThe first part of the overhaul of the City of Birmingham’s online presence started yesterday, when they unveiled their new birminghamal.gov website (and don’t forget to put the www in front of it when you put it in the browser). The empty space is actually filled with news from the city when you visit. We’d let you know what else it can do here, but then that wouldn’t give you a reason to check out the first post we wrote about it to learn more about some of the features, now would it?

With the unveiling of the city’s revamped site, a new plan to have wireless access in the city and possibly a in-chambers debut of Over C’s new single “Don’t Trash My Hood” geared towards encouraging area youth to do their part in the city’s efforts to be cleaner and safer, you’d think the first council meeting of 2008 should be fairly straightforward. Not necessarily

Screenshot of http://www.birminghamal.gov.