Time for a big gutsy tourist attraction for Birmingham

By David Sher

It’s time for a big, gutsy tourist attraction for Birmingham.

A bold, visionary attraction that will change the face of our region and the perception of Birmingham to ourselves and to others.

But the attraction must be unique—something no other city can replicate.

Bryson Stephens wrote a guest column for ComebackTown last October painting his vision and it blew up the Internet.

Big/bold attraction right before our eyes

Our one-of-a-kind tourist attraction sits right before our eyes.

Many of us see it every day—likely twice a day.

Vision of Red Mountain Cut (Photo courtesy of Red Mountain Cut Foundation)

It’s the Red Mountain Cut.

It’s estimated that about hundred thousand cars pass through the Cut every day.

This attraction is no pipe dream.

This idea has been vetted and efforts have been under way to secure funding.

The Cut likely has more geologic history than any other road cut in the U.S.

Mr. Stephens, who founded the non-profit Red Mountain Cut Foundation, is driven to bring a lighted pedestrian trail connecting the ever-growing 750-mile Red Rock Trail System being developed on both sides of Red Mountain.

He wrote for ComebackTown, “The Red Mountain Cut has the potential to be a captivating tourist attraction, providing a showcase unmatched anywhere, telling stories of our planet’s history as well as our great city’s industrial founding.

Red Mountain Cut
Vision of Red Mountain Cut (Photo courtesy of Red Mountain Cut Foundation)

“When the Expressway sliced through the mountain, the project unearthed around two million cubic yards of Red Mountain ridge, which exposed geologic strata dating back over 500 million years.

“In 1987, the importance of this unveiled history earned the Cut recognition as a National Natural Landmark, an area that the National Park Service deems a significant example of the nation’s natural heritage.”

A wildly popular idea

The readership of Bryson’s column proposing this development was huge, enthusiastic, and followed by unending positive comments and ‘likes’ on social media.

“This is absolutely brilliant!”

 “This is a fantastic idea!”

 “Cool idea! I love the vision!”

 Then came the more creative ideas

“There’s a good amount of parking at Vulcan. How about a tram/chairlift from Vulcan to access the cut? A gondola/chair lift would be a unique attraction and bring more tourists to Vulcan.”

How about we build a bridge from one side of the Red Mountain Cut to the other over the Red Mountain Expressway?”

Quite frankly I don’t know where Mr. Stephens is in these efforts, but I think it’s time to wake up this sleeping giant of an idea.

Time for action

Please read Bryson ComebackTown column and view the photos.

Go to the Red Mountain Cut Website and see the video.

Share this column and post your comments and ideas on  social media.

Whether you live in Birmingham, Homewood, or Irondale contact your mayor or city council and let them know it’s time for action. Contact your Jefferson County commissioner and your state legislator or senator.

Twenty-five years ago, Birmingham took a chance on Railroad Park.

Many people thought it was a crazy idea, but it has changed Birmingham forever.

Now it’s time for Birmingham to take another bold step.

David Sher is the founder and publisher of ComebackTown.  He’s past Chairman of the Birmingham Regional Chamber of Commerce (BBA), Operation New Birmingham (REV Birmingham), and the City Action Partnership (CAP).

Click here to sign up for our newsletter. 

Invite David to speak for free to your group about how we can have a more prosperous metro Birmingham. dsher@comebacktown.com.

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17 thoughts on “Time for a big gutsy tourist attraction for Birmingham”

  1. I hope this idea gets traction and comes to fruition. We’d love to walk the Cut again we visit Birmingham. Do you know how many of those 100K cars are tourists and not commuters? Regardless, I can tell you where the traffic does include numerous tourists: I-65. When Birmingham-area residents lobby their elected officials for this project, please ask them to install interstate signs on I-65 for the Cut, as well other notable tourist attractions, at the appropriate exits. (I assume they would be those typical brown information signs.) Yes, folks increasingly rely on GPS for directions. But travelers also don’t know what attractions are in a city until they see a highway sign. Lobbying here means state legislators and the Director of ALDOT. I believe I-65 currently includes signs for UAB and Regions field, neither of which are likely stop-offs for families headed to the Gulf Coast. Is there a sign for BCRI? What about Sloss Furnaces, Vulcan, and now potentially the Cut? Then make sure drivers can find the attractions on city streets after they exit, as none are located directly off the interstate. Lobbying here means the Birmingham Mayor and City Council. We were in Huntsville last night. Directional signs to various attractions abound in downtown. In fact I’d suggest that the lobbying for better signage in Birmingham shouldn’t even wait for the development of the Cut. The city is probably already missing out.

  2. Allow me to add one further comment. The Red Mountain Cut would not be the first such geological attraction. The Sideling Hill cut on I-68 in western Maryland includes rest areas on both sides and a visitor center on the westbound side. Based on our travels on I-68, however, there’s not nearly the volume of traffic as on I-65.

  3. David, thank you for republishing the idea of the Red Mountain Cut viewing trail. This is a unique opportunity for Birmingham and would be a wonderful bookend to Vulcan Park. Tourism is one of the great economic engines available to Birmingham today. We need to play to our strengths.

    It took 32 years to get Vulcan placed atop Red Mountain. I hope that our City, County and State leaders can work a little faster on making the trail a reality!

