Altamont Park
Altamont Park is a narrow, steep parcel on the northern slope of Red Mountain on the south side of Altamont Road and above 13th Court South between Redmont Road and Cliff Road.
The concept of preserving views from a "Red Mountain Parkway" by means of dedicated linear parkland was included in the Olmsted Brothers' report published in 1925 as "A Park System for Birmingham".
The property was purchased by the city in 1927 from the Mountain Terrace Land Company for $64,000, with the purpose of preserving the view into Jones Valley. A group of eleven residents and real estate agents petitioned against the sale saying the the price was too dear and the steeply sloping property unsuited for park use. The purchase was financed as annual payments at 6 percent interest. On August 5, 1941 the city approved a deal negotiated by Mayor [[a final payment of $22,720 to retire the debt, saving $6,720 in future interest payments.
In 1930 four German guns, captured trophies of World War I obtained for Birmingham from the War Department by the American Legion, were relocated to the side of Altamont Road from Woodrow Wilson Park. The city later made plans to remove three of them to Legion Field. The sandstone overlook where the remaining gun is displayed connects to a set of stairs, perhaps one of the stairways built in the 1910s to connect Mountain Terrace to Altamont Road, which extends downward from the park to Overlook Alley.
Long a light gray in color, the gun was surreptitiously decorated with pink spray paint in 2009. City workers re-painted it in an olive drab color soon later.
References
- "How Well Do You Know This City Of Birmingham" (January 1940) The Birmingham News - via Birmingham Rewound
- "City to Make Last Payment on Park" (August 6, 1941) Birmingham Age-Herald - via Birmingham Public Library Digital Collections
- "Legal steps are in prospect to stop park deal" (October 25, 1921) Birmingham News - via Birmingham Public Library Digital Collections
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