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Red Mountain Park

#1 for Greenspace

About Me


Red Mountain Park is a proposed 1,108 acre park (bigger than Central Park) stretching 4.5 miles along Red Mountain’s crest, just southwest of Downtown. Its Master Plan, unveiled on Jan 23, 2007, is the culmination of a tremendous amount of public feedback. The plan hints at what the park can be, but this is really only the beginning!
Along with Ruffner Mountain Nature Preserve's planned expansion and the proposed Railroad Reservation Park, Red Mountain Park will make Birmingham the #1 city in the U.S. for public green space per capita!
Download a full size Preliminary Draft Master Plan
#1 for Greenspace! Check out a full size Regional Context Map
The park is an infant and can be one of the greatest urban parks in the nation, a regional quality of life destination, and a catalyst for community development. Preliminary plans call for a 64-mile network of connecting hiking, biking, and equestrian trails- 18+ miles within the park and 48+ miles of regional connector trails- plus dog park, mining history and environmental preservation sites, a natural amphitheater, a 20 acre lake, picnic areas, meadows, ridge top overlooks, and possibly sports fields and space for disc golf.
The park also anchors Birmingham's greenways movement, a 64 mile part of our ongoing transformation to quality of life leader.
The Red Mountain Park will be the result of the largest philanthropic donation in U.S. Steel’s history, and one of the largest conservation gifts in the history of the state of Alabama. We are currently finalizing the $7M needed to purchase the land, so please help spread the good word...
Check out Red Mountain Park in the News

My Interests

Have fun for RMP...

I'd like to meet:

You! (If you want a mountaintop Central Park)
How? We must raise public awareness about this positive transformation and show regional leaders that we want to lead the nation in greenspace and quality of life!
You can:
1. Become our MySpace Friend - the quickest way to show that you support the Red Mountain Park.
2. Spread the Word- send a bulletin to your friends, put us in your "top friends," tell everyone you know who might enjoy this park.
3. Volunteer- 2007 will bring plenty of opportunities to help the park, from community outreach to planning benefits to actually getting out on the land and clearing trails! Send us a message if you want to help and we'll keep you in the loop.
4. Contact regional leaders- tell your elected officials ( contact the JeffCo Commission here ), private leaders, and philanthropists that you care about this huge opportunity and the benefits it will bring our community. More links are in "Our Heroes" section.
5. Contribute to the Red Mountain Park Fund- a tax-deductible, tangible way to bring the park closer to reality. The Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham administers our special purpose fund.

Music:

*Pic from the 1st ever Benefit Concert for Red Mountain Park on 12/1/06. Thanks to everyone who packed out the Bottletree . It was a sold out show.
Special thanks to the Bottletree for hosting and three of our favorite local bands, Wild Sweet Orange , Looney Mill , and Mandi Rae & Westover Water , for dropping the sounds. Many thanks to Nick T for everything.

Movies:

Check out the Red Mountain Park Video


Find the most up-to-date information about the park at redmountainpark.org .
Find out more from the Freshwater Land Trust at freshwaterlandtrust.org

Heroes:

Central Park and Golden Gate Park (even though they’re both smaller), the Olmstead Brothers, Ruffner Mountain Nature Preserve , the Railroad Reservation Park , all public and private visionaries who will make these parks a reality, the number 17.9 (as in acres per 1,000 residents... #1 in the nation!)
Park Leadership:
The Red Mountain Greenway and Recreational Area Commission
The Red Mountain Park Steering Committee
Elected Officials:
Gov Bob Riley
The Jefferson County Commission - if Bettye Fine Collins will play well with others
US Senator Richard Shelby
US Rep Spencer Bachus
State Reps Paul DeMarco and Merika Coleman
State Senators Rodger Smitherman and Jabo Waggoner
Conservation Groups:
The Freshwater Land Trust
The Friends of Red Mountain Park
Corporations:
United States Steel
The Alabama Power Foundation
Foundations:
The Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham
The Hugh Kaul Foundation
Plus:
All the park's supporters... any friend who will enjoy the park!
*Three Friends of Red Mountain Park volunteers at the "Tinsel & Toddies" Benefit for RMP on 12/13/06. Thanks to YP Birmingham and Amani Raha for making it happen!

