Residents advocate for pocket park to replace police HQ

With plans ready for a new police headquarters and jail to be built in West Homewood, the future of the current building remains up in the air. A handful of residents see the property as the right spot for something new to downtown: a pocket park.

Betsy McGuire, a Homewood resident of 32 years, said she has thought for years that the police and jail property at 1833 29th Ave. S. would make a nice spot for a small park. When the city funded the construction of a new headquarters on Bagby Drive in 2016, the question of what to do with the current property naturally arose.

Mayor Scott McBrayer said no decisions have been made about the headquarters property and that there is no timeline for a decision, though he said it would “certainly” not be until after the new facility is completed sometime in 2018. Some possibilities that have been discussed at various points include the sale or lease of the property to an office or retailer, or for the police to keep a substation onsite so officers can still respond quickly to downtown calls.

McGuire and several other residents, however, feel like “greening” the area could do more for existing downtown businesses than another storefront.

“They’re considered green magnets because people come, they stay longer, they bring their wallets,” McGuire said.

Jane Reed-Ross, a landscape architect who has worked on many city projects including Central Park, has begun drawing up a few possible designs for how a park could work on either all or part of the police property.

“There should be more green space downtown. That’s one thing I’m an advocate for,” Reed-Ross said.

In addition to attracting people to stay downtown, Reed-Ross pointed out that a park can improve surrounding property values and quality of life by “creating spaces for people to engage, be outdoors and live healthier lives.” She has seen similar effects at Railroad Park in downtown Birmingham and in similar projects in other cities such as Chattanooga.

Because the park would be city owned, McGuire said the ideas she has in mind would be fairly low-maintenance, with simple trees, landscaping and seating for people to enjoy. Some have suggested more advanced ideas such as a dog park or splash pad, but McGuire said any type of park would set Homewood apart with “out-of-the-box thinking.”

Van Scott, the owner of Savage’s Bakery, said he supports the idea of a park — particularly a dog park — in downtown Homewood as an amenity not only for shoppers, but for nearby hotel guests and condo residents.

“It’s worth a try. I think the people who live here would enjoy it,” Scott said, adding that he thinks the nature of the downtown area is changing. “I think it’ll eventually shift to more nighttime restaurants and be more of a destination.”

Ward 5 Rep. Jennifer Andress said she has seen similar urban parks in her hometown of Dallas and would like to see the idea tried here.

“This woman is doing it the way you’ve got to do it. She is building a grassroots support system,” Andress said. “I’d love to break up some of this hardscape.”

However, Andress added that she knows getting a park on the police headquarters property will be “a hard sell,” and she’d like to see backup options for other small green spaces in the area. McGuire and Reed-Ross both said this property doesn’t have to be the only option, and they would gladly consider otherdowntown spots.

McGuire said what’s most important to her is the chance for residents to voice their desire for a park to the city and to have thepossibility considered.

“I actually care less about what goes there and more that we have this process,” McGuire said. “It communicates a lot about us as a city.”

McGuire and other pocket park supporters hope to speak about their plan at the Aug. 28 City Council meeting, and they will be hosting a meeting to answer questions about the idea Sept. 12 at the Homewood Public Library. The meeting is open to the public, and council representatives will be invited. 

McGuire said speakers will include Reed-Ross, UAB Sustainability Coordinator Julie Price, Henry Hughes from the Birmingham Botanical Gardens and Cheryl Morgan, who retired from the Auburn Urban Studio in 2014.