2020

A message reading "Heroes Work Here" was projected onto the Quarterback Tower at UAB Medical Center during the 2020 Coronavirus pandemic.

2020 was the 149th year after the founding of the City of Birmingham.

With 73.05 inches of rain, it was the city's 5th wettest year on record.

Events

Vandalism of the Confederate Monument on May 31, 2020

• January 5: Two people died in a plane crash at Cullman Regional Airport.
• January 21: The new I-20/59 downtown viaduct opened after a year of construction.
• February 27: AL.com disabled its online comments section.
• March 7: A Lil Baby rap concert at Bill Harris Arena was broken up by a backstage shooting.
• March 16: Alabama public schools were closed to slow the spread of the 2020 Coronavirus pandemic.
• April 12: A tornado outbreak affected central Alabama on Easter Sunday.
• April 17: An apartment building at 1613 19th Street Ensley was damaged by fire, and one resident was killed.
• April 19: The Moody Music Building at the University of Alabama was damaged by fire.
• May 28– : A series of protests were held over the death of George Floyd at the hands of police in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
• May 31: A surge of vandalism following a day of protests caused significant damage at Linn Park and around downtown Birmingham.
• June 1: The Confederate Soldiers & Sailors Memorial at Linn Park was dismantled by the City of Birmingham.
• July 1: Parking at Birmingham's 3,945 downtown metered spaces could be paid for through the "ParkMobile" mobile app.
• August 24–30: The 2020 Sidewalk Film Festival was held at the Grand River Drive-In.
• September 11: Retired EBSCO CEO Elton Stephens Jr was kidnapped and ransomed for $250,000.
• September 18-27: The 2020 Alabama State Fair was held at the Birmingham Race Course.
• October 26: The Birmingham Police Department announced the termination of the Birmingham Police Mounted Patrol.

Business

• January 1: TTL Inc. of Tuscaloosa acquired DBS & Associates Engineering of Tennessee.
• January 1: Graham & Co. acquired the Brookmont Realty Group.
• January 14: ProctorU announced a merger with Yardstick Assessment Strategies of Ottawa, Ontario to form Meazure Learning.
• January: Daxko acquired PlayerSpace of Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina.
• Regions Bank consolidated workers at its Regions Riverchase Operations Center and closed its Regions Lakeshore Operations Center.
• GoodJob acquired Fetch Talent.
• Wayne's Pest Control acquired Priority Pest of Mt Juliet, Tennessee.
• ProAssurance acquired NORCAL Group of San Francisco, California.
• February: ARC Realty merged with H2 Real Estate.
• February: PS Holdco acquired Southeast Logistics of Tuscaloosa.
• March: JEST IPA, Princeton Premier IPA, Red Mountain IPA, Shelby Chilton IPA and Synergy IPA merged to form the Iron City Independent Physician Association.
• April: EBSCO Industries acquired Zepheira of Reston, Virginia.
• May: Longtime pharmacist Matt Leach purchased Crestline Pharmacy from Mike Cobb and Scooter Hammers.
• May: Birmingham Fastener & Supply acquired Atlanta Rod & Manufacturing.
• May: PS Logistics acquired the assets of CT Transportation of Savannah, Georgia.
• May 26: Birmingham Direct Primary Care moved from 2231 Victory Lane in Hoover to 901 Oxmoor Road in Edgewood.
• June: George Sarris merged his Yellow Bicycle Catering Co. with Richard Wilkins' R & S Food Services.
• Washee Quickee Car Wash moved from 2700 3rd Avenue South in Lakeview to 4401 4th Avenue South in Avonwood.
• July: Jay and Laura Middleton purchased the Fleet Feet Birmingham franchise at Patchwork Farms in Vestavia Hills.
• August: Ponder Properties merged with NAI Chase Commercial Realty.
• August: DataPerk acquired ByteSize.
• September: Jay Industrial Repair acquired Flanders Inc.'s Muscle Shoals Regional Service Center.
• October 1: Hamilton Wealth Advisors relocated from 1 Corporate Drive at Chase Corporate Park to 100 Concourse Parkway in Riverchase.
• October 1: Attorneys Redden Mills Clark & Shaw merged with Wallace Jordan Ratliff & Brandt.
• October: Peabody Energy halted production at its Shoal Creek Mine, laying off 350 workers.
• October: Featheringill Capital acquired a majority interest in InvestEdge of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
• October 7: Hot and Hot Fish Club and Ovenbird reopened.
• October 20: U.S. Steel's Electric Arc Furnace was fired up for the first time.
• November: Command Alkon acquired the construction logistics business of Sunnyvale, California-based Trimble.
• December: Legacy Funeral Group of Houston, Texas acquired the Jefferson Memorial Funeral Home and Jefferson Memorial Gardens in Trussville and the Currie-Jefferson Funeral Home and Jefferson Memorial Gardens South in Hoover.
• December: Adamson Ford became Stivers Ford of Birmingham.
• December 29: Jasper Lumber Co. announced a partnership with Tolko Industries of Vernon, British Columbia to expand production in Walker County as Jasper Forest Products.
• December 31: Trussville Auto & Truck relocated to Ashville.

