2019

2019 is the 148th year after the founding of the City of Birmingham.

Events

• January 21-March 2020: The I-59/20 downtown viaduct was closed for replacement of the bridge spans.
• February 16: The Birmingham Committee for Truth and Reconciliation hosted the 2019 Conversation with Dr Angela Davis‎ at Boutwell Auditorium.
• February 19-March 8: Donald Watkins and Donald Watkins Jr were tried and convicted on federal fraud and conspiracy charges in Judge Karon Bowdre's court.
• February 27: The Birmingham Water Works' Shades Mountain Filter Plant experienced a major chlorine gas leak, causing U.S. Highway 280 to shut down.
• March 3: At least 23 people were killed by the 2019 Lee County tornado outbreak.
• March 12: The former Hospitality Inn on 7th Avenue South was burned by arson, damaging the adjacent Yum Yai restaurant, Chai Market, and the former 22nd Street Jazz Cafe.
• May 7-9: 2019 Aerospace Innovative Technology Summit Alabama at the BJCC
• May 8-9: 2019 Automotive Advanced Technology Summit Alabama at the BJCC

Business

• January 1: Barfield, Murphy, Shank & Smith accountants merged with Albright Garrison & Barnes of Huntsville to form BMSS LLC.
• January: Burr & Forman acquired 7 McNair Law Firm offices in North and South Carolina.
• January: Bradley Arant Boult Cummings opened an office in Dallas, Texas.
• January: The Chelsea General Store relocated to Columbiana as "Masters General Store".
• January: Hargray Communications of Hilton Head Island, South Carolina acquired the Alabama assets of USA Communications.
• January: EBSCO Health acquired HealthDecision of Madison, Wisconsin.
• February: Southern Research relocated its Sustainable Chemistry and Catalysis Laboratory from Durham, North Carolina to Birmingham.
• February: Medical Properties Trust acquired 11 hospitals from Healthscope Ltd. of Melbourne, Australia.
• February: EBSCO's S. S. Nesbitt & Co. risk consulting division rebranded as the Valent Group.
• February: U.S. Steel announced it was resuming construction of an Electric Arc Furnace at its Fairfield Works plant.
• February: Matthew Allen acquired Birmingham Fun and Family magazine from Jay Carr.
• February: EBSCO Information Services acquired Stacks Inc. of Edmonton, Alberta.
• March: NXTSoft acquired Integrated Legacy Solutions of Birmingham and the Digitel Corp. of Atlanta, Georgia.
• March: Process Barron was acquired by Carousel Capital of Charlotte, North Carolina.
• March 11: Kelly Caruso succeeded Bill Smith as CEO of Shipt.
• March: Daxko acquired GroupEx PRO of Boulder, Colorado.
• March: The Onin Group acquired Labor Temps and LTI Services of Chicago, Illinois.
• March: Prepaid Technologies acquired the dash portfolio from Karmic Labs of San Francisco, California.
• April: Workplace Advisors acquired Everett Advisory Partners of Dallas, Texas.
• April: The YMCA of Greater Birmingham sold its 179-acre Hargis Retreat in Chelsea to Eddleman Properties.
• 2nd Quarter: Encompass Health acquired Alacare Home Health & Hospice.

Establishments

• January 7: Filter Coffee Parlor opened in the Munger Building at Five Points South.
• January 9: Bullet Coffee Co. opened at 5299 U.S. Highway 280
• January: Mile End Deli opened in LIV Parkside across from Railroad Park.
• January: Luna Latin Cuisine opened in the former Birmingham Fire Station No. 10 in Avondale.
• January 17: The law firm of Clark May Price Lawley Duncan Paul LLC opened.
• January 19: Full Moon Bar-B-Que opened in the Trussville Shopping Center on Chalkville Mountain Road.
• February: A second location of The Three Earred Rabbit opened in Leeds.
• February 18: Gus’s World Famous Fried Chicken opened at The Battery.
• March: Adam Evans and Suzanne Humphries Evans opened Automatic Seafood and Oysters at 2824 5th Avenue South in Lakeview.
• 1st Quarter: Altitude Trampoline Park in Pelham.
• April: Tostadas opened at SoHo Square in Homewood.
• April: Katherine Mattrella opened Branch Boutique at the Village at Lee Branch.
• Spring: Bendy's Cookies & Cream opened at 3029 Pumphouse Road in Cahaba Heights.
• Summer: Billy Reid opened a retail boutique at Pepper Place.

Disestablishments

• January 2: Emergency & Specialty Animal Medical Center closed.
• January 4: Western Supermarkets announced its closure.
• January: Swamp Monster BBQ in Hoover closed.
• January: Influence Health (formerly Medseek) was acquired by Healthgrades of Denver, Colorado.
• January: Dominion Partners sold its Somerby Senior Living Co. to the Bridge Investment Group of Salt Lake City, Utah.
• January: Smartlink of Annapolis, Maryland acquired the Brogdon Group.
• January: The 29 Seven and 11th Avenue South locations of Jimmy John's closed.
• January: Which Wich at The Waites closed.
• January: Kinnucan's Specialty Outfitters at Lane Parke closed.
• January 31: Jefferson Title Corp. closed.
• February: The 20th Street North location of Jimmy John's closed.
• March: The Academy Sports & Outdoors at the Lee Branch Shopping Center closed.
• March: The Burke Harvey law firm was acquired by Crumley Roberts of Greensboro, North Carolina.
• March: Metro Diner at the Shoppes at City Hall in Vestavia Hills closed.
• March: Jackson's Bar & Bistro at SoHo Square in Homewood closed.
• March 22: Niki's Restaurant on 2nd Avenue North closed.
• March 29: O'Carr's downtown location closed.
• April 1: CenterState Bank of Davenport, Florida completed its acquisition of the National Bank of Commerce.
• April: Business Electronics was acquired by RJ Young of Nashville, Tennessee.
• May 1: Naked Art closed.
• 2nd Quarter: American Lumber Distributors and Brokers Inc. was acquired by the Boise Cascade Co.

