2026-09-21 - Arts and Parks Committee

00:17Hold on a minute. We'll turn on the

00:19microphone so everyone can hear you.

00:23>> Thank you for having me. This is a great

00:24day for me to come because not only do I

00:27get to share what happened over the past

00:28year and what our future is, but I can

00:30also tell you about a tremendously

00:33exciting event that we had this weekend

00:35and uh share some really good things

00:37about that. So, uh I'm going to start by

00:41basically thanking the council for all

00:44the support throughout the years. I've

00:46been the full-time executive director

00:48for Rick Woodfield for six years. And

00:50ever since I came on and got to know you

00:53folks who here now and have been in the

00:56past, y'all have done nothing but

00:58support us every time we've come and

00:59ask. And I can't tell you enough how

01:02much that means to me personally and to

01:04the board at Rickwood Field. So, thank

01:05you. Um, I want to tell you about what

01:08we do and uh then what we've got coming

01:11up. But, uh, a lot of people think that

01:13we're we're kind of a special event

01:15place where there's a game here, a game

01:18there, and nothing else. But we're busy

01:19doing baseball activities all during the

01:21year. We start off in February with

01:24Miles College, and they'll play 20 games

01:26a year roughly. We follow that up with

01:29three Birmingham high schools, Carver,

01:31J, and Ramsey, and they'll play however

01:34many games they can get in before the

01:36playoffs start. Then we move into May

01:40and we have the SWAT tournament which is

01:42now uh will be coming up into our third

01:44year. That's been very very successful.

01:46The SWAC loves us. All the teams that

01:48come in love us. And one of the things

01:52we have because we had MLB a few years

01:55ago. We've got one of the best playing

01:57surfaces in the whole country. And I'll

02:00get back to that. But um the swag, after

02:03the swag, we have one game a year with

02:05the Birmingham Barons that come in and

02:06play. That usually draws 3 to 5,000

02:09people. Then after that, we have what's

02:12called the MLB East West Classic, and

02:14that's a continuation of our

02:16relationship with MLB. We have that on

02:19Junth. We have had it two consecutive

02:21years, and it sounds like that we're

02:23going to have that for many, many years

02:25to come. Um, it's a weekday event

02:28usually, so it doesn't draw a huge

02:30crowd, but it brings in probably 50

02:34really classic baseball players. They're

02:36all older like me, but they'll play for

02:39about five or six innings. They'll have

02:41a home run derby. They sign hundreds of

02:44autographs. It's just a great community

02:46event. And the ticket price is $12. So,

02:49where can you get that kind of

02:50entertainment for $12? And you can see

02:53guys who are in the Hall of Fame. you

02:55can see guys who may be in the Hall of

02:56Fame or you can see guys who are just

02:58young enough to still put on a good

02:59show. So, we really love that event. And

03:03when the commissioner was here two years

03:04ago, he said, "We're going to stay

03:06involved with Birmingham." And this is

03:08one big way they do that. They also

03:10bring in an event in July called the

03:13Hank Erin Invitational, which they bring

03:15in about 50 or 60 of the nation's best

03:18African-American seniors in high school.

03:20They'll come out and they'll play a game

03:22in front of college and pro scouts to

03:25try to get further down the line with

03:27their baseball career. So, those are the

03:29things that we do with MLB.

03:33One of the biggest things we also do is

03:35travel ball. Travel baseball is huge.

03:37And starting in June, we'll have games

03:39almost for two solid months. Almost

03:42every day of the week, people come in

03:44from all over the country. We've had

03:46teams from the Dominican. We've had

03:47teams from Australia. We've had teams

03:50from uh 40 states and they come to

03:55Birmingham and they stay here and they

03:57eat here and they play here. And we

04:00think we provide a great service by

04:02again providing the field that we do

04:04because once MLB left, they left us with

04:08a jewel. And we've had people that come

04:11to Birmingham and look at Rick Woodfield

04:12and said, "This is as nice as anything."

04:14I personally went to San Francisco three

04:16weeks ago and I was able to go down on

04:19the field and look at their grass and I

04:21said, "They ain't got nothing on us."

04:26Yesterday and the day before, we had the

04:30biggest two-day event in our history. We

04:32had the clowns and the coconuts, which

04:34are part of the Savannah Bananas family.

04:36We had uh 16,600

04:39people.

04:41uh they came from 48 states. 47% of the

04:46people that came were from outside our

04:48metropolitan area zip codes. So of all

04:52those people we had again they came

04:54here, they stayed here, they ate here,

04:57they saw those games and they walked

04:59away with just a fantastic experience

05:03and a great um just a great idea of what

05:07Birmingham is like. And that's one of

05:09the special things that I think we we

05:11are able to do as we attract people. We

05:13get people all the time that come here

05:14for nothing but baseball. And when they

05:16come to Rick Woodfield, they see a

05:19jewel, a historical jewel that we have

05:21here that nobody else has. And so we we

05:24do consider ourselves a great part of

05:26our travel and tourism business. Once

05:29MLB came and left, our tourism went up

05:31400%. We used to have three or four

05:34people come in every day during the

05:37week. Now, sometimes we'll have a couple

05:40of hundred a week. We're about to have a

05:43a tour bus come in from St. Louis. Uh

05:46they come in every year. They bring

05:48actually two buses. They'll bring about

05:50a hundred young ladies from a Catholic

05:52school in St. Louis. They come here and

05:55they do the civil rights tour and the

05:57last stop is always Rick Woodfield and

05:59it's always their favorite stop because

06:01we let those young ladies go out and run

06:02the bases and they just have a good

06:04time. So, we have we have a lot of

06:06excitement about our ballpark.

06:08And um

06:11coming up in October, which is kind of

06:12our slowest month, we have an a fantasy

06:15camp which features uh about 100 120

06:18people who will come down here from

06:19Cincinnati and they're older guys like

06:22me and Roy who can still play baseball

06:25and they'll stay here. They they

06:27actually stay at the Holiday in Airport.

