Birmingham Department of Planning, Engineering & Permits

🏡 Join the Conversation on Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) in Birmingham!

Residents of Birmingham’s South Side are invited to attend an upcoming community town hall to learn more about Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) and share your thoughts on how they could fit into our neighborhoods.

ADUs are small, independent residential dwellings located on the same lot as an existing home. They can provide housing options for aging parents, adult children, caregivers, and others while helping expand housing choices throughout our city.

📅 Thursday, June 11
🕕 6:00 PM – 7:30 PM
📍 Avondale Public Library
509 40th Street South, Birmingham, 35222

This meeting is for anyone, but if you live on the Southern side of the City we encourage you to attend! Our Southern neighborhoods are: Southside, Highland Park, Five Points South, Glen Iris, Forest Park, Redmont Park, Crestline, Eastwood, Crestwood North and South and surrounding neighborhoods.

This is an opportunity to:
✅ Learn what ADUs are and how they work
✅ Ask questions and hear from City staff
✅ Share your ideas, concerns, and feedback
✅ Help shape the future of housing in Birmingham

Whether you’re a homeowner, renter, neighborhood leader, or simply interested in the future of Birmingham, your voice matters.

We look forward to seeing you there and hearing your thoughts!

Watershed Management is having a great time educating and partying at the 13th annual Darter Fest!

Join us today at the Cahaba Brewing Company. This festival supports our watershed education program for Birmingham City Schools.

For our last of Historic Preservation Month, while we celebrate our "Magic City" wins, it is also a time to remember the architectural icons that no longer grace our skyline. Many of these "lost gems" were once the vibrant background of everyday life downtown, but without early commitment to preservation, they disappeared—often replaced by the very surface parking lots we see today.

🏛️ Tragic Losses of the Magic City

❎The Birmingham Terminal Station (Demolished 1969): Perhaps the city's most mourned loss. This Byzantine-inspired "temple of travel" filled two blocks and featured a 64-foot central dome with intricate tilework and ornamental glass. Its demolition still serves as a rallying cry for local preservationists.

❎The Morris Hotel (Demolished 1958): An 1891 architectural marvel in the Second Empire style, it featured corner towers, a tall mansard roof, and a stunning 2,000-piece Belgian stained glass skylight. It was torn down to build a parking garage.

❎The Hillman Hotel (Demolished 1967): A beautiful 1901 hotel located at 4th Avenue and 19th Street North that was cleared for parking.

🛠️ Turning Blight into Bright!

Preservation isn't just about nostalgia; it’s one of the best tools for economic development. While we've lost many, the lessons from these demolitions have helped save others through adaptive reuse:

✨The Empire Building (1909) is now the swanky Elyton Hotel.

✨The Pizitz Building (1923) was saved from becoming a parking lot and transformed into a thriving food hall and residential space.

✨The Lyric, Alabama, and Carver theaters survived thanks to painstaking restoration and remain the last of the 73 theaters that once operated downtown.

Your Turn! If you could bring back one lost Birmingham building for just a day, which would it be? The Terminal Station? The Morris? Share your "Magic City" memories of your favorite historic spot below! 👇✨



Photos:
1 & 2: Birmingham Terminal Station
3 & 4: Morris Hotel
5&6: Hillman Hotel
7: Terminal Station Under Construction
8: Terminal Station Passenger Platforms
9: Terminal Station - Spanish American Soldiers
10: 1951 Terminal Station Arial View

For Historic Preservation Month, let’s look up at a true Birmingham icon: the Heaviest Corner on Earth! 🏗️🌆

Located at the intersection of 1st Avenue North and 20th Street, this spot earned its weighty nickname between 1902 and 1912 when four of the tallest skyscrapers in the South were built nearly simultaneously. It was a bold statement of Birmingham’s rapid transformation into the "Magic City".

🕵️‍♂️ Meet the Four "Heavyweights":

🏢The Woodward Building (1902): The trendsetter! It was Birmingham’s first steel-frame skyscraper and brought "Chicago-style" architecture to the South.

🏢The Brown Marx Building (1906): Once the South’s largest office building, it was so popular that an addition in 1908 more than doubled its size.

🏢The Empire Building (1909): Standing 247 feet tall, it was once the tallest building in Alabama. Today, it has been beautifully preserved as the swanky Elyton Hotel

🏢The American Trust and Savings Bank Building (1912): Now known as the John Hand Building, this 21-story giant completed the corner.

