City Council roundup: Library board, Oporto armory, Norwood fitness

The Birmingham City Council, at its regular meeting for Tuesday, May 29, had a relatively light workload.

Here are the highlights:

The council voted 7-0 to amend the city code to reduce the size of the Birmingham Library Board from 10 members to 9 members. The item passed with no discussion. According to the text of the agenda item, it was submitted by City Council President Valerie Abbott. She is the chair of the Administration and Education Committee, which recommended the change.

As part of their consent agenda, members approved an agreement in which the city will buy the old Alabama National Guard Armory property, located at 5601 Oporto Madrid Boulevard, for $10,000 from The Armory Commission of Alabama. The facility will be used for “future economic development or for municipal use,” according to the text of the resolution. The purchase was recommended by Mayor Randall Woodfin and the council’s Budget & Finance Committee.

The Armory was used by an Army National Guard unit until the base was moved to Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport in 2009, according to bhamwiki.com.

Many older city residents will remember when rock concerts, including a popular series of shows booked by local DJ Dave Roddy, were held at the Armory in the 1960s and 1970s.

Members also voted 7-0 to approve a zoning change that will allow an entrepreneur to open a small fitness studio in Norwood. Krystal Rumph, the owner of a single-family residential structure at 1115 27th St. N, requested the change -- from Contingency Office and Institutional District to Qualified Neighborhood Business District -- so she can open a facility that will empower women through fitness.

“I am interested in giving the neighborhood access to fitness and a healthier lifestyle,” Rumph said.

Katrina Thomas of the city’s planning department said that the request is consistent with the city’s long-range plan and that Rumph meets the parking requirement. Rumph plans to operate during normal business hours and to keep the structure’s residential character, according to Thomas.

The change was previously recommended by the Norwood Neighborhood Association, the Zoning Advisory Committee and the council’s Planning and Zoning Committee, Thomas said.