Establishments

• January 7: Art's Barber Shop reopened at 3301 Crestwood Boulevard
• January 7: Yum Yai reopened at 5426 U.S. Highway 280
• January 20: Dave Horn and Taylor Hughes opened SoHo Standard at SoHo Square.
• Marco and Juan Perez opened Maya Mexican Restaurant at the former Del Toro in Alabaster.
• February: Marco Butturini opened Le Fresca at 2218 2nd Avenue North.
• March: Lauren Pearson and Emily Lassiter founded The Wealth Edit online community.
• March 19: Grikey's Meat and Market opened in Center Point.
• April 27: David Majure opened an Ace Hardware at 300 Carlow Lane in Mt Laurel.
• June 7: Refined to Go opened in Old Town Helena.
• July: Sublime Media acquired the assets of Alliance Communications, including Fabricating and Metalworking magazine.
• July: Jon Riddle and Micheal McCants founded Magic City Dumpsters
• July: Paul Compton, Haskins Jones and Dave Dresher founded the law firm of Compton Jones Dresher.
• July 25: A-Train Station food truck debuted.
• August 1: Gardendale Pickers opened in the former K-Mart at 901 Decatur Highway in Gardendale.
• August 3: Michael's opened at the Negro Southern League Museum.
• August 6: Urban Market opened at 200 9th Street South Bessemer.
• August 17: Holly Gunn opened Gunn Dermatology in Crestline Village.
• August 25: Rob and Emily McDaniel opened Helen restaurant in the Meelheim Building at 2013 2nd Avenue North.
• August 30: Frank and Katherine Alverson opened Porch in Crestline Village.
• September: The Tavern at East Lake opened on 1st Avenue North.
• September 3: Monday Night Brewing Social Club opened at The Denham.
• September 22: Cecil Peoples opened Chef Peoples Cafe
• September 26: Harvest Roots opened a tap room at the Avondale Mills Shopping Center.
• Prashant and Mittel Patel opened the Wash Doctor Car Wash on Shannon-Oxmoor Road.
• November: ResBiotech was founded by Charitharth Lal.
• Patrick Campbell founded OpenVia at Hardware Park.
• Amy Mezzell and Sheena Patton founded Trailer Park Photos.
• Del Smith and Tiffany Whitlow founded Acclinate.

