Council President Parker and Pro Tem Alexander call potential parks and recreation center closures ‘unacceptable’

Following a presentation during Thursday’s Special-Called Committee of the Whole meeting, Council President William Parker said he was outraged by what he described as the inequity of the parks and recreation center locations that were presented as potential closures.

Members of the Council heard from representatives with the Birmingham Parks and Recreation who outlined a list of sites that could potentially be closed due to budgetary cutbacks from the current public health crisis.

President Parker took issue with the number of locations, which were located in the north, east, west and southwest portions of the city.

Here is a list of the proposed sites to be closed:

• Roosevelt
• Wiggins
• Henry-Crompton
• Harrison
• Sandusky
• Hooper City
• Howze-Sanford
• North Birmingham
• Harriman
• Brownsville
• Inglenook
• Willowwood

“There is no excuse for the number of parks and recreation centers that would be closed throughout the city,” President Parker said. “For me, and for this Council, these locations are wholly unacceptable and we are going to work towards a solution so that we can keep these sites open to the public.”

The Birmingham Park Board will be considering these closures during next week’s meeting scheduled for Wednesday, September 16 at 9:00 a.m.

Council President Pro Tem Wardine Alexander, who has four parks in her district on the potential closure list, said she was shocked during the presentation.

“We would only have one remaining park in District 7,” Alexander said. “The Council, collectively, is absolutely opposed to these measures that were presented. We understand these are difficult times, but these are the wrong cuts to be making to the detriment of our residents.”

This is a developing situation and more information will be released as it becomes available.