The regions bank run a $ 300,000 capital bet to the 16th Baptist Church – Birmingham Times

By Sym Posey | Birmingham Times

The Bank regions on Tuesday presented $ 150,000 to the 16th street Baptist church leadership in downtown Birmingham to fulfill a $ 300,000 bet for a capital campaign to protect and expand in the historic church.

“We are grateful for our corporate and public partners, such as Bank Regions who watch and support us,” said Reverend Arthur Price, Pastor on 16th Street.

The church seeks to raise $ 7.5 million to preserve the building and build a new center for education and visitors, as well as the creation of new, peaceful and social justice.

The church attracts thousands of visitors a year to tour the facility because of its remarkable role in Birmingham and the civil rights movement. Its central location in the center made it a natural headquarters for the mass meetings and rally for civil rights in the early 1960s, according to the church website.

“We are here today because we support the vision that Pastor Price talks about and because it really coincides with our vision,” says Leroy Abrahams, the head of community’s commitment for regions. “When we think about what we want to achieve in the community, we want to invest in community development, economic development. We want to invest in education. We want to invest in financial literacy. Two of these priorities will be covered by the center. “

The center for visitors and education must be built exactly west of the church building and the shelter of what is currently parking. Designed with visitors to the mind, a multifunctional center with an area of ​​13,000 square meters will not only improve the capacity of the church to accommodate large groups and include a place for meetings and events, commercial kitchen, cafe and gift shop.

“The breakthrough rooms and the meeting rooms will serve as a place where these different conferences can accommodate and still be in the area without having to stop the operations in the church,” Price said.

As the center of contemporary civil rights struggle, Price said: “The building will be for those who strive to know about the history of civil rights, scientists who are about the history of civil rights, those who have served the history of civil rights – These curious and engaged. ” he said.

The goal, he continued, was to “make sure that people understand the rich history of Birmingham, Alabama, the Baptist Church on the sixteenth street and the civil rights area,” which covers six blocks and several sights.

These sights include the church in which students participated in the 1963 Birmingham campaign and its Children’s Crusade; Kelly Ingram Park, where many protests were carried out; Business Quarter of Fourth Avenue, home to many black companies and entertainment places in the city; and the Carver Theater, which houses the Jazz Hall of Fame in Alabama.

“We are thinking about the history of Birmingham and how this area, the civil rights area is an attraction for tourism,” Abrahams said. “This can be a center for economic development in our city, which not only brings educational opportunities, but also helps to develop business for the whole community.”