2002

2002 was the 131st year after the founding of the City of Birmingham.

Events

• April: Gardendale held its first Magnolia Festival.
• May: City Stages was held for the second time in May and was plagued by rain and cold weather
• May: Helena's first Buck Creek Festival was held in Old Town Helena.
• May: Bobby Frank Cherry was convicted of four counts of murder in the 1963 bombing of 16th Street Baptist Church.
• May 14: Cahaba Heights residents voted almost 2-to-1 to be annexed by Vestavia Hills.
• WJLD-AM became the first station in the United States to broadcast on "high definition AM".
• Patti & Dollar Bill moved to WDXB-FM and were replaced at WZZK-FM by Johnson & Johnson.
• The Birmingham Holocaust Education Center was founded.
• The Happy Burnells disbanded.

Business

• Tidwell, Mason and Thomas Companies merged with DeWitt & Dyer to form the accounting firm of Tidwell & DeWitt.
• Glenny Brock was named editor of Birmingham Weekly, succeeding Darin Powell.
• Don and Merle Dollar and Garry Burttram opened Local Color Café in Springville.
• Dirk Walker took over ownership of Loretta Goodwin Gallery.
• Jay Vance bought out Chris Toro's share in Toro-Cordes Iron Arts.
• Bill Morton became president of Robins & Morton.
• Hoover Toyota relocated to John Hawkins Parkway.
• Nucor Corp. of Charlotte, North Carolina acquired the assets of Birmingham Steel Corp. for $615 million.
• Chase Corporate Center relocated to the Chase Corporate Center from Montgomery.

Establishments

Rojo opened in 2002

• March 17: Killarney's Celtic Pub opened at Eastwood Mall.
• June 15: Rojo opened on Highland Avenue.
• Pamela Collins launched her Cloochie clothing line.
• Brio Tuscan Grille opened at Brookwood Village.
• Skybucket Records was founded.
• The Barking Kudu opened.
• Issam Bajalia opened Salon U in Homewood.
• The Sheraton Perimeter Park South reopened as the Hilton Birmingham Perimeter Park.
• Sam Daibes opened Sam's Deli & Grill in the former Moneer's space in Edgewood.

Disestablishments

• August 31: Aldridge Garden Shop closed.
• September 29: The Station nightclub closed.
• December 6: McBride Sign Company closed.
• Jimez's restaurant in Hueytown closed its doors.
• Pinson Coin Laundromat in Pinson closed.
• Takehold Records was bought out by Seattle's Tooth and Nail Records.
• Tuscaloosa's Siam House restaurant closed.

Education

• June 27: Carbon Hill High School was destroyed by fire.
• November 10: Carbon Hill Elementary-Junior High School was destroyed by the 2002 Walker County tornado.
• December 3: World of Opportunity was incorporated as a non-profit.
• Warrior High School closed.

Sports

• March 6: The 2001-02 UAB Blazers men's basketball team ended its 13-17 season with a first round loss to South Florida in the Conference USA Men's Basketball Tournament in Louisville, Kentucky.
• April: The University of Alabama Board of Trustees passed a resolution requiring the UAB Blazers athletic department to eliminate its deficit or be shut down.
• April 25: The Birmingham Barons defeated the Chattanooga Lookouts 14-4 in the 7th Rickwood Classic

Works

• January 6: "Sins of the Father", a television movie about the conviction of Bobby Frank Cherry in the 1963 bombing of 16th Street Baptist Church, premiered on the USA network.
• September 12: John Mayer recorded his "Any Given Thursday" album at a concert at the Oak Mountain Amphitheatre.

Books

• The Road South: A Memoir by Shelley Stewart
• Levin, Jerry (2002) Reflections on My First Noël. Pasadena, California: Hope Publishing ISBN 9781932717068

Buildings

• August 9: One Concord Center
• Carver High School
• Faith Chapel Christian Center
• Galleria Boulevard flyover
• Hoover Toyota new showroom
• Martha Gaskins Middle School
• Middle Oak Church
• NorthPark Church in Trussville
• One Federal Place
• Snoozy's College Bookstore
• Shelby Biomedical Research Building, groundbreaking
• demolition of Metropolitan Gardens

Individuals

• January 1: Malcolm Portera succeeded Thomas Meredith as chancellor of the University of Alabama System.
• February 14: Jack Lowther began his tenure on the Jefferson County District Court.
• June 3: William F. Walker was named permanent president of Auburn University.
• July 26: Lanier Brown married Michelle Horn.
• Finis St John IV was appointed to the University of Alabama Board of Trustees.

Births

• September 11: Libby, Samford Bulldogs mascot
• Lenora, Birmingham Zoo otter

Awards

• Joe Rumore was honored by the Alabama Music Hall of Fame.
• Ray Woodard was named national boys' coach of the year by US Youth Soccer.
• John Godbold and James Head were inducted into the Alabama Academy of Honor.
• Miller Gorrie was inducted into the Alabama Business Hall of Fame.
• Jim Pate became the Alabama State Scrabble Champion for the year.
• George Perdue won the A. G. Gaston Lifetime Achievement Award from the South Regions Minority Business Council
• Miss Shelby County: Whitney Weldon Mosley

Graduations

• Former Miss Alabama Ashley Halfman completed a Juris Doctorate at the University of Georgia School of Law.
• Rabbi Aaron Miller from Mountain Brook High School.

Retirements

• Ted Tibbs retired from Samford University.
• Ira De Ment from the U. S. District Court for the Middle District of Alabama.
• Owen Drake retired as communications director for the Jefferson County Commission.

Deaths

• January 2: Tim Dyson, truck driver, dies in an accident that destroyed a bridge at Malfunction Junction
• January 19: Virginia Tyler, director of Ensley Community House
• February 2: Freeman Andress, vice president of Birmingham Landmarks
• February 24: Tom Bradford, food broker and civic leader
• March 29: John Monro, former Harvard dean and Miles College professor
• April 2: B. J. Baker, singer and former Miss Alabama
• April 8: Marvin L. Warner, U. S. Ambassador to Sweden and owner of the Birmingham Stallions
• April 9: Dorothy Love Coates, gospel singer and Civil rights activist
• April 23: Tod Griffin, actor and real estate salesman
• May 10: Linda Lyon Block was executed at Holman Correctional Facility near Atmore. The sentence was carried out by use of the electric chair.
• May 30: Bob Harmon, stock car race promoter
• June 19: Audrey Skirball-Kenis, philanthropist
• July 5: Neal Miller, radio announcer
• July 9: Carlton Reese, director of the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights Choir
• July 24: Hugh Thomas, long-time music dean at Birmingham-Southern College
• August 11: Alpha Robertson, educator and school librarian
• August 31: Lionel Hampton, jazz musician
• September 3: Samuel Barker, former UAB Graduate School dean
• November 10: Steve Durbano, former Birmingham Bulls defenseman
• November 11: John Woods, CEO of AmSouth Bank
• November 18: Jerome Daniels, Birmingham Police Department patrolman
• December 23: Fred, the town dog of Rockford
• December 24: Jamie Moore, former Birmingham Police chief
• December 30: Martha Myers, medical missionary

See also List of Birmingham homicides in 2002

See Also

• 2002 City Stages
• 2002 Birmingham Barons
• 2002 Birmingham Steeldogs
• 2002 UAB Blazers
• 2002 Iron Bowl

2000s

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