Disestablishments

• ISCO Industries of Louisville, Kentucky acquired M. T. Deason.
• PieLab in Greensboro closed.
• Zula's Mart on Highland Avenue closed.
• January 8: Magic City Krabs at 2201 4th Place West closed.
• January 15: Charlemagne Records on 11th Avenue South closed.
• January 18: Hot Diggity Dogs of 5th Avenue South closed.
• February: Plant Power & Control Systems was acquired by IES Holdings of Houston, Texas.
• March 8: The Whole Foods in Hoover's Whole Foods Market Plaza closed.
• March: Babalu at 29 Seven closed.
• March: Mile End Deli at Parkside Apartments closed.
• March: Brio Tuscan Grille at Brookwood Village closed.
• March: Command Alkon was acquired by Thoma Bravo of San Francisco, California.
• April: Gold's Gym locations at The Colonnade and Oak Mountain Marketplace closed.
• April: Olive Garden closed its Eastwood Village location.
• April: Cowfish closed at The Summit.
• April: Momma Goldberg's Deli locations on Frank Street in Trussville and at Station 121 in Midtown closed.
• April 22: The North Jefferson News was shut down.
• April 27: Z's Restaurant closed.
• May 4: Lucy's Coffee and Tea closed.
• May: The Kordoroy Krocodile consignment shop closed.
• May: Sol's Sandwich Shop at Two North Twentieth closed.
• May: Blevins Barber Shop at Two North Twentieth closed.
• May: Books-A-Million closed its Brookwood Village store.
• June: Klingler's Café in Vestavia Hills closed.
• June 14: Cocina Superior at Brookwood Village closed.
• June: Shrimp Basket closed its Crestwood Boulevard location.
• June: Johnny Ray's closed its Chelsea location.
• June 17: Urban Standard on 2nd Avenue North closed.
• July: Building Specialties was acquired by the Cook & Boardman Group of Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
• July: Avanti Polar Lipids was acquired by Croda International of Snaith, United Kingdom.
• July: Sur la Table closed its store at The Summit.
• July: Jason's Deli closed its Brookwood Village location.
• July 14: California Pizza Kitchen closed its restaurant at The Summit.
• July: Ann Taylor LOFT closed its store at Brookwood Village.
• July: Birmingham magazine suspended print publication.
• July: Brennan's at Five Points South closed.
• July: StrategyWise was acquired by E Source of Boulder, Colorado.
• August 2: Woodlawn Cycle Cafe closed.
• August: Little Savannah Restaurant & Bar closed.
• August: Oak Hill Capital acquired Otelco of Oneonta.
• August 10: Grede closed its Columbiana foundry.
• August: HomeServe USA of Norwalk, Connecticut acquired Freedom Heating & Cooling.
• August: Zoe's Forest Park closed.
• September: Trinity Hunt Partners of Dallas, Texas acquired MainStreet Family Care.
• October: HC3 acquired Banc Statements Inc.
• October: LaBella Associates of Rochester, New York acquired Highland Technical Services.
• October: MegaMet Industries was acquired by OpenGate Capital of Los Angeles, California.
• November: Storkland Furniture closed.
• December: DC Scientific Pest Control was acquired by Arrow Exterminators of Atlanta, Georgia.
• December: One Stop Environmental was acquired by Ambipar Response of São Paulo, Brazil.
• December: Colonnade Group was acquired by Teall Capital of Atlanta, Georgia and merged into its REVELxp brand.
• December: Sirote & Permutt became a partner firm of the global Dentons law practice.

Education

• March 16: Public K-12 schools were closed by order of Governor Kay Ivey due to the 2020 Coronavirus pandemic.
• July: Strayer University relocated from Grandview Parkway to Two North Twentieth.

Government

• The City of Trussville celebrated its Bicentennial.
• January 7: Randall Woodfin delivered the 2020 State of the City address.
• March 17: Jefferson County Health Officer Mark Wilson imposed countywide rules restricting visitors to nursing homes, barring on-premises service at restaurants and bars, and closing private schools and pre-schools.
• March 19: Governor Kay Ivey ordered on-premises food and beverage service, public gatherings and beaches to be closed due to the 2020 Coronavirus pandemic.
• March 24: The Birmingham City Council passed a "shelter in place" ordinance due to the 2020 Coronavirus pandemic.
• March 27: Governor Ivey issued a statewide order to close non-essential businesses and prohibit gatherings of 10 or more people.
• April 3: Governor Ivey issued a statewide "shelter in place" order.
• May 19: The City of Fairfield filed for municipal bankruptcy.
• July 14: Mayor Randall Woodfin announced a ban on police chokeholds and a requirement for officers to intervene and report incidents of excessive violence.
• August 25: 2020 Jefferson County municipal elections were held.
• December 21: Jefferson County was released from the 1982 Jefferson County consent decree.