06:30Um they play ball all during the week

06:33and uh

06:35they have a good time and they spend a

06:37lot of money when they're here. Um we're

06:41about to have a a play which will be

06:44called Cobb. Uh it's going to be a

06:46Sunday afternoon thing and it's about uh

06:48the life of Tai Cobb and Oscar

06:50Charleston, one of the great Negro

06:51League players. That's something kind of

06:53new. We don't normally do a lot of

06:55plays, but we're going to do this and

06:56see how it works. Um,

06:59and the last uh almost the last thing I

07:02want to tell you is something really

07:03really big that's uh

07:06gonna uh it's going to help us in a lot

07:08of ways. We have a u a game in J

07:12February with the University of

07:14Missouri. We have never had an SEC

07:18baseball game here and uh they really

07:21want to come. I jokingly say I can't get

07:24Alabama and Auburn to come two hours an

07:27hour away, but I've got Missouri coming

07:29and they are tickled to death and

07:31they're bringing in a college called

07:33Merist which is up in New York and

07:35they're going to play a three-game set.

07:37Um I think it's February 19th, 20 and

07:3921. Um, it's just going to be to me

07:44that's just a real jewel in our crown

07:46because SEC is that's the gold standard

07:49of baseball in college. And to have them

07:51come here, their coach was in town a

07:54couple of weeks ago. He came out and he

07:55looked at the field and he says, "I just

07:57can't wait." And I said, "Well, it's not

07:59going to be as green in February, but

08:02it's still going to be a good playing

08:03field."

08:04And I say all of that, I've talked fast

08:07because I know you got other people that

08:09want to talk, but we're we're really

08:11happy with what all we've been able to

08:12accomplish and we've been able to do it

08:15mainly because of all the support that

08:16you give us. One last thing I want to

08:18leave you with is Commissioner Rob

08:21Manfred, who's the head of Major League

08:23Baseball. He was here obviously two two

08:27years ago. We talked. He told me, "Be

08:29patient. We're going to come back." So,

08:32we continued to be engaged. We had the

08:34East West, we had the Hank Aaron

08:35Invitational. He was on television three

08:38weeks ago during the Little League World

08:40Series. And they interviewed him and

08:42they said, "What are your plans going

08:43forward?" He said, "They're going to do

08:45the Field of Dreams game in Iowa next

08:47year, 2027,

08:49but they're looking at maybe coming to

08:51Birmingham in 2028." He didn't say,

08:54"We're coming." He said, and I quote,

08:59"We had a massive success here with the

09:01MLB game in 2024, and we're very open to

09:04coming back." Now, I got that on record.

09:08He always tells me, "Be patient." And I

09:11told him the last time we talked, I

09:13said, "Mr. Commissioner," I said, "I'm a

09:15very young 70, but I'm not going to be a

09:18young 70 for long. Please come back

09:21before I get too old to do this." And so

09:24he laughed and he he always tells me,

09:26Gerald, be patient. So I'm going to be

09:29patient. I hope y'all be patient, but I

09:31also hope you will continue to support

09:33us in every way that you always have.

09:35Share the information that we put out

09:37about what we're doing and everything

09:39else. And we would love to have you out

09:41there anytime.

09:43>> Thank you.

09:44>> Any questions?

09:45>> Yes. Any questions?

09:47>> Yeah, just a a general comment for me

09:49from me. uh thank you for all the work

09:51that you you're doing uh to maintain a

09:54legacy institution that we have in the

09:56city of Birmingham by way of Rick

09:58Woodfield. I think it means a lot uh for

10:00baseball and then for sports as a whole

10:03uh to have a jewel like you said uh

10:05earlier uh still standing in the city of

10:07Birmingham. Um

10:1016,000 people that's a lot of people

10:13that's a lot of economic uh impact in

10:16the city of Birmingham as well. So, I'm

10:17excited to hear that and I'm excited to

10:19see uh you're continuing to bring other

10:23events uh to Rick Woodfield. So, I'm

10:25excited about that. My biggest question

10:28uh for today, I know the MLB invested a

10:30lot of money uh into uh Rick Woodfield

10:33when they had the game here in 2020 for

10:36the Hank Aaron Classic. Um how does

10:39maintenance work of the field? Who's

10:40responsible for maintenance uh and

10:42upkeep of the field?

10:44>> Well, let me back up. Let back up. I

10:46know y'all were not on the council then.

10:49The money came from you guys.

10:50>> Okay.

10:51>> A lot of people think MLB came in here

10:54with a bunch of deep pockets and take

10:55took care of the field. The city of

10:57Birmingham, the council and the mayor's

10:59office. When I went to them and said,

11:01"We got this opportunity."

11:03We started raising money and I got money

11:05from the power company. I got money from

11:08>> Blue Cross regions, but we were not

11:10getting there fast enough. And when I

11:12told the mayor about our dilemma, he

11:16said, "Don't worry about we're going to

11:18get with the council." And you guys put

11:20up $5.5 million.

11:22>> Okay.

11:22>> Now, MLB paid for

11:24>> the game day experience. They brought in

11:27the trailers and the TV and the

11:28temporary lights. They did all of that.

11:30But the $5 million, five plus million

11:33dollars you guys paid for, that gave us

11:36an MLB quality field. It gave us a

11:39drainage system second to none. It gave

11:41us an irrigation system.

11:43>> Nice.

11:43>> Padding around all the walls to protect

11:45the players, netting and all of that. So

11:48that's on you guys for what you did.

11:50Now, how do we maintain that?

11:53>> This is probably I don't want this to

11:55sound like a a bragging kind of comment.

11:58Probably the biggest success that we

11:59have is the fact that we do this with me

12:01and five people. I have five

12:03groundskeepers. I'm the only one that

12:05does management, payroll, marketing,

12:07booking. I do all of that. And I've got

12:09five groundskeepers. and they they love

12:11that field and they feel a great deal of

12:15ownership and they take care of it and

12:19it requires cutting every day. It has to

12:22be watered twice a day. It has to be

12:24airrated every three weeks and MLB will

12:26come in once a month or more often. If

12:28we have any uh issues with the grass or

12:31we have any issues even with equipment,

12:33they'll send somebody down here and

12:36we'll correct it and we have to pay for

12:38that. But nothing's free. But in the

12:42end, when people come to our field and

12:44they see it, it's it's emerald. It's

12:46beautiful. It's great. And it's as good

12:49as any place to play.

