Century Park East
Century Park East was the name for the original commercial development of the 22-acre parcel on the northeast corner of the intersection of U. S. Highway 78 and Oporto-Madrid Boulevard in the Eastwood area. The northeast corner of the site is bounded by an offramp from I-20 East.
The Birmingham City Council rezoned the area from single-family residential to general business on May 18, 1976 over the objections of residents who claimed that drainage infrastructure in the area was already overburdened.
As planned, the development would consist of a multi-story office building near the intersection. East of the office building would be an automobile dealership, a motel and restaurant and an automobile service station.
In the 1980s and 1990s, the site was traversed by Ludington Lane and home to Toys-R-Us and Circuit City, as well as Logan's Roadhouse and O'Charley's. By 2006 most buildings were vacant, with Circuit City relocating to the Colonial Promenade at Tutwiler Farm development in Trussville, and Logan's being the only open business on the street.
The "Crestwood-Oporto District Redevelopment Plan", commissioned from KPS Group by the City of Birmingham, envisions denser redevelopment of the former Century Park East with an open air shopping street connecting to the Century Plaza site with a bridge across Oporto-Madrid Boulevard. The plan is intended for use as a vision of the potential for the area, not as a blueprint for any specific development project.
In 2010, Lovelady Thrift Store opened in the 36,900 square-foot Circuit City building. The former Toys-R-Us was redeveloped by George Barber's Ludington Lane LLC in 2013 for Family Leisure, a national retailer of patio furniture, spas, pool tables and pools. The project was granted $250,000 in incentives by the Birmingham City Council.
References
- "Development plan for Eastwood area gets OK." (May 19, 1976) The Birmingham News - via Birmingham Public Library Digital Collections
- Tomberlin, Michael (January 7, 2010) "Lovelady Center charity, ministry transforming vacant Circuit City store in Eastwood into thrift store." The Birmingham News
- Bryant, Joseph D. (September 17, 2013) "Birmingham city incentives granted to develop long-closed Crestwood big box store." The Birmingham News
- Azok, Dawn Kent (November 22, 2013) "Family Leisure to mark opening of first Alabama store." The Birmingham News