Religion

• March 15: Dorinda Broadnax was installed as pastor of First Congregational Christian Church in College Hills.
• November 20: Greater Grace Missionary Baptist Church in Center Point burned.
• November 20: Tony Cooper, former director of the Jimmie Hale Mission, was installed as pastor of Pineywood Baptist Church.

Sports

• January 1: The Alabama Crimson Tide defeated the Michigan Wolverines 35-16 in the Citrus Bowl in Orlando, Florida.
• January 1: The Auburn Tigers lost to the Minnesota Golden Gophers 24-31 in the Outback Bowl in Tampa, Florida.
• January 2: The Cincinnati Bearcats defeated the Boston College Eagles 38-6 in the 2020 Birmingham Bowl at Legion Field.
• January 6: Alabama Crimson Tide juniors Henry Ruggs, Jerry Jeudy and Tua Tagovailoa announced for the 2020 NFL Draft.
• February 22: Deontay Wilder fought Tyson Fury to defend his WBC heavyweight title.
• March: UAB Men's basketball coach Rob Ehsan was fired and former player and assistant coach Andy Kennedy was hired to succeed him.
• March 6–8: The 2020 Bassmaster Classic was held at Lake Guntersville and the BJCC.
• The 2020 Birmingham Legion FC season was postponed.
• June: The 2020 National Indoor Pickleball Championship was held at the Finley Center in Hoover.
• The Regions Tradition golf tournament was canceled.

Individuals

• Chef Brandon Cain left Roots & Revelry.
• January 27: Ginny Tucker succeeded interim Brooke Bowles as CEO of Impact America.
• February 3: Cory Moon was sworn in as Chief of the Birmingham Fire and Rescue Service.
• April 17: Andrea Taylor resigned from her role as CEO of the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute.
• May 4: David Hyche succeeded Sean Lemley as chief of the Calera Police Department.
• May: State Representative April Weaver resigned her office to accept a job in the Trump administration.
• July: Lee Yount was hired as interim director of United Ability.
• August: Debra Hays succeeded Tanveer Patel as CEO of ConcertCare.
• August: Kecia Thomas began her term as dean of the UAB College of Arts and Sciences.
• November: Matt Rasmussen was made site director of the Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant near Athens.
• November 27: Griffin Lassiter succeeded Josh Carpenter as director of the Birmingham Department of Innovation and Economic Opportunity.
• December: WBHM-FM general manager Chuck Holmes resigned to accept the directorship of the Alabama Humanities Alliance.

Awards

• Alabama Music Hall of Fame: Gary Baker, Mervyn Warren, Willie Mae "Big Mama" Thornton and Elton B. Stephens

Retirements

• August: WBRC 6 news anchor Janet Hall retired.
• August: Lawson State Community College president Perry Ward retired.
• November: Vestavia Hills Rebels head football coach Buddy Anderson retired.
• December 15: Birmingham Public Library director Floyd Council resigned.

Deaths

Sammy Salvo (1932–2020)

Tarvaris Jackson (1983–2020)

Cleve Eaton (1939–2020)

Rebecca Luker (1961–2020)

The Jefferson County Coroner's Office reported 302 deaths from drug overdoses during the year, a 28% increase over 2019. In almost every death, a combination of fentanyl and another drug were present.

