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Photo by Erin Nelson Sweeney.
Construction underway at the Pine Ridge site in Sicard Hollow in May. The work to turn a former mine site into developable land is expected to be complete this fall.
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Photos by Erin Nelson Sweeney.
At the Pine Ridge site, construction crews have to turn a sheer cliff face, left behind by mining activity, into more gentle terrain that can be redeveloped.
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Photos by Erin Nelson Sweeney.
Through the state’s Abandoned Mine Land reclamation program, Vestavia Hills has turned a former coal mine in Sicard Hollow into a recreational site with pavilions, trails, a playground, splash pad, dog park, pickleball courts and other amenities.
Take a look at the Sicard Hollow Athletic Complex on a sunny summer day, and you’ll see children playing on soccer fields or the splash pad, pet owners at the dog park and a runner or two on the trails.
What you won’t see is the definitive scar that used to mark the area as a former coal mine: the highwall, a sheer cliff face, dozens of feet high, left behind by strip mining.
The SHAC and its surrounding recreational areas are built on land that was reclaimed after the coal mine was abandoned. With construction currently underway on the latest phase of reclamation, city leaders are considering how to develop the property once it’s ready.
Vestavia Hills first acquired the future SHAC property in 2006 to make space for future athletic and recreation needs, City Manager Jeff Downes said. The site included several highwalls and other safety concerns that had to be addressed before it could be redeveloped.
“There were some really serious safety concerns and hazardous conditions left by the mining activities from the past,” Downes said. “To take what were the spoils of a mine operation and make it safe, make it productive.”
Projects like these are handled by Alabama’s Abandoned Mine Lands program. Mine reclamation is meant to address safety hazards on former mining sites and get them ready for a new use, according to Dustin Morin, the mining and reclamation division director for the Alabama Department of Labor.
Photos by Erin Nelson Sweeney.
At the Pine Ridge site, construction crews have to turn a sheer cliff face, left behind by mining activity, into more gentle terrain that can be redeveloped.
Reclaiming the 65-acre Sicard Hollow property has taken several phases of work over more than a decade, with grant funding from the federal AML program and funds raised by the city’s Parks and Recreation Foundation, Downes said.
“We could not have done any of this without this collaboration,” he said.
The first phase started in 2010, with the construction of the athletic complex away from the highwalls that were still on the property at the time. In 2012, the AML program removed many of the highwalls, opening up the rest of the property for recreational development.
Additional federal grants in 2016, 2017 and 2018 helped pay for the installation of a dog park, picnic pavilions, pickleball courts, a playground, a splash pad, nature trails, parking and Wi-Fi access. These were followed by a separate city project to build a pedestrian tunnel under Sicard Hollow Road in 2019.
“This recreational use is probably a good, careful balancing of taking what were problematic lands and making them productive and meeting the demands of the city,” Downes said.
When Vestavia Hills surveys its residents, recreational amenities are always high on the list of priorities, and Sicard Hollow has become a “high-demand” park, he said. The SHAC and Liberty Park recreational facilities had 152,000 unique visitors in 2023, according to city data.
While reclaimed mine land can be turned into business or residential development, Downes said focusing on lower-intensity use like trails and a dog park makes it easier to manage stormwater drainage, sediment runoff and other potential environmental challenges. The city is responsible for maintaining the stormwater controls that were built as part of the Sicard Hollow reclamation, he said.
“There’s always a place for everything. And the more there is dense development, the more there is a challenge with managing environmental concerns,” Downes said.
The reclamation was also able to “bring back a level of environmental stability to the site,” as trees and other vegetation replanted on the site have matured over the years, Downes said.
The work that’s currently underway is focused on the Pine Ridge property, which is located northeast of the SHAC soccer fields, partially on property owned by the Liberty Park Joint Venture.
Alabama’s AML program received a federal grant last year to begin the reclamation of this section of abandoned mine land, which has around 1,300 feet of highwall. The city agreed to swap some land with the Liberty Park Joint Venture to let the reclamation move forward.
The proximity of Pine Ridge to the SHAC has made it a hazard up to this point.
“You have a lot of kids coming to Sicard Hollow Athletic Complex to play soccer, and there’s little footpaths right behind the fields going to these old mines,” Morin said.
Once the highwall has been graded into a more manageable slope, however, the Pine Ridge property being so close to the SHAC gives it valuable development potential.
“It’s in a great area to be developed into something else, but no one is going to develop it in its current condition,” Morin said.
Right now, city leaders are still considering their options on what will be built on the Pine Ridge site, Downes said. City Council discussions have included quality-of-life improvements such as additional athletic fields, a police training facility, a public works building and a satellite library, “but as we sit here today, those are just visionary.”
Downes said the city will need to do more site planning, including a feasibility study, and determine funding before a real plan can emerge.
Active construction on the Pine Ridge site has been underway for a few months, and Morin said the project is on schedule and is expected to be complete this fall. It’s estimated to cost around $3.6 million to complete.
“Good projects always are the result of good relationships, and the ability for the city of Vestavia Hills and the Mine Reclamation office to achieve mutually beneficial goals from a project is something that is admirable, and we appreciate the partnership. We appreciate being allowed to pursue a vision of what might be,” Downes said.
Editor’s Note: This article was originally published by Southern Science. Read more about mine reclamation at southern-science.com.
