The government shutdown has gone beyond federal buildings and reached the Birmingham Civil Rights District.
For one, the A.G. Gaston Motel, run by the National Park Service will not be staffed with park rangers on site who answer questions.
Naumah Elmore one of the owners of Alicia’s Coffee which is connected to the A.G. Gaston Motel, said some of the people they work with who are furloughed “affects us too. So we definitely want to keep them in prayers, anything they need, but we’re hoping it doesn’t last too long.”
The shutdown affects the coffee shop by not having as many people coming to the area, Elmore said.
Some visitors to the district had planned on spending the afternoon learning about some of the exhibits in the area. “I’m disappointed because I will not get to see all of the things that I hopefully wanted to see,” said one visitor.
The good news for many is that some areas in the Civil Rights District remain open because they are operated by the City of Birmingham and not the federal government.
“The gallery around the A.G. Gaston will still be able to be open because it’s authorized and ran by the city, and the coffee shop as well, is right under the City of Birmingham, so we’ll still be able to have a part of the museum open, but not fully operating like it usually is,” Elmore said.
Being from Birmingham, Elmore said she was excited to partner with parts of the Civil Rights District and help share the importance of its history.
“You want everything to be able to still flow, so for us, it’s just educating people …,” said Elmore.
But two women visiting said parts that are open share history and they were still grateful to learn about what took place in the heart of Birmingham. “I just wanted us to appreciate that because sometimes we take it for granted,” said one visitor.
