Birmingham city leaders are moving forward with a proposal to create a designated daytime space for people experiencing homelessness, advancing what officials describe as a structured and service-focused alternative to informal gatherings across downtown.
The city council’s Budget and Finance Committee voted to recommend approval of a $168,000 purchase of a vacant lot at 1312 First Avenue North. If approved by the full council, the property would become what leaders are calling an “Urban Oasis.”
Mayor Randall Woodfin said the concept acknowledges a simple reality: people gather — whether housed or unhoused — and the city must be intentional about where that happens.
“What we find in the city of Birmingham is that unhoused residents in certain intersections of our city and in certain public spaces are actually mingling with housed residents and vice versa,” Woodfin said. “This space would be intentionally designed for unhoused residents because people are going to hang anyway. But this would be a designated space.”
The site would operate daily from 7:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. and is not intended to function as an overnight shelter or tent encampment, according to the city’s Director of Special Projects, Alanah Melton.
“It’s a day shelter that’s outside,” Melton said during the meeting. “It’s the answer for what happens when the shelters ask people to close. Traditionally, they go and find work. As the mayor said, we see a lot of hanging around in that area.”
Plans for the lot include outdoor seating, public restrooms, lockers for personal belongings, shaded areas, coffee service and a fenced dog run. No tents would be allowed, and no overnight stays would be permitted.
“But no, no tents. People cannot stay there,” she added.
City leaders emphasized that the broader goal is not simply to create a gathering place but to build trust and connect people to housing assistance, mental health care and addiction treatment.
“It’s also designed to build trust to get people to services, if you would,” Woodfin said. “And that’s the ideal outcome we want — is not just people hanging out, but a place where they know ‘I’m safe.’ It’s trusting, and the people running it and managing it can get me to a position where if I need additional resources — the next step, if you would — of transitioning from being unhoused, then the rapport, the relationship and the trust has been built to get to that point.”
Officials also tied the proposal to public health concerns, with Melton saying, “Particularly as we’ve seen the opioid deaths rise, we just want to do some intervention and connect people to resources.”
If approved by the full council, leaders said they hope to open the site by early summer.
“In a perfect world, we would start at the top of the summer,” Melton said. “It would be a great way when we see the numbers increase on the street.”
Several council members voiced support for the proposal, describing it as a creative response to a shifting challenge.
“Some of the things we’re facing currently are a changing landscape,” District One councilor and committee chairman, Clinton Woods, said. “And so we’re going to have to continue to be creative.”
The proposal now heads to the full Birmingham City Council for a final vote.
