Ice, Ice Baby

Railroad Park’s Winter Adventure is back and better than ever. This year, in addition to the popular 50-by-80-foot ice skating rink, the park also will debut a 100-foot-long ice slide on 17th Street Plaza. Riders will slide via inner tubes down the 15-foot-tall slide. The activities will be available from November 22 through January 5, only closing on Thanksgiving and Christmas Day. Tickets include unlimited time on the ice rink or slide for the day. Combo tickets for both also are available. To warm up, the Boxcar Café will serve warm meals from a special winter menu, as well as hot drinks from Red Diamond Coffee & Tea.

Eat, Play, Stay

A new development that will feature a hotel and retail space is slated to join BrickTop’s on the Red Mountain Expressway in Mountain Brook. Construction will begin in 2020 on a six-story, 120-room Marriott Residence Inn that is estimated to cost $18 million. A 6,300-square-foot retail and restaurant development will be the final piece of the puzzle.

Walk this Way

The city of Birmingham and the Alabama Department of Transportation have big plans for the new Interstate 59/20 bridges—specifically beneath them. Recently, a master design for CityWalk BHAM, a 10-block area from 15th to 25th Street North, was released with a laundry list of planned amenities. Plans include a multi-use turf field surrounded by walking trails, a concrete skate rink and skate park, a climbing zone, playground, outdoor classroom, performance space, group fitness area, civil rights activation space, and dog park. Other features include space for an outdoor food hall, art park, market, or pop-up retail. ALDOT also plans a tailgate area and urban farming space, as well as extensive parking with restrooms and security stations throughout. The massive undertaking is expected to be complete in time for the 2021 World Games.

Lane Parke Landings

Mountain Brook’s mixed retail development is adding two new shops to its lineup.

ABC Select Spirits - The Mountain Brook ABC Store is tripling its size with a move to Lane Parke on Rele Street across from the new Sol Y Luna restaurant reboot.

Happy Olive - The Fairhope specialty shop opened its second location in Lane Parke next to Swoop in mid-October. The store sells gourmet Mediterranean food products—specifically olive oil, balsamic vinegars, caviar, teas, jams, sauces, and more.

Summiting New Heights

The city’s popular shopping complex is diversifying its offerings with two new concepts.

Paddywax Candle Bar - Birmingham has its fair share of places to buy candles, and now the city has its first place to make candles. Paddywax Candle Bar is an experiential retail shop where guests design and hand-pour their own custom-made candles. The one-hour classes include the opportunity to pick a vessel, choose and mix fragrances, place wicks, and pour wax to create a candle from start to finish. The store also sells beer and wine for an experience that we fully expect to take over the “paint and drink” craze for girls’ nights out.

Peloton - The global, at-home cycling platform recently opened its first Alabama showroom at The Summit. Peloton allows riders to benefit from a high-energy, studio-style workout in the comfort of their own home. At the new showroom, visitors will have the opportunity to book a test class on a bike or treadmill, receive a personalized tutorial, and learn more about Peloton. The new studio is located in The Summit’s lower level near Restoration Hardware.

The Summit has opened a new Peloton store.

Smoke Free Community

A new ordinance, effective December 1, has made a 100-block area surrounding some of our city’s most-used health providers a no-smoking zone. The “health district” covers much of UAB, Children’s Hospital, Cooper Green Medical Center, the Department of Health, Bartow Arena, and the VA Medical Center. Smoking will not be allowed at all public rights-of-way, streets, sidewalks, curbs, alleys, bus stops, and alleys in the area; however, property owners will have the ability to create 200-square-foot smoking zones on their property. The new rules do not apply to vaping or electronic cigarettes at this time.

This story appears in Birmingham magazine’s December 2019 issue. Subscribe today!