  4. I applaud the redevelopment of the Red Mountain Cut. There was a Red Mountain Museum with an interpretive trail and a small museum that merged with McWane Center. Revival of it should include more attractive activities. Perhaps a “zip” line. One idea was brightly and variably colored lasers that could extend well beyond the cut, perhaps to the Civiv Center, Prudential Stadium. Others will have better ideas.

  5. Any mention of attractions in Birmingham must also mention the Barber Motorsports Park!
    It attracts more national and international guests than all other “attractions “ in town.
    Thanks to George Barber, it is in the city of Birmingham.

  6. As I haven’t lived in Birmingham for several years now, may I ask those of you in the Magic City about another “gutsy” historic preservation project and tourist attraction—Sloss Furnaces National Historic Landmark? I’ve been wondering about attendance there today, both daily and for special events such as concerts. Do the City and tourism officials champion it in their marketing efforts? My late mother-in-law, Sarah Beaumont, was very active in the grassroots efforts to save the Furnaces in the 1970s. (She was also active in the successful effort to move Red Mountain Expressway further west, away from Forest Park neighborhood. But that’s another story.) Saving the hulking industrial site was controversial at the time. I hope it’s still proving to be a successful attraction for Birmingham almost 50 years later. Thanks for any information anyone can provide.

      1. Thanks. It looks like Sloss is doing quite well these days. I had forgotten about the metal arts program, which brings artists from around the country to Birmingham. Speaking of my wife’s family, her grandfather and grandmother were indirectly associated with the other notable highway cut in the area—the I-65 cut through Shades Mountain. During Prohibition they owned and operated a speakeasy, the Linger Longer Lodge, on top of the mountain about where the cut is today. (The building burned to the ground well after the speakeasy ceased operation and before the highway was constructed.) The LLL was a popular gathering place for Birmingham movers and shakers of the day. You could actually own stock in the club; we have a few shares. Just another little known story in Birmingham history.

      2. Thanks Maury! It’s always great to see you around our great city, including events at Sloss Furnaces. Our greatest assets include people like you, David Sher, and many others that help grow and support our community!

    1. Robert – I sincerely appreciate the Sloss Furnaces shout out! Sloss Furnaces welcomes about 70,000 visitors and event attendees each year. The number of events has nearly tripled in the last two years, which is an important part of why people visit. We also have one of the largest iron and bronze casting art programs in the world led by six full time resident artists and program managers. Telling the story of Sloss Furnaces is where the most work is needed – and the greatest opportunities exist. A great deal of preservation work will be needed over the next 20 years or so, but we are beginning discussions on how Sloss Furnaces can be a key part of development in that area of town, and connecting us to the Jones Valley Trail, and making Sloss Furnaces what has been discussed since the development of Railroad Park – developing our 16-acre north field into the eastern bookend to Railroad Park the will support the rapid growth already occurring in the Lakeview area.

      I’m the executive director of Sloss Furnaces, which is owned by the City of Birmingham and supported by the Sloss Furnaces Foundation. Please visit our website to learn more and feel free to contact me.

      David Arias 205-515-3902
      david@slossfurnaces.org
      http://www.slossfurnaces.org

  7. What a great idea! Just look around– outdoor walking and biking trails are used every day! Connecting Vulcan Park and The Cut would be a “one of kind ” attraction. Connecting Vulcan, English Village , Mountain Brook Village, the Jemison Trail and Homewood would be the envy of many cities. Outdoor activities and outdoor venues are what people are looking for in a city.

  8. I am both a huge cheerleader for Birmingham and a get-outside enthusiast so it pains me to say that I don’t like this idea. I don’t want to stroll above cars zipping by. Do you?

    I know we can certainly come up with a much better, Birmingham specific attraction …. a much better idea that warrants our hard-earned resources.

  9. Forgive me for reminiscing about The Cut in Red Mountain but my Dad obviously knew it was a big deal. One Sunday afternoon, My Mom and Dad and I drove (trespassed?) part of the way onto the road in the cut before it was finished and paved and stopped and got out. My Dad didn’t say much but just fixated on almost every cut into the mountain and all the layers of rock while my mother and I walked around getting Red Mud all over our shoes. Maybe I was 6 or 7 but I confess that we picked up a few rocks as mementos and brought them home and put them under our Weeping Willow in the front yard. Long buried under dirt and grass these kidnapped transplants are I am sure. But it’s interesting now knowing that my Dad understood the significance of that project. I have always wanted to know the history of the houses or properties were removed in order to build the cut. I have heard there was some kind of “Honky Tonk Dance Hall” there but mostly I wonder if there were other Mansions similar to the ones on the East side of the cut and what happened to them?

  10. Ed G… Agree, but sometimes you have to “build it and they will come”. Something like this is often funded by 3rd parties. I’m not saying it’s a bad idea, it’s cool if it can be done right. My fear is it will become dangerous. It’s a mile long (half mile? not sure) of trail where there’s NO escape. Should you find yourself in a bad situation, you have no where to go. I also don’t know how Mountain Brook feels about being another open artery to this part of town. Will it become a homeless camp? Will it be sketchy?

    Either way, it’s cool and I’m glad someone is thinking forward. With things closing all the time in the best parts of town, someone needs vision.

    The closures I’m talking about are widespread. David, maybe you should do a post about this issue (no Panera on 280, Fresh Market, Newks, Macys, Whole Foods, Brookwood Mall, Sprouts in VH, no Brooks Brothers in all of Bham, etc. etc.). There’s no indoor mall (yeah don’t say the Galleria – it’s out). There are many others, and the problem is, none are backfilled with similar or better options.

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