November best choice for center bond vote
In June 2023, Birmingham residents were delightfully surprised to discover that after eight years of seriously searching for a permanent home for Birmingham's Next, the city had purchased the Birmingham YMCA. Residents quickly supported a three-year millage to provide funding for the senior and community center for improvements and to provide a sinking fund for future improvements.
Next is a non-profit providing comprehensive services for seniors, such as information, referrals, classes and activities, transportation and access to social, legal, health, housing, educational, emotional, nutritional and recreational help. It has used space at Midvale School in Birmingham provided by Birmingham Public Schools for many years, and has outgrown its space. The school district hasn’t provided a comprehensive lease or future assurance for Next, which led the city on a search to help Next find a permanent location. An original lease expiration date of 2026 has been extended.
The involvement of the YMCA has been evolutionary, with discussions of their leaving the city of Birmingham morphing to wanting to remain the city, although their position is still undefined. The YMCA pool, a popular yet old and decaying asset, has played into the planning of a renovated or new building. The city commission has been actively involved, appointing an ad hoc senior/recreation center committee to work with and advise the commission, provide oversight and input on the planning and development of the building.
A consensus developed that a new building to serve the needs of both the senior community as well as the recreational desires of the entire community would be best served, as renovating a 70-year-old building would be huge and cost prohibitive. Almost a year after purchasing the YMCA building, the city commission selected a firm for a feasibility study and community survey, and feeling it was incomplete, did not move forward with it. Then, requests for proposals were sent out for plans and options to choose – before an architect was chosen. They understandably felt the pressure of Next's lease expiration looming – but spinning in place without knowledge and the magnitude of the project left them dizzy and at times with shifting focus. Commissioners finally selected in December an architect, Neumann Smith, to begin designing the final site plan and construction plans.
It's important for architects to have as much pertinent information as possible to design the best building for their client, in this instance, the city of Birmingham. Surveys on the city's emgage.com survey site, which staff touts as having hundreds of responses, are completely inadequate. A qualified survey firm should have been hired to properly poll residents as to what they want and need from the building – which is projected to cost between $30-$32 million. A few thousands dollars for a properly conducted survey is a drop in the bucket.
Which leads us to a bond election. Residents – all of us – will need to pay for the new and needed senior/recreation building, which at times is referred to as a community center. The city is currently estimating a bond proposal of $32 million over 20 years with a millage rate of .52 mills, to pay for the construction of the new building at 400 E. Lincoln.
City commissioners initially considered and dismissed a special election bond vote for May 2025, and are considering a special election to vote on it in August. We urge them to reconsider it and to put it on the November ballot. We understand the sense of urgency on this project, but we urge administrators to work to extend the lease with the school district on the Midvale building a little longer, and to recognize that the costs for a special election – in which the bond vote would most likely be the only thing on the ballot – is guestimated at about $45,000. That is a great deal of money better spent towards the project itself.
This year is an off-year for elections, with no primary election in August. In November, however, there is a Birmingham city election, where three city commission seats will be up for election, and more residents will likely come out for a vote than if the election is scheduled at an earlier date. Architect plans have a chance of being closer to finalization, and therefore more costs will be known by the owner's representative.
This is a big project by any community's standards, but notably one the size of Birmingham. Let's be the tortoise and not the hare. The city has the rare opportunity to create a landmark for years to come. Do it right.
