Wald Park, entertainment district, Liberty Parkway discussed at work session
In order to keep up with the construction schedule, the Vestavia Hills City Council will need to vote Sept. 24 to approve the schematic designs for Wald Park renovations, either approving it as is or contingent upon certain changes.
Ken Upchurch with TCU Consulting said schematic designs have been submitted, and in order to finish the projects on time, the council will need to approve them at the Sept. 24 council meeting. The council can make that approval contingent on changes made to the designs.
Upchurch and Stephen Allen with Williams Blackstock Architects told the council and several gathered community members about the designs. The entry to the park will be moved north to Roundhill Road and the current pool area will be entirely renovated. The space where a ball field and parking lot now sit will be filled in with dirt, creating a “tabletop” look to the front of the park, making it visible to drivers along U.S. 31, Allen said.
Designers are hoping to make Wald Park a “premier park” and the focal point of the community. With plans for a “Great Lawn” with two pavilions at either end, Allen said the park could host games, activities and possibly food trucks in the future. Wald Park of the future should be “the place to go,” Allen said.
Council member Kimberly Cook expressed some concern about the number of parking spaces, with both Allen and Upchurch saying the number of spaces could be upgraded. Parking, once the park is renovated, will be set apart from the rest of the park, meaning no street or parking lot will have to be crossed to get from one part of the park to another.
One of the park’s many new lawns will be close to Vestavia Hills Elementary West, creating the possibility of using the space for students.
As for the new pool, Allen said for now, there are plans for a competition pool as well as a leisure pool, including a vortex whirlpool which is entertaining for kids as well as beneficial for resistance training.
It is possible to add a baby pool, Allen said, but that was not part of the schematic design.
A new and improved pool house will be visible from U.S. 31, as well, which will help create a sense of “identity,” Allen said.
Allen said the team is still a couple of months away from having renderings of what the changes may look like.
Entertainment District
The city is still deciding whether to add a second entertainment district in the Cahaba Heights area.
An entertainment district allows residents to purchase alcohol from a licensed premise and take the alcohol into a “common area,” City Manager Jeff Downes said.
Under state law, the city can have up to three entertainment districts. One already exists in Rocky Ridge.
Certain rules would pertain to the entertainment district, including hours of operation (Sunday through Thursday, noon to 9 p.m. and Friday through Saturday, noon to 11 p.m.), drinks must not be carried in a glass bottle or glass container for safety reasons and no one can bring alcohol into the district, Downes said.
Discussion of whether to include Meadowlawn Park in the district took place, with Cook saying it’d be better to not include the park and consider adding it in later. There’s also an existing city ordinance prohibiting alcohol from being in the park.
The council also questioned how the regulations would be enforced in the proposed district.
“Some of it’s going to be difficult to enforce,” Downes said.
Liberty Parkway
Survey work will be done this week on Liberty Parkway, with construction anticipated to begin next week to build a consistent four-lane road from the Interstate 459 exit to the area near Liberty Park Baptist Church, ahead of the expected traffic increase with new commercial development in the area.
Because of the construction, particularly the building of a roundabout and retaining wall, single-lane closures will have to take place, Downes said.
“There will be some headaches along the way,” Downes said. “... No matter how hard we try there’s going to be complaints.”