By DONALD MOTTERN | Editor

PELHAM – The topic of potentially using Shoal Creek Park as a site for a new community center was discussed during a regularly scheduled Montevallo City Council meeting on Monday, August 12.

At the rather unremarkable meeting, where neither awards nor recognition were on the agenda, the topic of Shoal Creek Park and its possible use as the site for Montevallo’s planned community center soon dominated the discussion.

Although it was not listed as an item on the evening’s agenda, the park was mentioned as a possible site for the development of a community center at a recent meeting of the Montevallo Development Cooperative District. Conversations following that meeting spread the discussion of the park’s potential use throughout the community.

“I just wanted to voice my concerns about the discussions about building a community center at Shoal Creek Park,” said Montevallo resident Laura Arnold Molz. “There’s no question that our city needs a community center, and it would be a welcome addition — I think everyone would agree. I just want to put forward the idea of ​​maybe having a more comprehensive conversation with the community about it.”

Molz and her husband both spoke to the City Council and pleaded with them to move forward with the project’s development with transparency for the community. They also specifically requested that the City select an alternative site for the discussed project that would not encroach on Shoal Creek Park.

Shoal Creek Park was created through a land donation from Elizabeth Mahler in 2013, which included her family’s 167-acre estate. Mahler, who died in 2015, donated the land with the intention of using the property as a historic and natural recreation area.

“I have read and heard from people who knew Mrs. Mahler, and she was very interested in providing the community with access to nature so they could explore and connect with nature, just as her family experienced throughout the years she managed the property,” Molz said. “With her generous donation to our city, she gave us a very rare gift. And I believe with that gift comes a commitment to preserve and protect it.”

Another community member, Kelly Wacker, who has lived in the community for 20 years, also spoke out against the possible use of the park as a site for the center.

“I am concerned that Shoal Creek Part has been brought into play as (the community center site),” Wacker said. “According to the city’s comprehensive plan, the scenic corridor on Highway 119, where the park is located, was established to ‘preserve and enhance the natural beauty adjacent to and along Montevallo’s roads and to prevent unsightly development that could detract from or diminish the natural beauty.'”

Wacker also described the park as “inaccessible” and cut off from any neighborhood, and questioned whether Shoal Creek Park was a suitable location from a logistical and stylistic point of view.

“A community recreation center in Shoal Creek Park would significantly detract from the special quality of the scenic corridor that our community so values,” Wacker said. “It would also increase traffic congestion and create light and noise pollution. Our city is unique in that we have several large parks, each with a special character.”

Their conclusion: Stevens Park serves the community as a sports park, Orr Park is a classic American playground with space for sports fields and special events, and Shoal Creek Park serves the city as a nature park.

“The park has historical significance,” Wacker said. “While some people consider open fields to be so-called empty spaces, Shoal Creek Park is of great value to our community because it is undeveloped. When Elizabeth Mahler generously gave us her family home and farm, it was her intention that it should be a place where people, especially young people, would have the opportunity to play in the fields, woods and creek of their beloved home.”

In response to public voices disapproving of the park’s use, several City Council members took turns addressing the concerns raised.

Council member Sonya Swords began by speaking about the very nature of the project and that it is still in the earliest stages of development.

“The community center was proposed at MDCD,” Swords said. “The architectural firm recommended by the county is called William Blackstock. We haven’t contacted them yet, but they are the ones the county recommended. Before we hire anyone, we want to make sure the architectural firm can help the city with what the city needs.”

Swords emphasized that the selected architectural firm would need to determine both the appropriate size of the facility to effectively serve the community and the space required for construction and maintenance. She then clarified that this determination alone is required before a site can be considered as a possible construction site.

She also clarified that, for cost reasons and other factors, a potential community center would be built in planned phases rather than all at once.

“MDCD needs to work with Blackstock to make sure they can do that before we sign contracts with these companies,” Swords said. “And that they can help us with these renderings for several proposed sites. Shoal Creek was mentioned, but you’re standing here before us today asking that maybe we should consider other sites. So maybe we should consider other sites as well.”

Swords also said that regardless of the location chosen, a public survey involving a large section of the population had shown that there was a desire to build such a facility somewhere in the city.

This community survey was the first step in a long process to identify potential construction projects for Montevallo’s new community center.

“First we had to make sure we could afford to build the building,” said Montevallo Mayor Rusty Nix. “(We did that) to make sure we had an interest in building facilities and a building. We obviously have a need for it, that’s why the surveys were done.”

Regarding calls for transparency, Nix said the polls were well publicized and easily accessible to anyone interested.

Council member Kenneth Dukes also addressed concerns about what some in the community called a lack of transparency.

“As a city council, we’ve received a lot of feedback and I’m grateful for the people who came out tonight because we need to hear from the people,” Dukes said. “My suggestion has always been that we engage the people we serve – because it’s their city.”

Dukes then discussed previous complaints he and other council members had received regarding a perceived lack of amenities in Montevallo compared to surrounding communities.

Dukes also suggested that the city might enter into an agreement with the University of Montevallo to secure land for the project if no alternatives become available.

“We need to think about how we can serve the whole body and make that happen,” Dukes said. “We are locked in on a lot of situations. There are a lot of ideas (about how to deal with that) and I welcome those being put forward, but hiding information or making decisions without citizen involvement, that is completely wrong.”

In his summary, Dukes tried to make it clear to the audience that the community center had not yet left the discussion phase.

“We’re discussing all of these things,” Dukes said. “It’s a discussion. We haven’t planned anything or spent 50 cents to move forward with it. We’re discussing it and we’re discussing it here in an open forum. No decision has been made. All we’ve talked about is what we already own. We don’t have any other space. We need a park and recreation center, that’s a must and I think it’s something that needs to be done. Where we do it, I think the city’s input (will help determine that).”

Since Montevallo City Council meetings are open to the public, MDCD meetings are also open to the public and free to attend. MDCD meetings are held on the second Monday of every month at 1 p.m. at Montevallo City Hall.