Planners say the 21–acre park, which runs along the railroad corridor at First Avenue South between 14th and 18th Streets, should be open by summer's end. For those who have driven by the site or spied on the park's progress via its webcam (www.railroadpark.org/webcam.html) to find only mounds of dirt, now is the time to take a second look.

The design is intended to highlight an industry central to Birmingham's development–the railroad. The construction will transform a blighted plot of land into a lush green space complete with a lake, a 1/3–mile "Rail Trail," a natural amphitheater, a water curtain, shaded areas where concessions will be available, several playgrounds, and even a skateboarding area.

Park designer Tom Leader, of Berkeley–based Tom Leader Studio, has practically made Birmingham his second home since he became involved with the Railroad Park in 2006. "Considering everything that happened, and all the obstacles we overcame, I'm feeling pretty great about getting it to this point," Leader says. One of the main obstacles was the discovery, after the park's original plans had been drawn, that Norfolk–Southern railroad owns a 90–foot–wide easement that runs the length of the park. Because of that, the park's border had to be pulled in and its water features flipped from one side to the other. "We pushed all the dirt from the north side to the south side, but it is all working out," Leader says.

Funding for the park was also an issue, in light of the city of Birmingham's budget woes. Public funding for the $22 million park totals $12.5 million, with the city contributing nearly $8 million, Jefferson County $2.5 million, and a federal grant providing $2 million. "One thing we're excited about is how much we were able to get done on that amount of money," Leader says. "Molding the earth got to be a big, important strategy when we had less funding for the construction of structures."

The Railroad Park Foundation, a nonprofit group organized to raise funds for the park and eventually manage it, contributed nearly $10 million, largely through the Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham, according to Will French, the foundation's president. The Railroad Park Foundation has a contract with the city of Birmingham to build and operate the park. "Our role was to coordinate getting it built, to fundraise, and to supervise construction," says French. "When it's complete, we'll operate it under an agreement we have with the city."

The land here, which used to be flat and tangled with weeds, has been formed and sculpted to include hills, ponds, and streams. A series of streambeds and wetlands will capture storm water. "All that water is recirculated and sorted in a series of small ponds and a lake," says Lee Ann Macknally of Macknally Ross Land Design, the park's landscape architect. "It's filtered through the vegetation, and we'll use that water to irrigate, recharging water levels when necessary from a well system that has been drilled on site." The park's lake will be 12 feet deep and eventually feature paddleboat rental, says Katherine Estes Billmeier, the foundation's sole full–time employee. Another water feature is a copper "rain curtain" running along a "rail trail" that will be backlit at night. The rubberized rail trail rises up at one end of the park and elevates to the height of the trains running parallel to the park. "Birmingham has no major river running through the downtown area," Billmeier explains, "so here the rails are our rivers." A paved promenade runs through the park's center, which will allow easy access for buses and trucks setting up for events in the park, and for City Action Partnership (CAP), the city's downtown security force. Regarding safety in the park, a ranger will be on site during operating hours, Billmeier says, along with police call boxes throughout the park and 24–hour video monitoring by park security.

The Eastgate Emporium is a covered event space made to resemble a railroad depot, with several rectangular, free–standing structures paneled in wood to look like box cars. These will include public restrooms, a food–prep area (for event catering), a concessions stand (to be leased out), the foundation office, and a ranger/security office. Bike racks throughout the park will promote bike riding to and from the area, and skateboarders will be pleased to learn about "a place where you can hang out with a skateboard" in the park, Leader says. That feature includes several small concrete bowls to dip in and out of. Scattered throughout the park are four playgrounds and fitness stations.

There are 10 open acres of lawn here, landscaped by mostly native vegetation, Macknally says. She describes the strolling garden as "a botanical wonderland" that will be populated by "perennials, day lilies, evergreens—something blooming or present throughout the year." Vegetable gardens are planned near the lake, to be run by volunteers or those leasing the Eastgate concessions area. Native grasses or wildflowers that require only annual mowing—and should only need irrigation for the first few years—will cover the sloping areas of the park's landscape, Macknally says. The park also features what the design calls several "plazas"—one at each cross street—with a signature tree for each. A 3,500 capacity natural amphitheater—a sloped bowl in the earth—has been carved into the park's southeast corner. Many of the materials used on the park were recycled, including reclaimed granite curbs that line the park's pond system, and old bricks from the site that are being incorporated into seating around the lake.

The Railroad Park is only the first phase in a more ambitious plan to revitalize a railroad corridor that extends west from the park's site to I–65 and east to Sloss Furnaces—a plan that would require substantial additional funding. The corridor has been envisioned by some as a series of parks connected by a bike path and walking trail. Many of the people involved with the Railroad Park work near that route and say they would love to see it happen. "I work on First Avenue South and live in Crestwood," Macknally says, "so as much as anyone I'd love to see that plan come to fruition."

Organizers hope the new facility will host music, theatre, and arts festivals and generally make downtown Birmingham a lovelier place to be. "A lot of people have been skeptical about it finally coming true," French says, "and I understand that, but it really is happening." Leader says this was his studio's first project in the Southeast, and in the time he has spent here working on the park, "I really got to feel how much people wanted this thing. I don't know any more important project we're doing than this one, in terms of how many people it benefits." &

To see detailed depictions of the park and learn more about its various elements, visit www.railroadpark.org, or see Tom Leader Studio's designs at www.tomleader.com under "Projects" and then "Parks."