Education

• UAB celebrated their 50th anniversary as an independent university.
• July 1: Andrew Butler became dean of the UAB School of Health Professions.

Government

• January 14: Mayor of Birmingham Randall Woodfin delivered his "2019 State of the Community Address" at Boutwell Auditorium.
• February 5: Attorney General Steve Marshall released his department's "Report Regarding the Officer-Involved Shooting Death of Emantic ('E.J.') Bradford, Jr. At the Riverchase Galleria on November 22, 2018."
• March: Vestavia Hills annexed the Magnolia Cove subdivision.
• April 18: The Jefferson County Commission approved the takeover of Cooper Green Mercy Health Services by the UAB University Healthcare Authority.

Religion

• July 1: Doug Sweeney succeeded Timothy George as Dean of the Beeson School of Divinity at Samford University.

Sports

The Birmingham Iron played their sole season in 2019.

• January 7: The Clemson Tigers defeated the Alabama Crimson Tide 44-16 to claim the 2018 College Football Playoff National Championship.
• February 10: The Birmingham Iron shut out the Memphis Express 26-0 in their debut game at Legion Field.
• March: The Birmingham Legion FC played their first game at BBVA Compass Field.
• April 2: The Alliance of American Football suspended operations, ending the Birmingham Iron's tenure.
• May 29: The 2019 Rickwood Classic was played at Rickwood Field.

Individuals

• January: Javier Soler succeeded Onur Genç as CEO of BBVA Compass.
• April: David Luker resigned as head of the Jefferson County Public Defender's Office.
• April: Michael Birrer resigned as head of the O'Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center and was succeeded by Ravi Bhatia.
• July 1: Michael Göbel succeeded Jason Hoff as CEO of Mercedes-Benz US International

Awards

• Fred L. Shuttlesworth Human Rights Award: Angela Davis

Retirements

• January 11: Randy Christian, chief deputy for the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office
• March: Hibbett Sports CEO Jeff Rosenthal announced his retirement.

Deaths

Larry Langford

• January 8: Larry Langford , former Mayor of Birmingham and Jefferson County Commission president
• January 13: Wytasha Carter, a Birmingham Police sergeant killed in the line of duty.
• January 21: Gary Ivey, former Mayor of Hoover.
• January 22: Jim Mitchell, architect
• January 31: Emanuel Bell, Wenonah High School basketball coach
• January 31: Caroline P. Ireland, philanthropist
• February 8: Walter Caron, restaurateur
• February 14: Mark Lindsey, musician, instrument maker, and "Onewheel Jesus"
• February 16: Anthony Bruno, grocer and CEO
• February 21: Bettie Hurd, real estate agent
• February 25: Thomas Christian, attorney
• March 16: Stephen Rolfe Powell, glass artist and educator
• March 17: Andre Williams, R&B musician
• March 24: Tony Tarver, owner of Emmanuel's Barbering Salon.
• March 31: Dick Pigford, architect
• March 31: Lois Coleman, founder of Grace House Ministries
• April: Davey Williams, improvisational musician
• April 6: Jim Houston Day, optometrist
• April 14: Bob Eskew, contractor and Master Rosarian
• April 18: Dytricia King
• April: Jessie Nelson, owner of Nelson Brothers Café
• List of homicides in 2019

Works

Buildings

• January 13: UAB Gardendale Clinic
• January 17: Pell City Premiere Lux Cine, Bowl & Pizza Pub
• January 19: Full Moon Bar-B-Que in the Trussville Shopping Center on Chalkville Mountain Road.
• January: Innovative Combustion Technologies' catalyst testing facility in Pelham
• April 8: Church of the Highlands opened their 20th campus in Sylacauga
• Asian Passage at the Birmingham Zoo
• Bell Center for Early Intervention Programs in Homewood
• Christ Health Behavioral Health Center in Woodlawn
• Enterprise South-Central Regional Headquarters
• Firehouse Shelter
• Hollywood Boulevard pedestrian bridge
• Iron Age Project on 20th Street North
• Lakeshore Foundation addition
• Lakeshore Pavilion shopping center in Oxmoor
• One Pratt Park
• Sidewalk Film Center and Cinema‎‎ in the Pizitz building
• UAB Proton Therapy Center on 20th Street South
• Veterinary Surgery of Birmingham at 146 Resource Center Parkway

Demolitions

• February: The Break, for 1001 20th Street South
• February: The Paul S. Worrell Building at UAB
• March: Jefferson County Department of Human Resources building on 5th Avenue South
• March 12: The former Hospitality Inn, Yum Yai restaurant, Chai's grocery, and the former 22nd Street Jazz Cafe were destroyed by fire.

Context

In 2019, the Cathedral of Notre-Dame in Paris was grievously damaged by fire. A feud between President Trump and Congress over the Mexican border wall led to the then-longest ever federal government shutdown. A white supremacist mass shooter killed dozens of Muslims at prayer in Christchurch, New Zealand.

Notable deaths in 2019 included those of actors Carol Channing, Albert Finney, Peter Mayhew and Luke Perry; architect Florence Knoll; baseball manager Frank Robinson; composers Michel Legrand and André Previn; director John Singleton; fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld; musicians Dick Dale, Mark Hollis and Keith Flint; poet Mary Oliver; politician John Dingell; and scientist Wally Broecker.

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