⚖️ Is it REALLY the heaviest? The name started as a promotional headline in Jemison Magazine in 1911—"Birmingham to Have the Heaviest Corner in the South “and locals eventually inflated it to the "Heaviest Corner on Earth". Some even claim the name came from the literal weight of gold bars once stored in the banks at each of the four corners.

🛠️ Why We Celebrate
Historic preservation is what keeps these 100+-year-old giants standing in all their glory today, with the entire grouping listed as a historic district on the National Register of Historic Places in 1985, underscoring its importance to Birmingham's heritage.

Have you ever stood at the Heaviest Corner and felt the history? Share your favorite Magic City skyscraper story below! 👇✨



Photo Credit:
1 & 2 - Woodward Building
3 & 4 - Brown - Marx Building
5, 6, 7, 8 - Empire Building
9 & 10 - John Hand Building

This , we're unlocking the secrets of the Magic City by exploring the legendary Historic 4th Avenue Business District! 🏛️✨

Known as Birmingham's original "Black Wall Street," this district was the vibrant heart of the Black community during the first half of the 20th century. Today, it remains one of the few physically intact African-American commercial districts in the Southeastern U.S. and is a cornerstone of our city's identity.

🕵️‍♂️ Gems to Discover:

🏢The "Black Skyscraper": Visit the Prince Hall Masonic Temple (1924). Designed by Robert R. Taylor (the first Black student at MIT), it once housed the city's first lending library for Black citizens and featured ballroom performances by legends like Duke Ellington.

🎭A Cinematic Legacy: Catch the spirit of the Carver Theatre. Opened in 1935, it was a premier entertainment venue and now serves as the home of the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame

🍅Historic Bites: Stop by Green Acres Cafe, a long-standing local favorite, or head to Historic 4th Avenue Shirts for custom clothing, vintage vinyl, and a free book with every purchase!

🎸Eddie Kendricks Memorial Park: Pay homage to a Motown legend right in the heart of the district.

🛠️ Preservation in Action! Preserving this legacy isn't just about looking back; it’s about moving ! Organizations like Urban Impact are working hard to restore historic treasures!

Have you ever explored the 4th Avenue district? Tell us your favorite "Magic City" memory or the spot you love most in the comments! 👇🖤



Photo Credit:
1 & 2 - Burmans c. 1939 & Today
3 & 4 - Famous & Champion Theatres c. 1940s & Today
5 & 6 - 1800 Block, 4th Ave S & Today
7 & 8 - Carver Theatre c. 1941 & Today
9 & 10 - Champion Theatre c. 1939 & Today
11 & 12 - Masonic Lodge c. 1930s & Today
13 & 14 - 4th Avenue showing Norton's Drug c. 1920 & today
15 & 16 - A G Gaston Motel c. 1954 & Today

👉🏼 Birmingham neighbors, we want to hear from you!

The City of Birmingham is starting the conversation on Accessory Dwelling Units, also known as ADU’s, with our upcoming East Side Town hall. ADU’s are small independent living spaces like backyard cottages, garage apartments, carriage houses, and in-law suites.

As Birmingham explores potential regulations and standards for ADU’s, we’re inviting residents to learn more, ask questions, share concerns, and help shape the conversation before any decisions are made.

This townhall is especially for residents, neighborhood leaders, renters, homeowners, caregivers, and anyone interested in the future of housing on Birmingham’s East Side, including neighborhoods such as:
• Woodlawn
• East Lake
• Roebuck
• South East Lake
• Huffman
• Kingston
• East Avondale
• Oak Hill
• Wahouma
• And other surrounding East Side neighborhoods

What to expect:
• A short presentation from City planning staff
• Small group discussions
• Opportunities to ask questions and share feedback
• A welcoming, community focused conversation

📍 East Side Townhall Meeting
📅 Tuesday, June 9, 2026
🕕 6:00 PM to 7:30 PM
📌 Social Venture
5529 1st Avenue South
Birmingham, AL 35212

Whether you are supportive, skeptical, curious, or just want to learn more, your voice matters and we hope you’ll join us!

Visit our website to sign up for updates on the ADU process and learn more!

💻: https://www.birminghamal.gov/adu

A huge thank you to everyone who joined us for the presentation at the Birmingham Historical Society on the Historic Birmingham Mineral Railroad Signs Project! 🚂💨

A special thanks to Mr. James Lowery for sharing his incredible knowledge and passion!

We loved exploring how these markers trace the very industrial roots that built the Magic City. It was so inspiring to see such a great turnout of people dedicated to honoring and preserving our local heritage.

Let’s keep the momentum going—keep an eye out for those signs around town! 📍🛠️