Rosebrook Shopping Center
The Rosebrook Shopping Center was the name of a proposed 97-acre regional shopping center on the north slope of Shades Mountain at the intersection of Shades Creek Parkway and Montgomery Highway in Homewood, the present site of Brookwood Village. It was proposed by the Rosebrook Corporation of Dallas, Texas in 1959. Birmingham businessmen F. W. Nichols and David Levin were directors of the company involved in the project.
The $35 million shopping center was to be one component of a 114-acre mixed-use development which would include an "ultra-modern office park," a 350-room "resort motel," and an apartment complex. The shopping center itself would be anchored by "two of the South's finest department stores plus numerous specialty and other shops," surrounded by 6,000 parking spaces.
The developers initially approached Vestavia Hills officials about annexing and rezoning the site. They eventually convinced to the city to drop its objections by telling them that it would be developed for single-family homes. They then reconsidered and petitioned the Alabama State Legislature to annex the property into the City of Homewood. The Vestavia Hills City Council then passed a resolution opposing the project to present to the Homewood City Council.
Rezoning for the project was approved by the Homewood City Council by a 7-3 vote in a contentious meeting on the evening of January 25, 1960. Attorney Andrew Griffin labeled the project a "diabolical scheme," which would, "relegate Homewood to mediocrity and destroy the scenic advantage with which nature endowed us." He also argued that the new development would cause the existing downtown Homewood business district to, "decay and become a mediocre shopping area."
The next morning Rosebrook director Charles E. Carney claimed that, "bulldozers are on the property and ground-breaking began today". WATV-AM news director Stan Vainrib and staffer Tom Chapman visited the site to get audio of the bulldozers and a comment from Carney, but were told to leave, as Carney felt a grudge against the station's general manager, Maurey Farrell was one of the three City Council members who voted against the rezoning.
References
- Isaacson, Louis (January 26, 1960) "Homewood officials OK shopping city." The Birmingham News, pp. 1–2
- "Rosebrook exec said 'abusive' to newscaster." (January 26, 1960) The Birmingham News, p. 2