Birmingham City Council agrees to sell old Slossfield facility to Salvation Army

The Birmingham City Council, at its regular meeting for Tuesday, Aug. 22, voted 6-0 with one abstention to allow the city to sell the old Slossfield Community Center to The Salvation Army $250,000.

The organization plans to restore and use the historic facility, which is located near Finley Blvd. and I-65 at 1910 and 1920 25th Ave N. and 1918 25th Court N.

The project will be part of a sizable new Salvation Army footprint in that neighborhood.

In July 2016, the non-profit broke ground on a new $25 million, 4.1-acre campus that will house its administrative offices and emergency relief services, according to local media reports.

The project includes a renovation of the former Lewis Elementary School building at 2015 26th Ave. North.

The Slossfield Community Center is a complex of buildings built in the 1930s by the American Cast Iron Pipe Company as part of their industrial health program for workers and families and served African-American residents in the neighborhood, according to bhamwiki.com.

Councilor Marcus Lundy, who serves as the chair of the Economic Development, Budget and Finance Committee, raised concerns about the level of minority participation planned for the construction.

He said that the level of participation in the first phases of the Salvation Army project was only about two percent, while the number typically required for firms receiving help from the city is 33 percent.

Roger Glick who, along with his wife DeAnn, serves as Salvation Army area commander for Birmingham, told Lundy that is “committed” to improving that number moving forward.

Glick, who has only been on the job in Birmingham for about a month, said that he thinks the general contractor, Brasfield & Gorrie, is also committed to increasing minority participation.

Voting in favor of the measure were Lundy, Council President Johnathan Austin and councilors Kim Rafferty, Valerie Abbott, William Parker and Jay Roberson. Sheila Tyson abstained.