Birmingham Approves $7M Investment in KultureCity’s Plans for Accessibility Park at Powell Steam Plant Site

The Birmingham City Council voted Tuesday to invest $7 million to help KultureCity build a national accessibility park at the historic Powell Steam Plant site.

By 2028, KultureCity co-founder Julian Maha hopes to transform the downtown building into a national accessibility park for people with sensory needs and invisible disabilities that will attract visitors from all over the world.

“It’s probably been about a five-year journey,” Maha said.

He said that the idea for building a national accessibility park stemmed from the community asking what to do when a loved one ages out of the school system for employment and where families can go when faced with a disability diagnosis.

“A space where families, individuals, loved ones can gather to learn more about accessibility and also get job training, knowledge about disabilities and also learn about the history of disability rights,” Maha said.

Plans call for a campus at the site to include a technical college and workforce training center as well as a museum.

There will be an outdoor amphitheater and a public gathering space outdoors.

The Birmingham City Council has agreed to invest up to $7 million in the project over a span of several years.

“I feel that because of the economic impact that we will foresee over the future, I feel that it’s an investment that we need to make,” Wardine Alexander said.

Alexander is the president of the Birmingham City Council. She also addressed the location of the proposed project.

“Being out on the green spaces, interconnecting with Railroad Park, we see that as a great area for people not only visiting the city of Birmingham but for our residents,” Alexander said.

The Jefferson County Board of Commissioners voted in December to invest $3.5 million in the project.

Maha said it now raised close to $30 million toward the project, which is expected to cost about $40 million.

He said the city’s contribution shows it has a stake in this.

“The fact that we’re housed in Birmingham, Alabama, the city where civil rights began, and the fact that the city’s understanding the importance of not only what KultureCity is doing but also the importance of accessibility and also the disability rights angle,” Maha said.

KultureCity hopes to break ground in January and open the park in 2028.