City developing new park in Cahaba Heights

Piles of dirt and construction equipment dot the end of Meadowlawn Drive along Dolly Ridge Road in Vestavia Hills, the future location of a one-acre park. 

The city recently purchased the land, and the four houses that once resided there, with the intention of creating a small recreational spot for those who live close by. 

Brian Davis, director of public services for the city of Vestavia Hills, said the decision to purchase the land was twofold. 

“This park is designed, one, to mitigate flooding and two, to create a better quality of life for those who live nearby,” Davis said. 

Located a short distance away from The Heights Village in Cahaba Heights, the one-acre plot has been prone to flooding, he said.

In an effort to alleviate this issue, Davis said a portion of the park’s construction will include rerouting the creek that borders the property — creating a more natural flow. 

“It’s always been a flood-prone area, and the houses down in there would constantly get flooded,” he said. “With the creek being at a right angle, it just couldn’t handle any kind of rainwater.” 

Originally, Davis said the city sought grants through FEMA to purchase nine houses and build a small park. That request, however, was denied. Instead, the city ended up capturing an approximate $1.2 million loan from the state, with a $200,000 loan forgiveness for creating a wetland area. 

Now that the land is in the city’s name and has been cleared, Davis said he anticipates the park will be completed sometime early fall. 

“It’ll be what we like to call a ‘pocket park,’” he said.

Davis compared the park, which will be named Meadowlawn Park, to Shallowford Park, which is off Rocky Ridge Road near Lochhaven. 

Plans for the park include walking trails, an open-lawn area for recreation along with parking. 

“This will be a place that people can walk to, they can enjoy neighborhood amenities, someone who works at The Heights Village, if they wanted to walk over and have a picnic lunch, they could do that — that sort of thing,” Davis said. 

Because the park is meant to alleviate flooding and provide an additional recreational outlet to the surrounding neighborhood, Davis said the local response has been positive. 

Julie McMakin, who lives two doors down from the future park, said she’s looking forward to its completion. 

“Everybody around here is excited about it — mostly for the flood remediation,” she said. McMakin has lived in the area for five years. 

She said she found out about the city’s plans to remove the four houses on Dolly Ridge Road and create a park about a year and a half ago. Since then, she said the city has kept residents current with plans through direct mail and social media updates. 

“There was some confusion about whether or not we would have the walking track and just recently, via social media, it was cleared up that they are going to put the walking track in, which I think most people were hoping for,” McMakin said, adding that she hopes to see more amenities, such as playground equipment, eventually added to the park. 

Along with purchasing property for Meadowlawn Park, the city also annexed about 75 acres around the Carraway Davie House in Vestavia. The annexed property, owned by the Freshwater Land Trust, boasts wooded areas, which the Cahaba River flows through. 

The area annexed was previously considered to be within Jefferson County limits, Davis said. 

The Vestavia Hills City Council will discuss the progress of the park at it Sept. 12 meeting at 6 p.m. at City Hall.