Urban Impact puts the vision into action for Birmingham’s historic 4th Avenue Business District

Alabama is second to none for the number of significant civil rights sites in the state, and Birmingham boasts several locations where world-changing events took place. The boundaries of the city’s Civil Rights District, now the Birmingham Civil Rights National Monument, include Sixteenth Street Baptist Church, Bethel Baptist Church, and Kelly Ingram Park, to name a few. Each represents a critical point in the movement’s fight for equality. The district also includes historical 4^Th Avenue Business District, one of the few black business corridors in the Southeast.

For more than four decades, Urban Impact, a nonprofit community-based economic development organization, has been committed to keeping these parts of the Magic City visible, viable and vibrant.

Urban Impact is promoting Birmingham’s historic 4th Avenue Business District from the Alabama News Center on Vimeo.

“In the 1980s, the mayor at the time wanted to make sure we preserved the African-American downtown infrastructure and the historic African-American business district,” said Evan Holloway, executive director of Urban Impact. “He brought together some local businessmen and some city councilors and created a city influence.”

Holloway highlights the importance of the organization’s conservation efforts. “In addition to the most famous civil rights sites, there are many important buildings here,” he says. “The Masonic Temple here was built and designed by Robert Robertson Taylor, the first recognized African-American architect in the country.” It housed the offices of the NAACP and the Booker T. Washington Library, which was the first in the city to lend books to black residents. The district also features the work of the second recognized black architect in America. “There are very few buildings left standing by these people anywhere, but here in Birmingham. One of the first African-American banks is here, too,” Holloway says.

Putting more places

It may have started with a push to save the right doors, windows and walls – protecting spaces. But urban influence is also preserving community culture. “It allows us to show our place in history in relation to other parts of the city and Birmingham’s overall economy,” says Holloway. “We are also preserving the memories associated with these places.”

In recent years, urban impact programming has evolved and expanded to remove barriers and provide more economic opportunities for black businesses and startups. His “Become” program is a 12-week training session that teaches basic business concepts and skills to aspiring black business owners. In addition, Urban Impact provides businesses and merchants in the District with leasing agreements, marketing assistance and personal consulting.

Urban Impact is a member of the Kiva Hub, which provides zero-interest and leveraged loans to small businesses. “We’re really proud to be a part of this,” Holloway said. Funds from this program – totaling $25,000 so far – have helped a coffee shop buy equipment to fill cups and have allowed a children’s shoe company to increase production and wear smaller shoes.

City Impact’s internal lending arm, the Birmingham Community Impact Fund, supports women and minorities – often underserved by traditional financial institutions – thanks to funds raised from partners across the city and state. Holloway said the fund is just the beginning of Urban Impact’s journey to becoming a certified community development financial institution in the coming years.

Full speed ahead

Urban Impact is preserving the district’s heritage but looking for new and better ways to share the history of Birmingham’s black community. Holloway and his team recognize that telling this story — and telling it well — can be a powerful tool when seeking to preserve important elements of a community’s history, as well as the resources and support needed to foster and sustain its success now and into the future. Generations.

This mission is perhaps most evident in the revitalization initiatives the organization has undertaken for the district. “We’re working with the Main Street Organization’s Urban Core Program, which serves smaller parts of big cities,” says Holloway. “It’s a core part of our job now.”

The focus is on creating a development plan not only to preserve the Civil Rights District’s past, but also to better publicize its importance and attract new businesses. “What do we want people to feel when they visit Birmingham? What experience do we want them to have with this part of Birmingham?” Holloway says.

Urban Impact is now answering these questions. “We are formulating a comprehensive strategy focused on design, promotion and organization to create a truly dynamic district,” he said. Some of the steps include giving the area a more cohesive feel, adding signage to illuminate the district’s unique historical details, and using the built environment to share a rich perspective. “We want people to find out what happened here, but what it is. It’s happening here, too,” Holloway says. “This is where our relationship with the Alabama Power Foundation began and where their support has been invaluable.”

With the help of the foundation, Urban Impact is recruiting a qualified organization to implement its development vision. The plan prioritizes paying tribute to the district by saving the structures of yesteryear and fostering businesses today. One example is Green Acres, a popular restaurant that has been attracting hungry wing-seekers for over 60 years.

But there is an equal focus on bringing dormant areas back to life. A critical component calls for providing creative spaces that encourage black entrepreneurs to open restaurants, shops, galleries, entertainment options and more in the district, adding to the district’s vitality, prosperity and quality of life for local residents.

“We need more small business here,” says Holloway. “We want young people to come here who want to start something and enjoy growing up here and helping the area grow.”

He points to Urban Impact’s partnership with the foundation, which he believes will allow the organization to make an even bigger impact.

“It’s exciting to have the foundation be a part of this,” he said. “It’s really far away and it has a dual purpose: we’re preserving history but we’re bringing the new to this old place — we’re infusing it with new energy,” Holloway says. “When people visit the Civil Rights District and the business district, we want them to walk away with a deeper understanding of the historic story, but with the history that’s still being written, we want the stories of the black businesses that thrived here to be encouraged and thrived. right now”

This story is from the newly released Alabama Power Foundation 2021 Annual Report. To view the full report and learn more about the Foundation’s programs and initiatives, visit powerofgood.com.