12:52>> Okay. So, I just want to make sure like

12:53in the future um that maintenance is

12:56taken care of. Maintenance is is good to

12:59go.

13:00>> We take care of that.

13:01>> Okay. Okay. Want to make sure that Okay.

13:04Well, thank you so much for all the work

13:05that you're doing, Gerald, and making

13:07sure uh that Rickwood Field is around

13:09for generations to come.

13:12>> Yes. Thank you. And you all do a lot of

13:14fundraising if I'm not mistaken.

13:16>> You all do a lot of fundraising,

13:17correct?

13:18>> Yeah.

13:19>> So, um so yeah. So, thank you. This was

13:21great. Um you know, I knew some things

13:24that were happening at Rickwood, but to

13:26hear all the extras, I knew Ramsay

13:28played, but um not Carver, Jackson Olen.

13:31Um, but just seeing the economic

13:33development, the economic opportunities

13:35that are happening with having so many

13:36people coming from outside of the state

13:39to see what what we have here with

13:41Rickwood is um really enduring. So,

13:45thank you.

13:45>> Well, let me add this, too. Because of

13:47the support you give us, we're able to

13:49let the city schools play at almost

13:52nothing. We have to charge we charge a

13:54field rental rate to everybody that

13:56comes in, but the field rate that we

13:58charge to the city schools is 50% of

14:00what everybody else plays. So, for

14:02instance, if a school from u let's just

14:05say from Shelby County wants to come in

14:07and play, they pay $1,000 a day. The

14:10city schools pay 500. Same thing with

14:13miles. We we charge the same rate for

14:15miles. So we are trying everything we

14:16can do to not only promote baseball in

14:19Rickwood Field to promote uh but to

14:21share with what you are giving us by

14:23your generosity.

14:24>> Yeah. Great. Thank you. Thank you.

14:27Appreciate it.

14:28>> Come and see us, please.

14:29>> Yes, sir. [laughter]

14:31>> We're good.

14:32>> Any more questions?

14:33>> No more questions.

14:34>> Thank you.

14:34>> Thank you.

14:38>> All right. So, thank you for that update

14:40on Brickwood Field. Um so, next we have

14:42a Carver Theater update.

14:44um by Mr. Freriedman. Bob Freeman.

14:54>> Good afternoon, counselors.

14:56>> Good afternoon.

14:57>> I am ordered by one of my board members,

15:01Minister Gwen Webb, to say I love you

15:05both. [laughter]

15:07>> I know you know what that means.

15:09>> We love her, too. You mind you mind

15:10pulling down the microphone so we can

15:12>> uh Yeah.

15:15Is this better?

15:16>> That's much better. Thank you.

15:18>> Um, let me find where I was so that I

15:22can give you a pictorial.

15:25Um, I thought a picture might be worth a

15:28thousand words and I think I might speak

15:30loud enough to get picked up as as well.

15:34>> Okay.

15:34>> Um,

15:36I was asked to give an update about

15:38what's going on with the sewer system,

15:39the Carver Theater, and so forth. I was

15:41glad that I was asked

15:44of all the other board members floating

15:46around in both those organizations. I

15:49spent a lot of time out in the street

15:51with Plumcore, with the county, with the

15:54city engineers and so forth over the

15:57course of the last year and a half. Um,

16:00and I'm excited about it.

16:05I gave you a packet. The packet was was

16:09there for a purpose, just to let you

16:11know that the kind of public history

16:14work that we're doing with the

16:16Birmingham Black Radio Museum, which

16:18from our uh uh

16:21rough estimate looking at Google and so

16:24forth, is the only black radio history

16:27museum in the United States. It looks at

16:31the development of black radio in a

16:33market and how it impact on everything

16:36in African-American life and and the

16:39surrounding area. So, as you'll see from

16:41some of the exhibits, we have both

16:44African-American and Caucasian

16:47responses to black radio in in the

16:51museum. Um, we were organized in 1990.

16:56uh we we we got uh our 501c3 in 2004. We

17:01expanded the board recently to include

17:04people who are quite lettered in the

17:06field of history. Uh Pam Stern King

17:10who's been history professor at UAB for

17:1440 years. Wayne Coleman who is the head

17:17of archives at the Birmingham Civil

17:20Rights Institute. uh Bob Ryder who who

17:23is the head of archival studies at the

17:25school of library and information

17:27studies at University of Alabama. And

17:29you can see from some of the documents

17:31including from the department of

17:33archives and history in Montgomery um

17:36how much support the notion of this kind

17:39of what we say one-of-a-kind

17:42uh public history demonstration uh has

17:46been has been received very well and of

17:48course by u Dr. Tucker at the Carver

17:52Theater who welcomed us way back in in

17:552011. Uh and we've gotten we've moved

18:00moved quite along since then. Um

18:04the uh museum before I'm going to let

18:08you look at the at the documents on your

18:10own steam. I'm sure they'll they'll

18:12speak u speak to you. I'm going to show

18:16you what happened when we finished

18:19building the museum. Uh the whole idea

18:22of building the museum was that we want

18:25to and it kind of came about in the

18:27course of of the obstacles that we met.

18:30How can we help 501c3s? How can we help

18:34history centered not forprofits to

18:37transition from only online to permanent

18:40exhibit? I there's a lot going on in the

18:43country today that shows even the

18:46frailty of permanent exhibits if if left

18:50to the wrong political attitude, let's

18:53put it that way. But a a permanent

18:55exhibit that tells this story really

18:58talks to Birmingham as as and its

19:00development. So, uh if you'll look at

19:04the screen, I'm I'm hopeful that these

19:06will be um

19:10big enough and Easy enough to see when

19:13you come into the museum. Uh from the

19:16first floor, you would enter on the

19:18first floor of the carver. Are we up?

19:20Okay. Um and you would start to go

19:23downstairs. As you'll see, it's quite

19:25dynamic. The entrance. This is not what

19:28it looks like now, but this is what it

19:31looked like the end of March 2025.

19:35Um that big box on the right is a

19:38wheelchair accessible lift which we

19:40raised 70,000 separate dollars for

19:43including uh 40,000 from the city

19:46council and we raised the other 20 odd

19:49on our own to make sure that anybody and

19:52everybody can can get down to the

19:54exhibit. And in fact that's what made

19:57the building ADA compliant.

