City to apply for federal dollars to help revitalize Smithfield

The Birmingham City Council — at its regular meeting for Tuesday, Dec. 15 — voted unanimously to apply for nearly $35 million in federal grant money to assist in the revitalization of the Smithfield neighborhood, which is located west of Interstate 65 near Legion Field.

Members passed a resolution authorizing Mayor Randall Woodfin to apply for a $34 million grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

The money — part of HUD’s Choice Neighborhoods Implementation Program — is to go to the “comprehensive revitalization and the transformation” of Smithfield, according to the text of the agenda item.

The effort is in concert with the Housing Authority of the Birmingham District and the Jefferson County Commission For Economic Development.

Up to $7.5 million in matching funds will be required from the city over the five-year grant term.

However, there will be “no cash out of pocket” for the city, said Kelvin Datcher, the city’s director of intergovernmental affairs.

Some of the matching money will come from federal “CDBG (Community Development Block Grant) dollars that the council has already approved and appropriated,” Datcher said in response to a question from Councilor Valerie Abbott.

The city can also count the money is has already budgeted for paving and other infrastructure in the area, Datcher said. “We are using every dollar being spent in Smithfield that is already planned as leverage,” he said.

Councilor Steven Hoyt said that the grant is good for the city and good for the Housing Authority. “This is economic development at its best,” he said.

City officials must submit the grant application by Wednesday, Dec. 16, Datcher said.

Choice Neighborhoods Implementation Grants support communities that have completed "a comprehensive local planning process" and are ready to implement their plan to redevelop the neighborhood, according to a HUD website.