9 minute read
NEWS
from 9.9.21
Plans for Hoover Performing Arts Center Beginning
By Emily Williams-RoBERtshaW
The Hoover City Council has approved a plan to study the cost of developing a performance arts and community center.
The city contracted with Live Design Group of Birmingham and Theatre DNA of Los Angeles to find potential locations for the building and propose a design concept for the center, including details such as the capacity, parking and proposed features and amenities.
According to Councilor Curt Posey, who is the council’s liaison for the Hoover City Arts Council, this is a major milestone years in the making.
Discussions about the development of a performing arts and community center have been on the table in Hoover since about 2008, Posey said.
When Macy’s consolidated into the former Rich’s department store at the Riverchase Galleria, the council considered using the space now occupied by Von Maur as a community and performing arts facility.
“When the discussion came back to the forefront during the 2016 election, I sat down with several local artists’ groups to talk about their experiences and what was truly needed to put Hoover on the map as a destination for arts and culture within the southeast,” he said. “From those discussions, and additional discussions with fellow council members and the mayor, we felt like the first step should be to create a city Arts Council to provide a conduit between the city administration and the arts community.”
Building the council took about a year, and in 2017 the Hoover Arts Council was established to use research and community outreach to develop ways to better provide art experiences to the public. With Posey representing the council and Hoover Library Fine Arts Director Matina Johnson consulting, the arts council is composed of fine arts professionals, business owners and community volunteers, including former Hoover City Schools college admissions counselor Paulette Pearson, artist Sandra Fuller, Hoover Arts Alliance co-founder Linda Chastain, Bluff Park Art Association President Julie Preskitt, Alabama Dance Academy owner Pam Sayle and Birmingham Boys Choir operations manager Tricia Simpson.
Above, Hoover Arts Council members, from left, Sandra Fuller, Paulette Pearson and Tricia Simpson, taken at the 2018 Moss Rock Festival. Below, a rendering of the Village Green amphitheater, part of the Village Green entertainment district being constructed at the Stadium Trace Village development.
Hoover Arts Community Underserved
“Within the research and community outreach that has been conducted by the Arts Council, we found a glaring statistic in regard to performance space within our city versus the number of performance groups within our city,” Posey said.
“I don’t think most realized that as our city grew over the past 50+ years, we have more performing arts-based businesses and schools per mile than any city in the state of Alabama.”
For example, Posey noted that, while there are two major dance studios within minutes from each other along U.S. 31, there is no dedicated space in the city for their students and staff to perform. Hoover art schools and companies often have to venture outside of Hoover to host recitals and showcase their work to the public.
“Why not find a way to showcase homegrown talent within our own city and allow the city to benefit from the direct and indirect revenue generated from these activities?” Posey said.
Economic Benefits
A performing arts center can also act as a catalyst for redevelopment, he noted, bringing in visitors from surrounding communities and beyond. He’s seen it work firsthand in other communities as the father of a dancer. He has traveled with his kids to competitions held at performing arts spaces throughout Alabama as well as other states.
“In the case of our city, we are blessed to have the infrastructure in place in terms of hotels and retail outlets, and we do have growth opportunities for redevelopment,” he said. “I think a performing arts center will only enhance the infrastructure we have in place and will provide a world of opportunity for the arts in like manner as the Finley Center has for youth sports.”
One of the Arts Council’s first successes as they continued to work on the arts center concept involved arranging with the Birmingham Children’s Theatre to host performances of the 2018 production of “Alice in Wonderland” at the Galleria.
The council has since been asked to provide input on the design of the Village Green amphitheater, part of the Village Green entertainment district being constructed at the Stadium Trace Village development. The amphitheater will serve as an outdoor concert venue with a projected 1,200-person capacity.
“The Arts Council also is looking at yet another live performance opportunity at the Galleria that should be announced very soon,” Posey said.
The recent approval to hire Live and TheatreDNA was a long-awaited step.
Posey noted that it took two years for the arts council, mayor and City Council to choose the two vendors, which they believe are the best in the business as well as the best options for the city’s vision.
A resolution to fund agreements with the two companies was unanimously passed by the City Council in March 2020. Then along came COVID-19.
At the next City Council meeting, Posey recalls, models showed a potential $15 million hole in the city’s budget due to shutdowns and other pandemic effects. Thus, the agreements with Live and TheatreDNA were tabled.