20:00I want to stop and let that sink in for

20:02a minute. It was not that way until we

20:04could assure people could get to all

20:07areas of the museum. And it wasn't just

20:09because of the BBRM. There was a radio

20:12station down there. If they were going

20:14to be a not for profofit that wanted to

20:17hire people, they had to have an open

20:19admissions policy on that question. So

20:23you you enter there and you come down to

20:26the first landing. The first landing is

20:28this dynamic

20:30exhibit

20:31with from the 30s to the 80s. All those

20:34little um those little dots and dashes

20:38that you see there are broadcasters.

20:41They're broadcasters that that started

20:44in the 30s and 40s, women and men. And

20:48these are overwhelmingly

20:51African-American.

20:52Um, if you make a right turn, you'll go

20:57down a hallway which is an ephemerra

21:00collection of pictures, documents,

21:03records of all kinds, news clippings,

21:06and so forth. Um, and you'll do it from

21:10the 30s all the way to to the 80s.

21:13That's not there now. That's all this

21:15stuff has been for the most part taken

21:17back by the interior designers.

21:20And when you make your left turn into

21:22the big room, you'll see a history of

21:26black radio from the 20s to the 80s. And

21:29then a long stretch to pay tribute to

21:32the radio stations that o were open

21:34enough to hire African-Americans from

21:37the 30s on up, even though most of them

21:40were whiteowned at the time. What you're

21:42really seeing is a transition from 15

21:45minutes of gospel in the 30s

21:50to ownership in the 80s

21:53and how how the community responded. It

21:56wasn't it wasn't all clean, but it was

21:59an exciting history to say the least.

22:01When you get to the end of the hallway,

22:03you see a display case. The bottom piece

22:06is the actual board that was used by

22:10Shelley Stewart and Erskin Foch at Win

22:13Radio and WATV.

22:15And the rest of the uh a lot of the

22:17items here are coffee cups and ashtrays.

22:21I think that speaks for itself. When you

22:24look on the right side, that is that's

22:2720 20 inter

22:3020 interviews with people who are foot

22:33soldiers, white folks who used to sneak

22:35up to the black stations to find out how

22:38they could get a hold of the good music.

22:40Um, uh, political figures, people who,

22:45uh, own radio stations and so forth.

22:47It's a great interactive. And of course,

22:49you see it on a wall that's pretty

22:52dynamic to begin with. When you look

22:54down the wall, you'll see also little

22:57little uh scribblings. Those scribblings

23:00were people who looked on our website

23:03and saw people that influenced their

23:06lives growing up and wrote about it to

23:09us and we put that up as well as part of

23:11the exhibit. Um, when you get further on

23:15down the line,

23:17um, we also created a recording studio

23:21and and that's a place where people can

23:23leave their responses, tell us what

23:26they'd like to see, what they

23:28remembered, and it also gives us a way

23:29to get back in touch with them with uh,

23:31with our burgeoning we hope set of

23:36exhibits to come. And finally, the

23:39broadcaster interactive. This ring

23:42allows you to take your QR code, not

23:45just one person, but but uh as many as

23:48you as as want as want to uh and focus

23:51on two minutes of broadcasters on the

23:55air, actual on the air uh their rap as

24:00it were, but again from the 30s to the

24:0480s.

24:06If u we're successful, this is a marquee

24:09that we're going to see at the Carver. I

24:11assume we will be successful because

24:14that will be our new home. What happened

24:16shortly thereafter on 14 days or so, the

24:20city came out because we had a backup, a

24:22sewage backup, and had to take

24:23everything down. This city engineer was

24:27the first person to come online and told

24:29us back in in early April exactly where

24:33the blockage was just before the uh

24:37sewer line of the Carver meets the trunk

24:39line of the county which is runs all the

24:42way down 4th Avenue.

24:44So, our friends at at uh at the interior

24:48design at Method 1, those are the folks

24:50who did the 16th Street Baptist Church,

24:52the Negro Leagues Museum, several

24:55others. They also did the Bob Hope

24:56Museum and put it on the Queen Mary and

24:59floated it to Europe. They are on my my

25:03high list as some of the best. Uh they

25:06had to take it down, they're kind enough

25:07to store it while we wait. And this is

25:11also what happened because it was uh

25:14sewage and because uh wall board is

25:18absorptive, they had to cut all the way

25:21around 2 and 1/2 ft up and of course

25:24took out the carpet. So that's that's

25:28where we stood in April. We pushed we

25:32met people who were responsive. Folks

25:34from the from capital projects were very

25:37responsive. Um, and

25:41we we came down here several times to

25:44talk to you all about it. Uh, the only

25:47other thing, there's a lot more to show

25:49about the the repair work. Just to show

25:54you a couple of pictures. Um, imagine

25:59them digging down. This is right across

26:01the street from the Carver. You probably

26:03didn't even notice it because Plumcore

26:06in two days did the job. Two days. What

26:10they did is they put this box 23 feet

26:12down

26:14so they could not damage the gas line

26:17and the water line. And you know what

26:18they found?

26:20I as a public historian, I was very

26:22moved by this uh because I I spent hours

26:26down there with not down there but at at

26:29you know on this side of the of the

26:30fence. They said, "We found rails.

26:34We found rails." I said, "What? What are

26:36you talking about? Just scattered, you

26:38know, scrap iron." No, no, we found

26:41rails. There was something rolling down

26:44there 23 feet down. What it was? Maybe

26:47it was a mine car. Maybe it was an old

26:50trolley. Who knows? He said, "And they

26:52were underllaying by brick, not not

26:56bread, not wooden ties." I said, "No

26:59kidding." He said, "Yeah, like this

27:01one." He said, "You want it?" "Oh, yeah.

27:04I want it."

27:06And so, we have that remembrance of how

27:09far down they had to go to meet the

27:12joint. Now, I'm gonna I'm not going to

27:15take up a whole lot more of your time. I

27:17want you to hear the rest of it. By the

27:19way, these these these are the guys that

27:22you um that you that you paid uh this is

27:26the company. This is inside the museum

27:30because we found something very

27:31interesting. They had lined the almost

27:34the entire tube from the from the carver

27:38to the trunk line in a vinyl coating.