My Blog

$15 million raised to create 2 parks, expand third in Birmingham area

The Birmingham News featured an article in today's paper announcing that the funds have been raised to finalize the purchase on the Red Mountain Park land, as well as money for the Railroad Park &...
Posted by Red Mountain Park on Thu, 17 Jan 2008 07:51:00 PST

Federal transportation spending bill includes $1.25 million for Birminghams Red Mountain Park

Federal transportation spending bill includes $1.25 million for Birmingham's Red Mountain Park Read the full article here!Many thanks to Jeff Sessions for sponsoring the bill!All the best,Friend...
Posted by Red Mountain Park on Thu, 15 Nov 2007 09:40:00 PST

Park Purchase Is Complete! Thanks to All... Come Celebrate on Tuesday, October 30!

This land is your land!  Thanks to the efforts of many talented partners and Friends of Red Mountain Park, the park land has officially been purchased by the Red Mountain Greenway and Recreation ...
Posted by Red Mountain Park on Tue, 23 Oct 2007 10:26:00 PST

JeffCo Commission Votes to (Partially) Uphold Funding Pledge

Jefferson County Commission Votes to (Partially) Uphold 2005 Funding Pledge   After a long back and forth between the Jefferson County Commission and the Red Mountain Park Commission, a compromis...
Posted by Red Mountain Park on Thu, 12 Jul 2007 03:06:00 PST

May 07 Friends of Red Mountain Park NewsFlash...

  Friends of Red Mountain Park Newsflash... May 23rd, 2007   Red Mountain Park Commission is Fully Appointed   The Red Mountain Park Commission, a state agency created by the Alaba...
Posted by Red Mountain Park on Wed, 23 May 2007 11:51:00 PST

3 Parks Breakfast, 4/26/07, in 2 N 20th Building- best view in town

Thanks to everyone who came out on Friday night to Bare Hands Gallery.  We had over 225 people come out for a great time to support Red Mountain Park!  So far the Friends of Red Mountain Pa...
Posted by Red Mountain Park on Wed, 25 Apr 2007 10:08:00 PST

Spring RMP Benefit Concert Coming Up on Friday, 4/20/07, at Bare Hands Gallery Downtown!

Come out for the Friends of Red Mountain Park Spring Concert to benefit RMP!  A Friday night in April outdoor rock show awaits with three great local bands, Duquette Johnston (2007 BAM...
Posted by Red Mountain Park on Wed, 04 Apr 2007 09:24:00 PST

JeffCo Commission Threatens to Withdraw Funding Promise...

We have a strong opportunity here to make our voices heard to the County Commission and others in support of parks and progress. The sky is not falling, but now is a good time to act.  Just remem...
Posted by Red Mountain Park on Wed, 07 Feb 2007 10:04:00 PST

Master Plan Celebration Tonight! 1/23/07

What: RMP Final Draft Master Plan When: Tues Jan 23, 5:30-7:00 PM Where: Birmingham Museum of Art, Steiner Auditorium (2000 8th Ave N, 35203)   Why: Good times.  What else? Come out for ...
Posted by Red Mountain Park on Tue, 23 Jan 2007 10:56:00 PST

Wild Sweet Orange, Looney Mill, Mandi Rae & Westover Water benefit RMP at Bottletree! Fri 12/1

Friday night, December 1st at the Bottletree in Birmingham! Many thanks to our friends at the Bottletree, who bring the best shows in town.  Many thanks also to Wild Sweet Orange, Looney Mill and...
Posted by Red Mountain Park on Fri, 17 Nov 2006 09:26:00 PST