2008
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2008 was the 137th year after the founding of the City of Birmingham.
Events
- January 1: Mayor Larry Langford's Birmingham Economic and Community Revitalization Ordinance sales tax and business license fees increase went into effect.
- January 1: The Birmingham logo was unveiled.
- January 2: The Power of God Deliverance Ministry church building was destroyed by fire.
- January 6: The rear wall of the S. J. Bennett Professional Building collapsed.
- January 11: Groundbreaking was held for Seven Springs Ecoscape.
- January 15: V... The Statue was introduced.
- January 18: 2008 State of the Region luncheon
- January 25: The Bush Hills sinkhole appeared.
- February 5: A Jefferson County Commission special election was held.
- February 16: The Hoover Crescent Islamic Center opened.
- March 14-16: OmegaCon
- March: Completion of the Pinhoti Trail connection was celebrated at Hernandez Peak in Cheaha State Park.
- May 2-3: Crawfish Boil
- May 10: 7th annual Buck Creek Festival
- May 31-June 1: Magic City Brew Fest
- June 1: Preserve Jazz Festival
- June 7: Alabaster CityFest
- June 29: 2008 Blackwater Creek plane crash
- August 26: 2008 municipal elections
- August 30: Alabama Butterbean Festival
- August 30 - 31: Southern Heritage Festival
- September 5 - 6: Artwalk
- October: Bici Cooperative was founded behind Greencup Books
- November 7 - 9: Southern disComfort 3
- The Ilovecomix online archive was founded by Steve Cottle, Jr
- Chrys Worley and John Pike founded the A.Skate Foundation
Business
- January: The former HealthSouth corporate headquarters and incomplete HealthSouth digital hospital was sold to the Daniel Corporation for $43.5 million.
- January: Nightclub The Station closed.
- January 25: Nightclub Zen opened.
- February: Book store and publisher GreencupBooks opened.
- February: The Harbert family sold Regions-Harbert Plaza.
- February 5: Responsible Media, LLC record label was founded.
- February 9: Red Mountain Market opened.
- March 29: Edgewood Creamery opened.
- April 1: CB&S Bank opened its first Birmingham-area branch.
- June 2: Moe's Original BBQ opened a second area location.
- June 22: Local Mug Shots began publishing its Birmingham-area edition.
- June 27: Nonna's restaurant closed.
- July 12: Eve's Leaves closed.
- July 16: Sol's Sandwich Shop reopened downtown after a 13-year absence.
- July 21: Seafood D'Lite opened downtown.
- July 25: Colonial Promenade Tannehill officially opened in Bessemer.
- November: ScooterCo opened on 16th Avenue South.
- November: Hawthorn Gallery closed.
- December 31: Old Car Heaven opened.
- WJLD-FM (partner to WJLD-AM) began broadcasting on low-power FM 104.1.
- The Burly Earl closed its doors.
- Rica Lewis-Payton became director and CEO of the Birmingham VA Medical Center.
- The Music-N-More chain of record stores closed.
- The Red Mountain Restaurant Group purchased La Paz from the Atlanta-based chain's owners.
- The Alabama Spay Neuter Clinic opened in Irondale.
- Greg Canfield sold his Canfield Insurance & Financial Services to Nationwide.
Sports
- 2008 Birmingham Barons
- 2008 Iron Bowl
- 2008 SEC Baseball Tournament
- 2008 BSC Panthers football
- 2008 Samford Bulldogs football
- 2008 UAB Blazers football
- May 10: The third annual Birmingham Zoo Run was held.
- December 3: Tommy Tuberville resigned as the Auburn Tigers football coach.
Individuals
- Tracey Morant Adams was appointed Director of the Mayor's Office of Economic Development for the City of Birmingham.
- Paul Bailey retired from his position as Mayor of Baileyton.
- Dale Benos was given the inaugural University of Alabama Health Services Foundation Endowed Chair in Biomedical Research.
- Basketball coach Chris Graves left Pell City High School for an assistant's job with the BSC Panthers.
- Jim McElwain became offensive coordinator for the Alabama Crimson Tide football team.