27:42They had replaced the joint from the uh

27:45carver line to the trunk line with brand

27:48new piping. And then we're just about in

27:51the uh just about under the curb of the

27:55carver. They met PVC

27:59that was already there from an older

28:03transition in the in the building's

28:05construction. This is last thing I will

28:09show you and hope

28:13sound on this.

28:17Okay, they're looking down the the

28:20vinyl.

28:21>> So, we're coming back up to here.

28:22>> Coming back out.

28:23>> You hear me?

28:27>> They're coming towards the building.

28:30>> That's a camera.

28:31>> We got something now.

28:32>> What's this?

28:34All of a sudden, we're we're hitting

28:37what looks like shrapnel.

28:42>> I know they can't get their color. Yeah,

28:44we'll put the head on there and see how

28:45far you can get it to go.

28:47>> That's the water.

28:51>> So, all of that debris that we're

28:52looking at now is is

28:55>> just standing.

28:56>> Yeah, it's it's got water holding in

28:59that pipe.

28:59>> Mhm.

29:00>> It's standing,

29:01>> but it's open open the whole way. So,

29:03it's it's got like a a belly.

29:06>> It's got

29:08settled.

29:08>> Oh, okay.

29:09>> So,

29:10>> the pipe settled.

29:11>> So, it's holding moist. So the So now

29:15you know from the experts that the the

29:18PVC has settled. That's not good. That's

29:23a trap

29:25if you know what I mean. Even from

29:26plumbing terms. So I know from talking

29:29to uh

29:32the owner at Plumcore who's been on it

29:35all the time, he doesn't want to see the

29:37rest of his wonderful work come back at

29:40all of us. if you you know what I mean

29:42literally. So he says over the next week

29:45or two and I don't know if that's going

29:46to mean a change change order or what it

29:49takes to get another u uh you know uh

29:54number to do the work or what have you.

29:56I know he's committed to doing it and I

29:58think pretty much Allan Walker probably

30:01is committed as well. Um,

30:05and finally I say to ye, this is going

30:10to be around a lot longer than me. I I

30:12was I'm here 40 years in Birmingham,

30:15another 40 plus in Chicago and New York,

30:18but uh in radio a long time and in at

30:23the heartbeat of the city. Uh this city

30:25that I've learned to love and live in

30:27and work in and play in. Um, I hope the

30:31city will look at us as a permanent

30:34exhibit, something that will, we have no

30:37doubt, draw people from around the

30:39world. Uh, we already have contact with

30:42all the black radio stations in the

30:44state of Alabama. And I'm I work uh in

30:48consort with H.B.CU cus uh around the

30:52country who also uh have historians like

30:56Brian Ward from North Umbrea in England

31:00who who I brought over here in 2013 to

31:03do the 50th anniversary of 1963.

31:06Um and this and tell the story of Tall

31:09Paul. I came to the uh 16th Street

31:12Baptist Church for the for the

31:14anniversary of the bombing and so forth.

31:18I wore my Tall t-shirt called Paul has

31:21got to he passed in 2001 but he was the

31:24most significant radio announcer of the

31:27civil rights movement. I worked with him

31:29for four months before he formally left

31:31radio. So that's part of my task too.

31:35Thank you both very much.

31:37>> Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for

31:39being here, giving us the update on the

31:41radio um black Birmingham Black Radio

31:44Museum and then also we know that the

31:46Carver Theater has um a happy hour every

31:49Thursday evening. Right.

31:51>> It's fun and just think we can look

31:53forward to the time when people can use

31:55the downstairs bathroom.

31:57>> Right. Exactly. So, it's a wonderful

31:59It's a wonderful fac.

32:00>> We work well together.

32:01>> Yes.

32:02>> We work We We want a grand opening, a

32:04second one.

32:04>> Yes. They've already agreed to it once

32:07we're rebuilt to really just make a

32:09statement about culture, the history of

32:11culture in this city.

32:13>> We're wonderful to us.

32:14>> Thank you. Thank you. Lots of history.

32:16Yes, sir.

32:16>> I do have one comment, but thank you so

32:18much for all the work that you're doing

32:19to tell the story of black radio, but

32:22not only black radio, but black radio

32:24and its impacts on Birmingham. I think

32:26that's super important. A lot of people

32:27don't realize, especially in the

32:28generations that are coming up now, that

32:30black radio was that mechanism to

32:32communicate, to tell the stories of how

32:35uh black uh communities were being

32:36impacted by certain things and how um

32:39radio was that powerful voice that

32:41existed before there was a black Twitter

32:44before there was you know social media

32:46and so um I'm thankful that you're

32:49telling that story um I'm curious uh on

32:52the exhibits that you have in in the

32:54museum are there any recognitions for

32:57any of our local homegrown talent that

32:59have made it to like the national level

33:01like a Ricky Smiley that has a

33:02syndicated radio show. Um, and then Roy

33:05Wood Jr., are there any exhibits on

33:07them?

33:08>> See, I was for I was friends with Roy

33:10Wood Jr.'s father big time. We we

33:13vacationed together. I've interviewed

33:15him. He's got an unbelievable history.

33:18The guy was guy covered clan rallies.

33:21Okay. I mean, so and and that's a whole

33:25other story about Roy Wood and his two

33:27sons because he has an older Roy Wood

33:29Jr., as you may know, who used to be a

33:31county commissioner. Um but uh uh

33:36finding your roots did a story on Roy

33:40Wood Jr. on the comedian on the

33:42television uh fellow I can't know what

33:46the best way to describe now. He used to

33:47be a host for a while on Daily Show

33:51and they contacted us because they did

33:54not know the history of his father. So,

33:57we're in the credits of the Finding Your

34:01Roots episode of Roy Wood Jr. and and we

34:05gave him everything we had and of course

34:07we had voice and everything else. So, uh

34:11that the ones that are that are still

34:14hanging on like Gary Richardson

34:16started broadcasting in in 1987,

34:22I'm sorry, 1977.

