LIVABLE CITY: ARE WE THERE YET?

Above: Dedicating Princeton Healing Garden (from left to right): Sen. Rodger Smitherman, Beeson Foundation's Ann Warren, Councillor Carole Smitherman, Princeton BMC's Pres. Charlie Faulkner, BSC's Pres. David Pollick, Arlington-West End Neighborhood Pres. Keith Aaron, Princeton Towers Directors Brenda Johnson, and Dan McClusky.

Factors that go into making a livable city include passive recreational facilities, arts and culture, and the availability of good housing close to where we work and play. All of these factors are currently enjoying a renaissance of sorts in Birmingham.

The original Olmsted vision of a community connected through a series of linear parks and greenways is well on its way. Ruffner Mountain Nature Center www.ruffnermountain.org may soon be joined by Red Mountain Park www.redmountainpark.org and the Railroad Park www.railroadpark.org.

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Brown Springs

Photo courtesy of Arnie Rutkis (for more on Brown Springs visit www.arnoldsgarden.blogspot.com/):

Located along 73rd Street off Oporto Madrid Boulevard, the Brown Springs EcoScape is constructed on a vacant lot owned by the City of Birmingham. The garden is designed for use as a passive recreational facility complete with flower beds, seating areas, and panoramic vistas. An effort has been made to restore the natural spring, which historically served this community. Future plans also call for the replanting of a small orchard on an adjacent lot for use by the community.

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Art at the Center

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Two colorful additions to the Center’s eclectic art gallery are Chris Clark’s Park Bench and Chad Vickery’s Wire Man (see photo). Birmingham native Chris Clark is well known for using quilts, chairs, and “spirit sticks” as a canvas. His work has been exhibited at the Birmingham Museum of Art, the Mennello Folk Art Museum (Orlando, FL) and even the Smithsonian. The Center is delighted to join this distinguished group!

Chad Vickery’s life-like sculpture is made from recycled electrical wiring discarded by home builders. Chad is pursuing a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree, at the University of Alabama, and you can get a glimpse of this talented young man’s other work by clicking on www.art.ua.edu.

Upcoming Events

Dr. E.O. Wilson—March 9 • 11 a.m.
BSC’s Norton Theatre.
Dr. E.O.Wilson, Alabama native and internationally recognized authority on biodiversity, will be on hand for what promises to be one of the most compelling public lectures of 2006. For a review of E.O.’s seminal work, click on www.harvardmagazine.com/on-line/030390.html

Livable Cities 2006—May 5  • 8 a.m. - 1:30 p.m.
BSC Norton Theatre.
Alabama’s largest annual smart growth conference. Check our website www.bsc.edu/sec for updated information about speakers and registration.

Eco de Mayo—May 7 • 4 - 6 p.m.
BSC EcoScape
Eco de Mayo reception for sponsors and friends of our EcoFest fundraiser each October. For more information on either event, call 226-4934.

Legacy Summer Institute—July 16-24
Southern Environmental Center
Free, hands-on workshop on environmental issues for Alabama K-12 teachers. Register online www.legacyenved.org or call 800.240.5115.

Return of the Natives

Photos by Susan Hagen

It is unlikely that we can ever recreate the pristine natural environment William Bartram www.bartramtrail.org) encountered during his exploration of Alabama in the late 18th century. Even so, SEC is committed to creating urban oases where native plants and wildlife similar to those Bartram observed, can thrive.

Take the Alabama Meadow at BSC’s EcoScape, for example. Depending on the time of year, you’ll encounter fragment phlox, delicate wild indigo flowers, coreopsis, ashy sunflowers, cone flowers, southern blazing stars, and a profusion of other natives. Photos and info about these plants have now been added to our website bsc.edu/sec/ecoscape/default.html, thanks to BSC Professor of English Susan Hagen. As part of a volunteer project for Blount County Master Gardeners alabamamg.org, Susan’s Plants of the Alabama Meadow link is just another reason why our EcoScape website registers thousands of hits annually.