Smithfield Court

Aerial view of Smithfield Court in the 1930s

Smithfield Court is a public housing project operated by the Housing Authority of the Birmingham District located at 150 8th Avenue North in the Smithfield neighborhood of the Smithfield community between A. H. Parker High School and Legion Field. It was designed to provide low-income rental housing for African-American families.

The 22-acre project was entirely financed by the United States Public Works Administration. Six blocks of existing houses, deemed to be "some of the city's worst slum dwellings", were acquired for $458,000 and cleared away to prepare the site. Architect Walter Holmquist designed the project, which divided 540 two- to five-room units among 81 fireproof one- and two-story buildings with a shared community building (now the Smithfield Community Center) and large areas of open green space. The resulting layout covered 27% of the site with buildings at a density of 58 rooms per acre.

Construction commenced in 1935 and was completed in 1937 at a cost of $1,786,648. The total development cost was $2,415,000, which equated to an average of $4,472 per unit. Tenants began moving in on February 16, 1938. The apartments were originally rented on a basis of $4.36 per room with water included. With electricity and refrigeration, the average net rental cost was $4.84 per room.

Smithfield Court was showcased during the "Housing" session of the inaugural convention of the Southern Conference for Human Welfare in 1938.

On August 17, 1949 Smithfield Court was the scene of a mass protest organized by the Birmingham Business League, Birmingham Emancipation Association and the NAACP during which 2,000 Black residents called for an end to intimidation and terrorism relating to efforts by Black residents to purchase homes in areas zoned for white residences. The crowd approved resolutions in favor of expanding real estate sales to Black buyers, and expressed support for the work of attorney Arthur Shores.

In 1992 Partners in Neighborhood Growth began managing recreation programs at the community center.

By 2006 Smithfield Court contained 456 low-income units.

Redevelopment

The planned redevelopment of Smithfield Court was made the centerpiece of a $900 million proposal developed in the early 2020s to "transform" the Smithfield, Graymont and College Hills neighborhoods. As part of that plan, the portion of the project site facing Reverend Abraham Woods Jr Boulevard would be rezoned for community and commercial uses, including a "Social Innovation Center" with space for a larger Smithfield Library at the corner of Center Street. The remainder of site would be redeveloped with about 400 residential units divided between garden apartments, townhouses, duplexes and cottages. Additional affordable housing would be constructed on other sites nearby. The project, planned by the Housing Authority and the City of Birmingham, was awarded a $50 million grant in 2023 as part of the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development's "Choice Neighborhoods Initiative".

References

• Short, C. W. & R. Stanley-Brown (1939) "Public Buildings: A Survey of Architecture of Projects Constructed by Federal and Other Governmental Bodies Between the Years 1933 and 1939 with the Assistance of the Public Works Administration." U.S. Public Works Administration, p. 664
• Jackson, Harvey H. (2000) The WPA Guide to 1930s Alabama Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press, pp. 168-169. ISBN 0817310282
• Parker, Illyshia (June 20, 2023) "Rezoning approval marks one step closer to Smithfield redevelopment project." Birmingham Business Journal
• Banks, Richard (July 27, 2023) "$50 Million HUD Grant Expected to “Transform” West Birmingham Neighborhoods." WBHM.org/BirminghamWatch

External links

• Housing Authority of the Birmingham District official website