34:24Ron January is still around. He's in the

34:26museum. He started in 76. Uh Al Isaac is

34:30is not on the air anymore, but um the

34:34families of Willie McKinstry, I don't

34:38know, that might be too far back for

34:40you, but u they're older than me and and

34:44they're his children. They're eager to

34:47be in the museum to tell the stories of

34:49the of the 1940s, 50s, and 60s when he

34:53was he was a great gospel singer. Uh the

34:57whole history of gospel in and and

35:00quartet gospel in this city is historic

35:05between I'm I'm talking about that

35:07region Bessemer Birmingham.

35:10It goes back to the turn of the century.

35:13We have a good deal from that. I was

35:16privileged to sing with some of uh some

35:19people who are 20 years older than me uh

35:22with the Pillars of Birmingham. I don't

35:24know if you ever heard the Pillars of

35:26Birmingham, but go up on YouTube and

35:28you'll get a glimpse. I was the

35:31youngster in that group.

35:32>> Great. Thank by chance, do you all have

35:34any traveling exhibits and any

35:37traveling? I know you have a lot of

35:38information. Do you have any exhibits?

35:40>> Well, I did um I did a lot of uh

35:46universities and libraries for the first

35:4910 or 15 years. Um, and usually what I

35:54would use and you can you can visit it

35:56when you go to the website there's a big

35:59si sign off that says visit view a radio

36:02hero that's a 45inut

36:06you know it's a history of video history

36:10really focuses on Paul Paul White's life

36:14um and so we took that out and then we

36:17had lots of back and forth and we had

36:20you I built somewhat of a mailing list

36:23uh and then eventually got asked to do

36:25the 50th anniversary. So the uh that was

36:28grand because we had you know people

36:31come and go as I don't have to tell you

36:33and some of the stories are so

36:36inspiring.

36:38I'll tell you one short one and that is

36:40this because I was a singer with the

36:43Pillars of Birmingham. These were all

36:44old African-American men. The oldest was

36:47born in 23. Two were born in 32. One was

36:51born in 36 and I was born in 43. Okay.

36:55And I was friends with Norman Bennett

36:57Wooding. I don't know anybody who might

37:00know that family. An exceptional family.

37:03And he would talk to me about how they

37:06would walk in their socks

37:08from church to church on Sunday because

37:10they had to keep their shoes

37:13looking good

37:15even though it was in dirt streets and

37:17so forth.

37:19Images

37:20images like that where where families

37:23had to worry whether men would come home

37:25at night.

37:28It's terribly mo moving to

37:33I can't just walk away from it. [snorts]

37:35I can move by it all the time. Anyway,

37:38thank you again.

37:40>> Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much.

37:42>> You bet.

37:43>> Good.

37:44>> All right. Lots of good history here

37:46today. And then um our our last update

37:50is going to be from Greenwalt

37:52Hospitality and we have Jesse Bush.

37:55>> Thanks.

37:57We got

38:23ready. Good afternoon. Thank you guys.

38:26Thank you counselor Smith and Gun for

38:29letting us come and for the honor of

38:31kind of sharing our story with you guys.

38:33Um my name is Jesse Bush. I'm a special

38:35projects manager and senior account

38:37manager for Green and Wall Hospitality.

38:39We are um uh um let's see including our

38:43involvement with beverage and vendor

38:45concession sales at Legion Field. Um I'm

38:48here today to discuss beverage

38:50operations at Legion Field. Uh

38:52specifically in regard to the beverage

38:54operations for the SWAC Classic that was

38:57on 829. Um and then I'd like to discuss

39:00a strategic plan of action for the

39:02upcoming Magic City Classic. Uh so who

39:05we are is uh we're a veteranowned

39:08beverage management company. Uh we are

39:11regional and national um and out of a

39:14genuine need for mobile bartending in

39:16the early 2000s that has migrated and

39:19grown uh to Birmingham. We established

39:21in 2008 uh and expanded like I said into

39:25Birmingham. Our warehouse here in

39:27Birmingham is at 119 Citation Court. Uh

39:30we're now regional and national

39:32multi-divisional hospitality company.

39:34Our specific venue partners um here in

39:36Birmingham are Vulcan Park, McWain

39:39Science Center, uh UAB Athletics, Moody

39:42Moody Civic Center, and then we also

39:44participated in the 2022 World Games and

39:47then the 2022 Magic City Classic. Uh so

39:51specifically, uh we know that some of

39:54you heard about some challenges that we

39:56had during the SWAT Classic on 829.

39:59uh just about some frustrations in

40:02getting some water, some shortages. Um

40:04and I wanted to address that and

40:05apologize personally and just say uh we

40:09um I wanted to talk about four

40:11logistical breakdowns that happened

40:13during that time and then also uh where

40:16it it appeared that guests had a little

40:18bit of delay or trouble getting water

40:21and then um some effective solutions for

40:24each one. up. Um on the first one,

40:27vendors. Um this is specifically our

40:30intent, our vendors, uh getting water

40:33before the gates open. Um in context,

40:36this is about food vendors. Uh they

40:40stocked their own water. They purchased

40:41from us. They were also given additional

40:44options to purchase throughout the game.

40:46Um many of them chose not to purchase

40:48additional water and sold out um even

40:51though they were approached during the

40:52game if they wanted more.

40:54uh due to storage locations and the

40:57crowds delivering orders. Uh we did have

40:59a little bit of challenge with that. Um

41:01and then uh but our plan is to have more

41:05upper level storage established. Uh it

41:08was talked about before Swack Classic,

41:11but uh was never fully established for

41:13the upper level um storage. We also

41:16intend to have a cold storage available

41:18for Magic City Classic. Uh, moving on.

41:22Um, we'd also like to address large

41:24orders um that are we're hoping built

41:28before kickoff. Uh, for a little bit of

41:30context for that one, we had a very

41:32large um order for water in the middle

41:35of the game. This limited not only our

41:37staffing, but a little bit of our supply

41:39as well. We hope to uh get ahead of that

41:42by advance ordering window and set that

41:45with the planners uh specifically over

41:48Magic City Classic. I heard it was

41:49Bruno. I believe this year um orders

41:52received uh are pulled, staged, and

41:54crewed before the doors open. Late

41:57requests are still filled um from nearby

42:00cold storage instead of uh stripping

42:02right into our service line. So, um

42:05hopefully establishing and correcting

42:07that as well. Uh moving on, um we also

42:11uh water, we would like water sold

42:13throughout the game. Uh so going on the

42:16requests uh through the park board they

42:18had requested that we stop all beverage

42:20service at the end of the third quarter.

