City Council roundup: Incentives for NSLM eatery, McWane funding
The Birmingham City Council, at its regular meeting for Tuesday, July 3, voted to provide $1.5 million of incentives and in-kind services to a restaurant set to open at the Negro Southern League Museum in the Parkside area near Regions Field.
Michael's Steak and Seafood in Homewood, a minority-owned enterprise, will operate the new facility.
The city will build out the space, which is about 1,950 square feet, and rebate the first 24 months of rent for the restaurant.
The Public Athletic, Cultural and Entertainment Facilities Board (PACE) had already voted to approve the contract.
Kelvin Datcher, director of intergovernmental affairs for the city, told the City Council President Valerie Abbott that the city has traditionally done the build-out for eateries located in city-owned facilities, such as the NSLM, and that the other incentives are consistent with those given by the city in the past to other restaurants.
The restaurant will make the NSLM more attractive to visitors and people seeking to host events, Datcher said.
Negotiations to bring the restaurant to the museum begin under former Mayor William Bell’s administration, according to Datcher. “We continued the negotiations that were in place,” he said.
Councilors Lashunda Scales, Steven Hoyt and John Hilliard all said that there should be no question that the incentives for Michael’s are a sound expenditure, especially given the incentives given by the city to many other majority-owned restaurants and other businesses.
They also said that this was the first time that the city had provided incentives to a minority-owned eatery.
MCWANE CENTER
The Council voted to provide just over $159,000 in funding for McWane Science Center downtown to provide hands-on exhibits and programs for Birmingham students, teachers and the general public from July 1, 2018, through June 30, 2019.
The activities provided by McWane mix “learning with adventure” and are designed to help promote “public understanding of science, technology and the environment,” according to the text of the resolution.
Scales asked Miranda Springer, McWane’s vice president of development, how many kids from Birmingham schools have been served by the program.
Springer said that nearly 6,200 elementary-school students took part in the last fiscal year, with more than 5,000 attending at no change to the student or the school.
In addition, McWane provided 2,000 units of service to kids in the Head Start program, Springer said.
McWane also has a weekend program held in such communities as Woodlawn, Norwood and Powderly to help kids and their parents learn more about STEM concepts, according to Springer.
Scales, who voted to approve the measure, told Springer that she would like to work with McWane to involve more kids from the eastern part of the city, including District 1, which Scales represents.
OTHER BUSINESS
As part of its consent agenda, the Council voted to accept a bid from, and approve a contract with, Sherrod Construction Co. of Vestavia Hills for about $523,000 to do renovations on Wahouma Park, located in East Lake.
Members voted to allow the mayor’s office to accept $30,000 in grant money from the National Recreation and Park Association to assist Birmingham Park and Recreation in creating an “inclusive playground” at Bessie Estell Park in Glen Iris. The playground will provide increased access to play and physical activity for kids with disabilities and their families. The grant was made possible by The Walt Disney Company, according to the text of the resolution.