1 year ago
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Reaction from people in the Bush Hills neighborhood about bailing Birmingham Southern College out is mixed. Some believe the community’s relationship with the college has changed over the years, but a vacant campus could negatively impact the revitalization of the area.The $37 million decision to save the liberal arts institution will not just impact students, faculty and staff but the neighborhood where it sits, too.“I think they're a major staple in the community,” said Regina Pyant, who lives near BSC.She moved across the street from the college just three years ago.“I would come past here, and I would say, ‘Oh, I love it over here. It's nice. I would love to live over here,’” Pyant said, “and I finally got over here, and now they leaving.”State Rep. Juandalynn Givan has been at the forefront of the fight to save the liberal arts college. She says she’s disheartened at what could be an end result.“It’s looking mighty bleak,” Rep. Givan said. “There’s not a real effort or appetite on behalf of the state to step in.”Many taxpayers say helping the private institution financially is not a good use of state dollars. Gov. Kay Ivey agreed in a statement released a week ago, saying in part, “The state has no plans to use taxpayers’ public funds to bail out a private college.”“We bail everybody else out,” Pyant said. “This school has been here forever, taking care of itself. You are saying now that they can’t take care of themself, we shouldn’t help them?”Rep. Givan said with time running out, it might be time to turn to the corporate community to save the institution.“It’s so disappointing that there’s not an outpouring of support for this institution,” she said. “This issue with Birmingham Southern is bigger than Birmingham Southern. This issue is about Birmingham Southern takes up half of the Bush Hills community. That’s half of a neighborhood.”Pyant said the property value in the area could decline with a nearly 200-acre campus vacant, which would undo years of progress.“I thought we were really basically building up Birmingham with down the street,” Pyant said. “It’s some housing in the back, some apartments they done gutted them and remolded them.”Birmingham Southern will make an announcement about its future on Thursday morning.
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. —
Reaction from people in the Bush Hills neighborhood about bailing Birmingham Southern College out is mixed. Some believe the community’s relationship with the college has changed over the years, but a vacant campus could negatively impact the revitalization of the area.
The $37 million decision to save the liberal arts institution will not just impact students, faculty and staff but the neighborhood where it sits, too.
“I think they're a major staple in the community,” said Regina Pyant, who lives near BSC.
She moved across the street from the college just three years ago.
“I would come past here, and I would say, ‘Oh, I love it over here. It's nice. I would love to live over here,’” Pyant said, “and I finally got over here, and now they leaving.”
State Rep. Juandalynn Givan has been at the forefront of the fight to save the liberal arts college. She says she’s disheartened at what could be an end result.
“It’s looking mighty bleak,” Rep. Givan said. “There’s not a real effort or appetite on behalf of the state to step in.”
Many taxpayers say helping the private institution financially is not a good use of state dollars. Gov. Kay Ivey agreed in a statement released a week ago, saying in part, “The state has no plans to use taxpayers’ public funds to bail out a private college.”
“We bail everybody else out,” Pyant said. “This school has been here forever, taking care of itself. You are saying now that they can’t take care of themself, we shouldn’t help them?”
Rep. Givan said with time running out, it might be time to turn to the corporate community to save the institution.
“It’s so disappointing that there’s not an outpouring of support for this institution,” she said. “This issue with Birmingham Southern is bigger than Birmingham Southern. This issue is about Birmingham Southern takes up half of the Bush Hills community. That’s half of a neighborhood.”
Pyant said the property value in the area could decline with a nearly 200-acre campus vacant, which would undo years of progress.
“I thought we were really basically building up Birmingham with [Legion Field] down the street,” Pyant said. “It’s some housing in the back, some apartments they done gutted them and remolded them.”
Birmingham Southern will make an announcement about its future on Thursday morning.
English (US)