42:23Uh so in keeping with that we would

42:25actually like to continue just water

42:28stations only through the final whistle.

42:31We've done that approach with several

42:32other venues before large city and

42:34concession sales. It is the most

42:36effective in our opinion. happy to

42:38comply to any other wishes but um would

42:41like to go ahead and do that as well. Uh

42:44with that we propose water and

42:45non-alcoholic beverages stay available

42:48like I said the entire time and and we

42:50would not not charge the city for the

42:52additional staffing required for that.

42:55Um and then finally uh we would like

42:58mobile water courts um carts I apologize

43:02carts in the concourse. Uh we did not

43:05actually have enough non-alcoholic water

43:08stations and soda stations uh just alone

43:12in the different concourses. We'd like

43:14to set up satellite areas for those

43:16non-alcoholic push carts repositioned

43:19during the game to meet the crowds and

43:21then built for fast bulk sales. They can

43:23pull water only guests out of the main

43:25concession queue and shorten every line.

43:28And uh that has performed well for us in

43:30other stadiums as well. We do this at

43:32UAB. We do this at Jordan Hair um as

43:35well. So um definitely wanting to kind

43:38of strategically take those approaches

43:40with the water. And then just a little

43:42bit of context uh we are still working

43:45on our pore agreements and the

43:46sponsorships for Magic City Classic. So

43:49uh if you have any questions, I may not

43:51know all of the answers because a lot of

43:52that is still in negotiation phase. Um

43:55but I'm happy to address any of those

43:56questions. Uh and again strategically we

43:59are looking at uh expanding our storage

44:02upper level. I think that would help a

44:03lot with our club level areas and suite

44:06level uh requests for additional items

44:08there. Um and then uh just you know

44:12finally just kind of a little bit of our

44:13credentials. Every single one of our

44:15staff are tips and serve safe certified.

44:18Um we are contracted bartenders that we

44:21do this for a living. We we upscale and

44:24work on large scale um events for a

44:26living. So we're ever evolving and

44:28hoping to kind of work through our

44:29kinks, but that's essentially it. Do you

44:32guys have any questions for us?

44:34>> Well, I just want to thank you for

44:35coming to give us this update.

44:37Definitely, I learned a couple of

44:38things, especially um that you all

44:40stopped serving at um in that fourth

44:42quarter. So, um hearing that you'll

44:45continue to have water and non-alcoholic

44:47beverages throughout, having the carts

44:49throughout the um throughout the venue

44:51would be extremely helpful. Um and then

44:55the you mentioned vendors getting the

44:58water before gates open. Mhm.

45:00>> So, are there other Cuz you're the only

45:02concessionire, right?

45:04>> We are, but we also do all beverage

45:06sales for all of the food vendors there.

45:08Uh, the ones that come up and set in the

45:10concessionires specifically. I think we

45:13had about

45:15uh somewhere between a dozen and 18

45:18orders uh from vendors. And that was a

45:21lot of that was handled the Friday

45:22before. Some of it was Saturday morning.

45:25Um, and and that was all non-alcoholic.

45:27So, sodas, power aids, water. They

45:29actually were a little bit more educated

45:32than I was. So they knew to stock very

45:34heavily on power aids and water. Some of

45:36them did run out and uh those were the

45:38ones that chose not to continue or

45:40purchase anymore. So is it a So I guess

45:43in my mind I just kind of assume that

45:45you all get a number like of ticket

45:47sales and that you then have an idea

45:49about how many people to expect and then

45:51you stock

45:52>> according

45:52>> or you have available or have ready

45:55>> um a certain number to accommodate what

45:58you're expecting

46:00is so that's not quite

46:02>> Yes, absolutely. So, we start about the

46:0430-day mark asking what is ticket sales

46:07and then every week we do a follow-up of

46:09requesting um hopefully getting kind of

46:11the most updated numbers generally a

46:13week before. We're expecting the the

46:16order form to go live specifically for

46:19Magic City for suites and for vendors at

46:21that 30-day mark with the intent of

46:24communicating all of that to them of hey

46:26we're increasing you know I would

46:28request I would suggest that you

46:30purchase more because the it looks like

46:31the ticket sales are higher. Um so

46:34really a lot of that is just planning to

46:36get the update and then communicate with

46:39the vendors. At least that's what I've

46:40done with other projects of of just kind

46:42of giving them as much information as

46:44possible to know what kind of demand

46:46they'll be expecting.

46:47>> And so when you say you want to have the

46:49additional storage and I'll pass over so

46:50you can ask questions. When you say you

46:51want to have the additional storage

46:52available, does that mean that in the

46:54event that you do have someone that

46:56says, "Hey, I need some additional

46:58beverages that you already have it there

46:59on site versus having to bring it in on

47:02site."

47:03>> We do have two very large storage areas

47:06downstairs. they are not specifically

47:08cold storage and that is a big issue

47:11whenever you do have those live orders

47:13in the middle. Um we try to discourage

47:15live orders a lot for that exact reason

47:18because we want to of course serve cold

47:20beverages but uh we're also looking into

47:23largecale cold storage. um specifically

47:27things that we can store upstairs

47:28because the logistics of getting any

47:31cold product upstairs to the club levels

47:34or suite levels or the sky boxes up

47:36there is very uh logistically

47:38challenging. Um and so with a lot of our

47:41vendors, we definitely encourage

47:43pre-orders as much as humanly possible.

47:45And then waters, it's going to be one of

47:48those situations where if we can get it

47:50cold and downstairs and get cold storage

47:53in some of those larger uh warehouses

47:55that we have downstairs, um that's

47:58that's definitely the goal.

48:00>> Okay, great. Thank you. Um any

48:02questions?

