Ribbon cutting held for Kiwanis Centennial Park, Vulcan Trail

Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin, members of the Kiwanis Club of Birmingham and other dignitaries held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for Kiwanis Centennial Park and Kiwanis Vulcan Trail -- two components of a $5.8 million expansion of Vulcan Park and Museum -- on the afternoon of Tuesday, March 20.

The ceremony, attended by about 125 people, began in a cold rain on the north side of Vulcan Park.

The trail is now open, and the park will be open soon, according to a spokesperson at Vulcan.

The project was created to help the Kiwanis Club of Birmingham, formed in 1917, celebrate 100 years of service in the Magic City.

Spearheaded by the 550-plus members of the club in cooperation with Vulcan Park and Museum and Freshwater Land Trust, the centennial project has three components:

The north side of Vulcan Park, once in disrepair, has been transformed into Kiwanis Centennial Park, a new park and events space with a plaza, fountain and steps leading up to the statue.

Kiwanis Vulcan Trail is a 2.2-mile jogging and biking trail extending to Green Springs Highway.

The third component, a multi-colored light show to be projected onto Vulcan each night, will be complete in August, according to Tom Thagard, the club’s immediate past president.

Darlene Negrotto, Vulcan executive director, stood under a umbrella and offered brief remarks on the new plaza before the ribbon cutting as many attendees huddled in a small tent or under umbrellas..

The north side of the park was once a “warm, inviting place” but was neglected for about 50 years, Negrotto said.

The efforts of the KCB have once again made the area “a beautiful gathering place with connections to the community and a beautiful view” of the Vulcan statue, she said.

After the event was moved from the rain-swept plaza to an indoor events space in the museum, Thagard told attendees that the project “will be transformational to Birmingham.”

Thagard credited Gail Vaughan, Kiwanis Club of Birmingham executive director, for having the idea a few years ago that the club should do some large community project to commemorate its upcoming centennial.

It then took a lot of brainstorming and winnowing through about 40 ideas to arrive at the combination of the Vulcan Trail and the restoration of the north side of Vulcan, according to Thagard.

The project was meant to be “something that would have a major impact on downtown Birmingham both now and in the future,” he said.

The members of the club “stepped up unhesitatingly” and donated about $1.6 million in pledges, Thagard said.

They also went into the community and raised another $3.2 million from private and corporate donors, according to Thagard, who said he was “blown away” by the “almost instantaneous” support they received.

He said they have $1 million left to raise for the $5.8 million project.

Thagard reminded attendees that it was the Kiwanis Club that helped create Vulcan Park in the 1930s and moved the statue from the state fairgrounds.

“We have reconnected Vulcan to its WPA roots and to the people of downtown Birmingham,” he said, referring to some of the work done at the park during the Depression by the federal Works Progress Administration.

“With the trail, we have created a sort of Central Park for Birmingham,” Thagard said. “You have to see it to believe it.”

In August, they will unveil the “world-class” light show at Vulcan that will cement the statue as “Birmingham’s icon” and help spread the image of a vibrant new Birmingham nationally and internationally, he said.

Libba Vaughan, the executive director of Freshwater Land Trust, said that Vulcan Trail will be the “central backbone” of the 750-mile Red Rock Ridge and Valley Trail System.

She talked about the work that went into putting the trail together and praised the five landowners along the route who helped make it possible.

“They were incredibly enthusiastic and supportive of this trail,” Vaughan said.

Vaughan also celebrated the way in which the Vulcan Trail and the other trails it connects to in the Red Rock system, as well as other green space, will be important to the future of the city in spurring economic development, improving health, and attracting and retaining residents.

Woodfin said that he agreed strongly with Vaughan’s views of the importance of trails and greenspace and that he wanted to talk about the notion of “connectivity.”

“We know the history of our city,” the mayor said. “We know the history of our region. We know the past. But this park and trail is a spark in our present and our future to connectivity for our city and region.”

He noted that parks and green space are critical to livability and said that he is proud of the project as a Kiwanian.

And he has another, more basic reason to celebrate the opening of the trail.

“Personally, I look forward to riding my bike, “ he said.

Among the other attendees were Birmingham City Council President Valerie Abbott -- celebrated by Thagard as a long-time advocate of the trail -- as well as council members Darrell O’Quinn and Jay Roberson.