• January 10: John Bresnan, Chief of the Homewood Fire Department
• January 13: Doug Barnes, street character
• January 21: De'Runnya Wilson, former college football player
• February 2: Raymond Williams, former NASA administrator
• February 6: Jerry Levin, journalist and activist
• February 7: Sammy Salvo, crooner and grocer
• February 11: Dartie Flynt
• February 22: Thracie Pace, Birmingham Public Library Friends Bookstore manager
• March 1: Mable Anderson, psychology professor and activist
• March 8: Parker, a red panda at the Birmingham Zoo
• March 17: Mamie Brown Mason, healthcare consultant and co-founder of the ACHMR Choir.
• March 20: Evelyn Williams, former "Miss Vulcan"
• March 27: Joseph Lowery, Methodist minister and SCLC co-founder
• April 2: Ruth Appelhof, former Birmingham Museum of Art curator
• April 6: Rodney Dodson, former Birmingham Fire and Rescue Service captain
• April 6: James Jett, Warrior City Council member
• April 12: Tarvaris Jackson, former NFL quarterback
• April 25: Erskine Faush, AME Zion minister, radio executive and gospel singer
• May 3: Brandy Ayers, former Anniston Star publisher
• May 4: Jeff Fore, Trussville Fire Department fire marshal and assistant chief
• May 5: Lewis Manderson Jr, founder of Creative Displays
• May: Thomas Linton, barber and civil rights leader
• June 1: Pat Dye, former Auburn Tigers football coach
• June 5: Gary Edwards, CEO of United Ability
• June 6: Joseph Boohaker, former presiding judge for the 10th Judicial Circuit of Alabama
• June 18: Matt, a Komodo dragon at the Birmingham Zoo
• June 19: Tadpole, a Nile hippopotamus at the Birmingham Zoo
• June 21: Jimmy Pursell, founder of Pursell Industries
• June 26: Thomas Blanton, convicted murderer
• June 28: Peggy Prickett, clothier
• July 1: Elise Penfield, educator and community activist
• July 5: Cleveland Eaton, jazz bassist
• July 9: Billy Joe Driver, Mayor of Clanton
• July 14: Ron Johnson, state legislator
• July: Yana Davis, public radio executive, newspaper editor and history instructor
• July: Dave Holloway, naturalist
• July 20: Marty Schulman, naturalist
• July 21: Stanley Robinson, professional basketball player
• July 23: Ouida Fritschi‎, community activist
• July 29: James Nelson, ASFA director and arts critic
• July 29: Martha Jane Patton, Legal Aid Society director
• July 30: Harvey Updyke, former Texas state trooper convicted of poisoning the oak trees at Toomer's Corner
• August 1: J. D. Weeks, author and historian
• August 6: Wayne Shirley, chief of Chelsea Fire and Rescue
• August 8: John Brown, minister and street preacher
• August 10: Arnold Singer, Hoover civic leader
• August 11: Abe Fawal, filmmaker, author and educator
• August 20: Mickey Dean, comedian
• August 20: Heidi Bowman, artist
• August 25: Curtis Bell, blues DJ
• September 5: Mike Wilson, founder of Saw's BBQ
• September 7: Henrietta Boggs-MacGuire, former first lady of Costa Rica
• September 11: Sis Levin, peace activist
• September 16: Winston Groom, novelist
• September 20: Henry Joe, restaurateur
• September 29: Susil Rupasinghe, gas station owner
• October 2: Steve Williams, insurance executive and collector
• November 2: Bonnie Bolding Swearingen, actor, stockbroker and philanthropist
• November 8: Sara Clark, attorney and law professor
• November 9: E. B. McClain, Alabama State Senator
• November 14: Eli Stevens, owner of Lloyd's restaurant
• November 17: Jimmy Jews, retired fire captain
• November 20: Charles Salvagio, attorney
• December 3: Sorrel, a red panda at the Birmingham Zoo
• December 5: Tom Bradley, Hoover Fire Department chief
• December 7: Pat Gray, television host
• December 9: Ray Perkins football player and coach
• December 12: Charley Pride, country musician and former baseball player
• December 15: Jack Page, former State Representative
• December 15: Charles Ezell, restaurateur
• December 17: Alfred Farrar, Tuskegee Airman
• December 20: Dan Brennan, WVOK-AM executive
• December 23: Rebecca Luker, Broadway actor and cabaret singer
• December 24: Dwayne Hawkins, auto dealer
• December 25: Dewey Corder, Baptist minister
• December 26: Ted Lumpkin, Tuskegee Airman
• December 28: Randall Smith, Birmingham Police Department
• December 31: Tom Lankford, Birmingham News reporter and photographer
• See also:
  • 2020 Folsom Field plane crash
  • List of homicides in 2020

Works

The completed I-20/59 downtown viaduct on January 16, 2020. Photograph by Joe Songer.