48:03>> Yeah, I do have a few questions. Thank

48:05you for coming out um and addressing

48:07this issue. Um, I know there were uh

48:10logistic challenges uh the day of uh the

48:13game and we heard a lot about it um from

48:16constituents and those that attended um

48:19the game from outside of the state as

48:20well. Uh so one of my question my first

48:23question is uh in emergency situations

48:25like this where we have weather uh that

48:28impacts um the number the volume of

48:30water and and and liquid that uh

48:33attendees are consuming. What is the

48:35protocol for emergency situations like

48:38that where we need to bring in um

48:40additional water like rapidly? What does

48:42that look like um the day of the game

48:45and then like for future events that's

48:47happening because we know that climate

48:48is changing um and we're experiencing

48:51hotter and more humid summers.

48:53>> Yes, I was uh at Jordan hair on Saturday

48:55and sweating through it. So uh for sure

48:58we um our plan is to as as I said before

49:03we are going to get ticket sales and uh

49:05we do this for a living. So we we will

49:07gauge kind of the need on that. Uh we

49:10also have the flexibility of being at

49:12119 citation court. 15 minutes away is

49:16our other larger uh warehouse. So that

49:19we do have that flexibility of in any

49:21kind of emergency situation uh that we

49:25happen to have not gauged appropriately,

49:27we have that flexibility of being able

49:29to go very quickly and get and get out

49:32of our warehouse as well.

49:34>> Okay. So for the cold storage in the

49:36upper levels, what does that look like?

49:37Who's responsible for saying yes, this

49:39is okay. Uh we have cold storage space

49:42in at Legion Field. Is that something

49:44that you're actively working on now?

49:46Yes. For

49:46>> future. Yes, that is a negotiation with

49:48the park board. Uh that's through Trica

49:50and then also through the park facility,

49:52the Legionfield facilities director

49:56that I just blanked on his name, but uh

49:58as well just kind of working on um how

50:01we're logistically getting the cubes up

50:04there for cold storage and then where

50:06we're specifically storing them. Okay.

50:08>> Uh in 212, I think is

50:09>> Okay. So, this will be something that's

50:11in place before Magic City Classic

50:12because Magic City Classic uh the

50:14weather is always tricky. is either

50:16going to be hot or it's going to be

50:17cold. That's usually when the weather

50:19usually starts to shift uh between the

50:21seasons. So, will this be something

50:22that's in place by Magic City Classic?

50:25>> Yes. Oh, absolutely. That's the goal.

50:27>> Okay, that concludes my questions.

50:31>> Great. I don't have any other questions

50:33either. I want to thank you for coming

50:34to give us this presentation, this

50:36update. Um I trust that we received this

50:38electronically so that we can share this

50:40with my colleagues because I know

50:41several people had questions about uh

50:43about the day. Yes.

50:45>> Yeah. Go ahead and finish. Oh,

50:47>> okay.

50:47>> Okay. Um the contract, do you all have a

50:49contract with the city of Birmingham or

50:51is it with uh Parks and Recck board?

50:53>> Parks and Wreck, I believe it was signed

50:55Thursday. Um and it hasn't made it to my

50:58desk yet, but it is on its way. It's

51:01also in pre-application uh status with

51:03the city. So, that's the permanent

51:05license. What we had for SWAT Classic

51:07was the special event license. So,

51:09obviously, we're getting the permanent.

51:11So,

51:11>> Okay. Thank you. And we do expect that

51:13in place uh in the next week and that is

51:16when orders will begin

51:17>> okay

51:17>> to be placed up.

51:18>> Do you know if that contract comes

51:20before council?

51:20>> No, that doesn't.

51:21>> It doesn't. Okay.

51:22>> And also wanted to acknowledge um the

51:25park and recreation attorney that we

51:27have here, Molina Wright. So, thank you

51:29for coming. Um

51:32>> yes, I think.

51:34>> Okay.

51:35>> Thank you guys.

51:35>> Great.

51:36>> All right. Thank you.

51:36>> Thank you. Thank you. Thank you to

51:38everyone. Um so, new business. Uh we do

51:41have some um appointments to the museum

51:45Birmingham Museum of Art board and they

51:48are a self-appointing board and they

51:49have announced the slate um that they

51:52would like to be considered. Um so you

51:56should receive this. We have four um of

51:59the open fullterm positions are for

52:01regular members nominating Jo John

52:04Montgomery um for a six-year term.

52:08Melanie Bridge Bridgefor um Braxton Comr

52:11Melanie Nichols and Dr. Melba Tate. So

52:14those are all for full terms and then

52:17the board is also asking to

52:21name five advisory board members as

52:23follows. Greg Butress, Kyle Deagstino,

52:28Dr. Len Pal McDonald, Whitney Russell,

52:31and Dr. PSen.

52:33So, um you have the

52:37you have everyone's um I guess bios as

52:40provided by the Birmingham Museum of Art

52:43and um we would like to present this

52:46then to the full council for approval.

52:49>> Okay. Being that they're a

52:51self-appointing uh board, do we have to

52:54approve the slate of

52:56>> So, right, it comes to the committee and

52:58then the committee would send the slate

52:59to the full council to vote to approve.

53:02>> Okay.

53:03All right. So, I'll make a motion to

53:04approve.

53:05>> All right. So, um second. All those in

53:07favor? I. All right. So, we will send

53:10the slate to the full council for

53:12approval.

53:14>> Thank you. And then announcements. We

53:16did get an update from GMC on their

53:19parks study. Um so, that has been

53:21emailed out. Um so, we can make sure

53:24that um all of our um all of our

53:27colleagues receive that. But basically,

53:28we are in the I think there are two

53:31parts of this fourth stage where they're

53:33meeting with staff to kind of get a

53:35sense of what staff um what their needs

53:38are, what they um what they see with

53:41parks and then um synthesizing that data

53:45along with the external study, the

53:48community study. So that is that is

53:50continuing. So, I'll continue to have

53:52those updates and reminders to please

53:53complete the parks and recreation study

53:56at bhmarks202035.com.

53:59That is still open. Um, and please

54:02encourage your neighbors, residents to

54:04complete that study. Um, so we're hoping

54:07that we should um we'll continue to get

54:11updates from them. Like I said, there is

54:13an update that they had sent to us um

54:16within the last week that I'll share

54:17with everyone that um to make sure that

54:20you have that.

54:22All right. So, there are no other

54:24announcements.

54:25Okay. Well, thank you. We will adjourn

54:27the meeting.