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synopsis

In 1924 the Olmsted Brothers prepared a report titled A Park System for Birmingham. When the firm took on the project, the City of Birmingham had only 600 acres of park land for its 200,000 residents. Their plan proposed to increase this number exponentially and called to adapt or expand the city’s existing 30 parks, while also introducing three new green spaces.

In 1924 the Olmsted Brothers prepared a report titled A Park System for Birmingham. When the firm took on the project, the City of Birmingham had only 600 acres of park land for its 200,000 residents. Their plan proposed to increase this number exponentially and called to adapt or expand the city’s existing 30 parks, while also introducing three new green spaces. The report paid specific attention to Green Springs Park (#03546), recommending that an adjacent piece of land “be developed as a large simple field for baseball, football, and other intensive play, - a provision that will in the long run prove a safety valve for Green Spring Park saving it from undesirable encroachments.” Reflecting segregation in Birmingham during the early 1900s, the report recommended a site for a Negro Park close to schools and “near the center of a thickly settled negro district” [A Park System for Birmingham_1924-09_LOC-OAR-B-R205-im.29]. The recreation-focused plan aimed to provide additional services for the growing city.

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