Construction at Vulcan Park is ongoing in this image from November. Work includes renovation of the lower piazza entrance and building steps for walking access from the north side to the statue itself. (Brasfield & Gorrie)

The Kiwanis Club of Birmingham-funded improvements to Vulcan Park and Museum, including a multi-colored light show, is expected to be complete in February.

"We are very excited and think this is going to be a tremendous addition to all of the other great things going on in Birmingham," said Tom Thagard, past president of the Kiwanis Club of Birmingham.

As part of the club's 100th anniversary, the Kiwanis Club announced the $4.66 million Vulcan Park improvement project in November 2016 and launched a capital fund drive, which will take place over the next five years.

Construction on the Kiwanis Centennial Park at Vulcan Park and Museum started in May.

Due to some additional lightshow components, the project is now expected to cost $5 million, Thagard said.

"We are installing state-of-the-art colored LED lights that are run by computer," he said. "It is going to be very dynamic. We can make the lights do whatever we want to. For Christmas, we can turn Vulcan red and green if we wanted to."

Thagard said the club has about $1 million left to raise. He said the funds have been raised "by individual Kiwanis members and very generous corporate and civic benefactors and foundations."

The Kiwanis Centennial Park Project is being completed in cooperation with Vulcan Park and Museum and Freshwater Land Trust. The project has three components:

* Reconnect Vulcan to downtown Birmingham physically as the north side of the park is currently in disrepair. Work will include landscaping the north side of the park, renovation of the lower piazza entrance and building steps for walking access from the north side to the statue itself. This municipal/event space will be known as Kiwanis Centennial Park.

* Construction of a two-mile jogging and biking trail that will extend to Green Springs Highway and serve as the future hub for the planned 750 miles of Birmingham's Red Rock Ridge and Valley Trail System.

* A dynamic, multi-colored light show designed by Schuler Shook and projected onto Vulcan each night to enhance and project the image of Birmingham's icon.

Thagard said residents should have already noticed that trees around Vulcan's pedestal have been cleared allowing a better view of the 56-foot cast iron statue.

A grand opening ceremony is expected to happen in March, he said.