Look at the magnificent picture that leads this blog. This is the Wells Theatre in Norfolk,Virginia. It’s one of only a few theaters that still exist which was specifically built to maximize the acoustics and close seating needed for vaudeville shows.
The Lyric Theatre located in our downtown is a carbon copy of the Wells. Built in 1914 major stars such as the Marx Brothers, Mae West, Sophie Tucker, Will Rogers, and Milton Berle played the Lyric. Berle said it was “as fine a theater as any in New York.”
Renovating the Lyric would give Birmingham something that could not be replicated just anywhere.
Most people don’t appreciate it, but Birmingham has many unique attractions.
Birmingham’s known as the home of Civil Rights. Yahoo Travel recently named our Civil Rights Institute one of the top ten places that every child should visit in the U.S.
Vulcan stands on Red Mountain. Vulcan is the largest cast iron statue in the world, and is a reminder of our iron and steel industry.
Sloss Furnace produced iron for nearly 90 years and gave rise to our city. Sloss is in the process of building a state of the art welcome center.
Our Birmingham Zoo’s Trails of Africa has become world renowned because of its groundbreaking work to build a herd of male African elephants.
How about Barber Motor Sports? Road and Track Magazine describes Barber as “one of the most beautiful race tracks in North America.”
Don’t forget our Railroad Park. Other cities were built around water, but Birmingham was created because of the railroads. The Urban Land Institute selected our Railroad Park as one of five finalists for its 2012 Urban Space Award and TheDailyGreen.com chose it the best new park of 2011.
With our Railroad Park, Red Mountain Park, and Ruffner Park, Birmingham now has more green space than any major city in America.
Birmingham’s unique in so many ways.
Let’s continue to build on our strengths.
David Sher’s goal is to create a conversation on how to fix our fragmented and dysfunctional local government.
David Sher is a partner in Buzz12 Content Marketing and co-CEO of AmSher Receivables Management. He’s past Chairman of the Birmingham Regional Chamber of Commerce (BBA), Operation New Birmingham (ONB), and the City Action Partnership (CAP).
It’s nice to see such a positive post about Birmingham! Hopefully the “redo” of the Lyric Theatre will actually happen.
Phyllis,
The Lyric is a special place. We are starting to see some activity around redevelopment.
*Can’t wait for the Lyric to be redeveloped. I attended an open house benefit dinner for the Lyric back in the fall and it looks like a wonderful facility. Hopefully the upcoming asbestos abatement from the EPA goes well.
As an aside, I love the positive birmingham blog. Our views of b’hams potential and the surburban vs. city center clash are identical. I’m from Hoover and a current UAB student, but I absolutely love downtown and southside.
David, I saw you previously worked at Operation New Birmingham and that’s always something I’ve been interested in getting involved in. Do you have any advice about how to go about doing that?
Andrew, thank you so much for your passion for the Lyric and Downtown Birmingham. Your youth and enthusiasm is our future. I would like to ask you for a favor. Would you consider subscribing to our e-mail newsletter and encourage your like-mined friends to do the same? https://www.comebacktown.com. There’s power in numbers.
I don’t know how to answer your question about getting involved with ONB as a student, but you might consider checking with them directly. The phone number is 324-8797.
Please continue to give us your feedback.
*I just signed up and I’ll put a post on facebook encouraging others to do so. I’ll give ONB a call, thanks.
David, I am a subscriber to Comeback Town. I will post this on two FaceBook Accounts, two Twitter Accounts, and I would be delighted if you would like to write a guest post for my blog – http://www.oldtownhelena.com
Both you and Phyllis have spoken at our Helena Business Association http://www.HelenaBusinessAssociation.com . Would you be interested in speaking again about bringing back Birmingham and why it may be important to a small city like Helena?