January 2022 | Volume 9 | Issue 9
VESTAVIAVOICE.COM
VESTAVIA HILLS’ COMMUNITY NEWS SOURCE
All-Metro Teams
LOOKING AHEAD TO 2022
Rebels receive honors on volleyball, football All-South Metro teams.
See page B4
Women in Business
Contractors with Foshee Steel Solutions work on the entrance canopy at the new Vestavia Hills Civic Center. Photo by Erin Nelson.
Civic Center completion, economic development and more on horizon By NEAL EMBRY
Get to know some of the women succeeding in business in the area.
See page B10
INSIDE Sponsors .......... A4 News ..................A6 Business ............A11 Events .............. A13 Schoolhouse.... A14
Opinion............ A20 Real Estate...... A21 Sports.................B4 Women In Business...... B10
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W
hile the Community Spaces Plan was initially set to be completed in 2021, the work that began in 2019 will be finished in 2022, Vestavia Hills City Manager Jeff Downes said. With public meetings beginning in 2017, a new sales tax taking effect in 2018 and the first pile of dirt moved in 2019, it has been a long process to finish the Community Spaces Plan,
Caroline Smith Barrow works with students in the Sunbeam Room, the K-5 Life Skills class, as they make gingerbread houses. Photo by Erin Nelson.
a more than $60 million capital improvement project that spanned the entire city, Downes said. The improvements made to the city’s offerings should give residents a sense of pride, not just in the city’s renowned school system, but in the city’s offerings when it comes to public amenities such as Wald Park and Cahaba Heights Park, Downes said. Other things to expect in 2022 include the return of the Dogwood Festival, a focus on stormwater runoff control and sidewalks,
economic development, an additional building for the school system and continued population growth, officials said. Here’s a bit more about each topic:
COMMUNITY SPACES
The new Vestavia Hills Civic Center and the final phase of renovations to Wald Park will be the final pieces to the Community Spaces Plan. Originally set to open in late 2021,
See 2022 | page A22
Vestavia Hills City Schools names Teachers of Year By NEAL EMBRY Leaders at Vestavia Hills City Schools recently named the 2021-22 “Teachers of the Year” for each of the school systems’ nine schools. The award is voted on by the teachers’ coworkers.
CORTNEY MCKINNEY
► Vestavia Hills Elementary
Cahaba Heights, Elementary Teacher of the Year Q: How long have you been with your current school, and what is your role? A: I am a school counselor at Vestavia Hills Elementary at Cahaba Heights. I am in my fifth year at Cahaba Heights and have 18 years in
See TEACHERS | page A23