1999

1999 was the 128th year after the founding of the City of Birmingham.

Events

• Richard Arrington stepped down as Mayor of Birmingham after 20 years in the position.
• William Bell was appointed interim mayor.
• October: Bernard Kincaid defeated Bell in the 2000 Birmingham mayoral election. Frank Adams, Jr was appointed to fill his Birmingham City Council District 8 seat. Lee Loder defeated Adams in the special election to keep the seat.
• Highway 151 in Pinson was designated a state highway.
• A flock of chickens took up residence at Birmingham Fire Station No. 2

Business

• January 26: The Furnace Master's Restaurant at Tannehill Ironworks Historical State Park burned down.
• June 12: Do It Yourself Crafts opened.
• Douglas Williamson purchased WFHK-AM for $10,000.
• Ollie's Barbecue relocated from Southside to Hoover.
• The Flowers Baking Company of Thomasville, Georgia purchased Birmingham's Home Baking Company.
• B&A Warehouse opened on 1st Avenue South.
• Rob Henrikson was promoted to President of Institutional Business for MetLife, Inc.
• Steve Hewett co-founded EBM Solutions.
• The Takehold Records label was founded.
• Vamp & Tramp bookseller opened a retail store at Pepper Place.
• Massey & Stotser merged with the Nichols Law Office.
• Parisian-West at Five Points West Shopping City closed.
• Paul Bryant Jr's Greene Group, Inc. acquired Harvest Select Catfish.
• James M. Robinson founded P & R Metals.

Sports

• March: BJCC hosted the Conference USA Men's basketball tournament.
• May: Bob Roller was named Director of Athletics at Samford University.
• June: The Barons hosted the Huntsville Stars in the 4th annual Rickwood Classic, honoring the old Negro leagues.
• November 23: Mal Moore was promoted to athletic director at the University of Alabama.

Works

• Somewhere in All This Green: New and Selected Stories, and A Spring of Souls, books by William Cobb
• Spirit of Steel: Music of the Mines, Railroads and Mills of the Birmingham District, compiled by the Sloss Furnace Association
• Winged Victory statue by Brad Morton at the Financial Center downtown.

Buildings

Eddie Kendrick Memorial Park

• April 21: South Hampton Elementary School opened.
• June 25: Birmingham Central Station at the Railroad Reservation
• August: The Crescent
• August 24: Liberty Park Elementary School
• October 16: Eddie Kendrick Memorial Park on 4th Avenue North
• November 30: American Village in Montevallo
• December 3: Our Lady of the Angels Monastery in Hanceville
• Alys Stephens Center Phase II
• Bluff Park United Methodist Church
• Oak Mountain High School on Caldwell Mill Road
• The Taylor Building on 20th Street North
• Major renovations to the YWCA Building on 3rd Avenue North
• Joe Lee Griffin Field at Samford University
• Restoration of Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Cullman
• Renovations to Rossi's restaurant

Individuals

• Reid Adair became an athletic academic adviser for the UAB Blazers football team.
• John Cantelow began leading Greenwood Missionary Baptist Church in Tuskegee.
• Edward Partridge was named the Margaret Cameron Spain Chain in Obstetrics and Gynecology at UAB.
• Stuart Rachels became an assistant professor in the Philosophy department at the University of Alabama.
• Phyllis Wyne became director of programs and services for the Literacy Council of Alabama.

Births

• April 21: Max, rhinoceros
• Bond, giraffe

Graduations

• Math teacher Alison Grizzle from UAB.
• Computer engineer Brian Toone from Clemson University.

Awards

• Miss Alabama: Julie Smith
• Miss Shelby County: Diedre Downs
• Pro Football Hall of Fame: Ozzie Newsome

Marriages

• January 2: Shelia Smoot to Robert Ward, Jr

Retirements

• Ethel Hall, from the faculty of the University of Alabama
• Bill Mason, from his dermatology practice in Dothan.

Deaths

• January 9: Carl Elliott, Congressman and historian
• January 10: Jere King, Jr, historian
• January 12: Betty Lou Gerson, radio actress
• January 31: Norm Zauchin, baseball player
• February 17: Dupree Greer, architect
• February 24: Virginia Foster Durr, Civil Rights activist
• June 23: Ted Bryant, political reporter
• July 15: Harry U. Gilmer, TCI product representative
• July 22: Dorothea Warren Fox, commercial artist
• August 8: Harry "The Hat" Walker, baseball player
• August 11: Annie Louise Peoples, nurse
• September 29: Cotesworth Lewis, rector of Bruton Parish Church in Williamsburg, Virginia
• November 18: Jay Heard, baseball pitcher
• November 19: Robert Bell, librarian and author
• December 19: Marion Worth, country singer
• Charles Gratton, proprietor of Green Acres Cafe

See also List of Birmingham homicides in 1999

See Also

• 1999 City Stages
• 1999 Birmingham Barons
• 1999 UAB Blazers
• 1999 Iron Bowl

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Births - Deaths - Establishments - Events - Works