Marconi Park
Marconi Park (formerly East Park) is a 3.7-acre public park located on Block -- in Birmingham's Central City neighborhood. It is a centerpiece of the Park Place Apartments mixed-income residential development.
The park property was one of the three downtown park blocks (along with Linn Park (Central Park) and Kelly Ingram Park (West Park) that appeared in Major William Barker's original Plat of Birmingham in 1872. The three parks were sold by the Elyton Land Company to the City of Birmingham on February 21, 1883 for a nominal price of $10 each. East Park was later renamed in honor of Italian inventor Guglielmo Marconi (1874-1937).
A community center for Marconi Park was included in the Park Board's long-range plans, approved by the Birmingham Planning Commission in 1973. A YMCA Youth Center now adjoins the north side of the park.
The Carraway Community Development Corporation organized a town hall meeting and charette to discuss renovations to Marconi Park in May 2007. Cheryl Morgan of the Auburn Urban Studio attended along with representatives from KPS Group and Space One Eleven. Another design charette was held with Sloss Real Estate executive Cathy Crenshaw and Loeb Fellows from the Harvard Graduate School of Design in 2010. At that time the need to increase amenities at the park for use by neighborhood residents was emphasized.
The park, with its combination baseball and football field, is heavily used by youth athletic leagues. An concession stand and scorekeepers' booth was damaged in a storm in 2013. The park remained without functioning lighting and a scoreboard until 2015.
References
- "3 parks 'given' to city are now worth $2 million" (August 18, 1858) Birmingham Post-Herald - via Birmingham Public Library Digital Collections
- Natta, André (May 9, 2007) "Marconi Park charette set for May 24" The Terminal
- Tomberlin, Michael (August 13, 2010) "Next phase planned for Birmingham's Park Place mixed-income housing." The Birmingham News
- Robinson, Ronda (October 19, 2015) "On Your Side: Lighting no longer an issue at Marconi Park." WBRC.com