• "Seedling" mural in Ensley by Erin LeAnn Mitchell
• "Find Your Magic" mural in Arlington-West End by Marcus Fetch
• "Black Wall Street mural" in Ensley by Dewon Moton
• August: Roadside senryu sign on 1st Avenue North in North Avondale

Books

• The Summer House, novel by Lauren Denton
• Buffalo Hunting in Alabama, novel by Don Erwin
• Underground Birmingham: Images from Birmingham’s Iron Ore Mines, photographs by Jeff Newman and Josh Box
• Black, Art (2020) Fame and Fortune in The Show: Baseball at Rickwood Field and Beyond in the Middle 1900s Blue Rooster Press ISBN 9780988980792

Buildings

• 1001 20th Street South at Five Points South
• 20 Midtown Phase 3
• Howlett Clubhouse for the A. G. Gaston Boys & Girls Club at CrossPlex Village
• Redevelopment of American Life Building as "workforce" apartments
• Bessemer Amazon Fulfillment Center
• Country Club of Birmingham fitness center
• Evonik Birmingham Laboratories expansion
• Firehouse Shelter
• Freedom Manor renovations
• Foundry Yards apartments on 13th Street South in Parkside
• I-20/59 downtown viaduct
• Planned Parenthood Birmingham Clinic on 1st Avenue North in Smithfield
• Macaroni Lofts
• The Market Place at The Bray shopping center
• New Ideal Lofts
• UAB Technology Innovation Center
• Valley Hotel on 28th Avenue South Homewood
• Vestavia Medical Center
• Wylam Library renovations

Demolitions

• January: Ensley High­lands Presbyterian Church
• July: De Paul Building at St Vincent's Birmingham
• Victory Tabernacle Community Church at 1300 12th Avenue North
• October: Ramsay-McCormack Building in downtown Ensley
• October: Wylam Baptist Church
• November: Century Plaza

Context

In 2020 a worldwide pandemic associated with the "COVID–19" virus caused massive disruption to public health, markets and society. The 2020 Olympic Summer Games in Tokyo, Japan were postponed by a year. Joe Biden was elected President of the United States. Great Britain's "Brexit" from the European Union was formalized.

The United Methodist Church split over acceptance of gay marriage. President Trump approved a drone strike that killed Qasem Soleimani and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis at Baghdad International Airport. Massive bushfires spread across Australia and wildfires ravaged the western United States and Canada.

Notable deaths in 2020 included activist C. T. Vivian; actors Chadwick Boseman, Wilford Brimley, Sean Connery, Robert Conrad, Olivia de Havilland, Kirk Douglas, Ian Holm, Kelly Preston, Ann Reinking, Diana Rigg, Jerry Stiller, Max von Sydow, Dawn Wells and Fred Willard; aviator Charles Yeager; baseball Hall of Famers Lou Brock, Whitey Ford, and Joe Morgan; basketball stars Kobe Bryant and Curly Neal; business executives Herman Cain, Sumner Redstone, and Jack Welch; cartoonists Gene Deitch and Mort Drucker; coach John Thompson; coal baron Robert Murray; composers Johnny Mandel and Ennio Morricone; critic Michael Sorkin; directors Alan Parker, Carl Reiner, Joel Schumacher and Lynn Shelton; former president of Egypt Hosni Mubarak; journalist Jim Lehrer; writers Clive Cussler, Roger Kahn, John le Carré, Terrence McNally, Charles Portis, Elizabeth Wurtzel, and Carlos Ruiz Zafón; Emir of Kuwait Sabah al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah; magician James Randi; Monty Python founder Terry Jones; musicians Charlie Daniels, Little Richard, Vera Lynn, Ellis Marsalis, Todd Nance, Neil Peart, John Prine, Kenny Rogers, Adam Schlesinger, Joseph Shabalala, Eddie Van Halen, and Bill Withers; former NBA commissioner David Stern; physicists Freeman Dyson and Katherine Johnson; playwright/activist Larry Kramer; publisher Earl Graves Sr; soccer player Diego Maradona; Supreme Court justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg; television hosts Grant Imahara, Regis Philbin, and Alex Trebek; U.S. Representative John Lewis; and White House advisor Brent Scowcroft.

2020s

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