State of the City: Fultondale moves forward, rebuilds city hall
Published 10:59 am Friday, July 28, 2017
- Shoney’s broke ground in Fultondale in May after being gone from the Birmingham area for years. The new restaurant is set to open this Fall.
The City of Fultondale suffered a setback early this year when its City Hall building caught fire. While no one was injured, the fire displaced the bulk of city offices, including the city operations, gas board and police department and jail.
Within a few days, the city had relocated all the city services to various other buildings around town. Very quickly, an arrangement was reached to house Fultondale’s prisoners at the Tarrant Jail until the building could be repaired, and the city council arranged to hold its meetings at either the city library or Fultondale Elementary School. Although this arrangement has worked, city leaders have expressed their desire to have the city hall building back open.
Because of the extent of the damage, crews have been forced to remove and replace the roof and insulation in the attic space, as well as wiring and other vital components that were damaged or destroyed.
City officials hope to be able to move back into the city hall building later this year once repairs are completed.
Being displaced hasn’t slowed the city down, as they move forward with breaking ground on the first Birmingham-area Shoney’s as the restaurant change returns to the area with a new look and new concept. The restaurant, slated to open later this year, will feature the Shoney’s favorites, along with a new selection of foods and a new look.
The city also won a hard-fought victory this year to get a traffic light placed at the intersection of Walker Chapel Road and Interstate 65. Mayor Jim Lowery said the traffic light has been needed for a long time and he personally had been lobbying for it for decades. In the past, the light has always been denied because any light at an intersection with an Interstate or state highway has too be approved. Since there has not been a fatality at that intersection, the request had previously been denied. In the last year, Lowery urged state leaders to get involved and pushed the approval for the light through.
The council also opened the city’s second storm shelter on the anniversary of the tornado that decimated the city of Fultondale, destroying homes and businesses in 2011.
Lowery joked the shelters are the only buildings opening in the city that he hoped no one ever had to use.