“Everything finally came back together in July and now it’s full
speed ahead,” Posey said.
“To say I’m excited would be an understatement, and as odd as it sounds, I do think the pandemic helped because it reminded us all of the importance of fellowship and the energy that comes from congregation,” Posey said.
“If we can provide a place that helps foster togetherness and community, exposes our residents to arts and culture from around the world and showcases our homegrown talent by giving them a place to perform, then we have accomplished our mission,” he said.
CURT POSEY
AHA Recognizes Honorees for 2022 Heart Ball
The American Heart Association, an international nonprofit organization focused on heart and brain health, has named Dr. John T. Eagan Jr. and his wife, Kendall Eagan, as honorees for the 2022 Birmingham Heart Ball, to be held March 12.
In this role, the Eagans will be focused on driving equitable health for every member of the Birmingham community and raising critical funds to support the work of the organization.
Eagan is a board-certified cardiologist with Cardiovascular Associates and has an extensive background in invasive and interventional cardiac, peripheral vascular and venous interventions.
A native of Birmingham, he received his medical degree from the University of Alabama School of Medicine, followed by an internal medicine residency at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and a cardiovascular disease fellowship at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta.
A fellow of the American College of Cardiology, Eagan has research experience and been published in multiple articles and publications. He is also a member of the Monday Morning Quarterback Club of
Photo courtesy AHA
Dr. John T. Eagan Jr. and his wife, Kendall Eagan, are the honorees for the 2022 Birmingham Heart Ball, to be held March 12.
Birmingham supporting the Quarterbacking Children’s Health Foundation.
“My wife, Kendall, and I are incredibly honored to serve as the 2022 Birmingham Heart Ball honorees,” Eagan said. “Unfortunately, heart disease and stroke are all too common here in our state, and I have seen firsthand the devastating impact these conditions can have on people’s lives. We are proud to be working alongside the American Heart Association in furthering the organization’s mission and building a healthier community for all.”
Kendall Eagan is a CPA and works for the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta.
She has served on several boards and is actively involved with numerous philanthropic organizations across Birmingham, including the Robert E. Reed Foundation, Linly Heflin, King’s Home, the Coastal Conservation Association of Alabama and the Junior League of Birmingham, as well as the upcoming World Games.
To date, the Birmingham Heart Ball has raised more than $18 million for local research, advocacy and community education efforts. According to data provided by the organization, cardiovascular diseases and stroke are the first and fifth leading killers of Alabamians, respectively.
The Birmingham Heart Ball highlights the association’s impact on the research and treatment of these conditions, as well as local efforts to implement the association’s mission of being a relentless force for a world of longer, healthier lives.
For more information, visit birminghamheartball.heart.org.
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VACCINE
From Page One will not meet their mom,” she said.
On Aug. 20, UAB was taking care of 39 unvaccinated pregnant women, and 10 of them were in ICUs. Seven were on ventilators because of the very contagious Delta variant.
That was extremely concerning to Dr. Audra Williams, assistant professor in the UAB Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, because less than 25% of pregnant women across the nation have at least one dose of the vaccine. Only 10% of pregnant African American women had at least one dose.
“The Centers for Disease Control, along with every single major health organization, including the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine, strongly recommends that pregnant women get the COVID-19 vaccine,” Dr. Williams said.
“Any pregnant patient who is considering the vaccine, I strongly encourage you to talk to your health care provider. We don’t want to see you here in the ICU and having to have your baby delivered early when it’s something that could have been prevented.”
Williams cited a study about women having pre-term births as an example of the importance of the vaccine.
“Another recent study showed almost 60% increase in pre-term births among women affected with COVID,” Williams said. “All the data shows the benefits of vaccinations outweigh the risks.”
Dr. Jodie Dionne echoed Williams’ sentiments while talking about a rumor associated with infertility.
“There is zero evidence that the vaccine is linked to infertility,” said Dionne, associate director of UAB’s Global Health in the Center for Women’s Reproductive Health and associate professor in the Division of Infectious Diseases.
“That is a rumor that is out there. I hear it in the work I do in Africa, I hear it from the patients I take care of here in Birmingham, so we have to be clear – there is no association,” she said.
The doctors also encouraged spouses to get vaccinated as another layer of protection for an expectant mother and her unborn child.
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