- Shelley Tyree succeeded John Lee as chief of police at the University of Montevallo.
- Mark Wilson was promoted to chief of staff of Cooper Green Mercy Hospital.
- Leadership Birmingham: Tracey Morant Adams, Stephanie Alexander, Michelle Bearman-Wolnek, Scott Berte, Mike Bivins, Kelly Bownes, Lajuana Bradford, Greg Butrus, Chuck Clark, Trey Clegg, Lisa Cooper, Steve Crocker, Malena Cunningham, Jeremy Erdreich, Bill Foster, Will French, Brian Huff, Marshell Jackson, Gloria Jemison, Norman Jetmundsen, Jr, Alicia Johnson-Reed, James Johnston, Fred Keith, Carrie Kurlander, Jim Lawrence, Donna Lawson, Shannon Lisenby, David Loper, Joseph McCarty, Steven McCord, Kathleen Murray, David Pickett, Alan Register, Katrina Ross, Nabella Shunnarah, Thomas Sisson, Dalton Smith, Bill Todd, Kennon Walthall, Jonathan Whetsell, Michael Wilson, Barbara Wisniewski, Frank Woodson
Awards
- June 8: Amanda Tapley was named Miss Alabama.
- June 30: Bill Cleveland replaced the retiring Jodi Newton as superintendent of Homewood City Schools.
- July 16: Birmingham Airport Authority approved renaming the airport for Fred Shuttlesworth.
- Bert Bank was inducted into the Alabama Military Hall of Honor
- Bert Bank was inducted into the Alabama Broadcasters Association Hall of Fame
- Dicky Barlow became assistant superintendent of Mountain Brook Schools.
- Vic Wilson replaced Dicky Barlow as principal of Mountain Brook High School.
- Kevin Maddox replaced Vic Wilson as principal of Homewood High School.
- Martin Nalls replaced Kevin Maddox as principal of Homewood Middle School.
- Ben Hudson replaced the retiring Garry Rickard as principal of Mountain Brook Junior High School.
- Don Hulin was hired as principal of Hoover High School.
- Lawrence Conaway graduated from the Birmingham Theological Seminary.
Births
- July 28: Willow at the Birmingham Zoo
Deaths
- January 4: Tom Jernigan, founder and CEO of the Marathon Corporation
- January 4: Doc Soul Stirrer, entertainer and newspaper columnist
- January 6: Geoff Stone, police officer
- January 8: Ace Trammell, labor activist
- January 11: Stead Baxendale, real estate broker
- January 13: Bik Lonnie, music and video producer
- January 19: Bronner Burgess, son of Rick Burgess
- January 20: Clarence Marble, basketball coach
- February 4: Glynn West, business manager
- February 15: Morris Mayer, marketing professor
- February 16: Lee McGriff, insurance executive and former Mayor of Mountain Brook
- February 16: Reverend James Orange
- February 22: Don Cornutt, educator and musician
- February 27: Bishop Ruby Kile
- March 4: Jack Voorhies, voice actor and announcer
- March 10: Dennis Irwin, jazz musician
- March 15: Henry Aizenman, Holocaust survivor
- March 15: Sam Pointer, Jr, retired federal judge
- March 22: Joe Joseph, developer
- March 25: Victor Ellis, newspaper editor
- March 28: Anne Woodward, age 99
- March 31: Alfonzo Scales, minister and local SCLC leader
- April 7: Bobby Hoppe, former Auburn football player
- April 10: Helen Davis, the first female Architect licensed in Alabama
- April 11: Babec, Birmingham Zoo gorilla
- April 12: Joseph Campbell, former Birmingham News editor
- April 15: Charlie Blair, former Birmingham Post-Herald editor
- April 15: Billy Martin, advertising executive
- April 20: Charles Todel, longtime minister in Gate City
- May 3: C. Paul Perry, physician
- May 13: Randy Mixon, Birmingham Fire and Rescue Service Captain
- May 13: Al O'Brien, painter
- May 13: "Big Hearted Eddie" Perry, used car dealer
- May 14: Brandee Skinner
- May 14: Ben Saxon
- May 27: Willie Scoggins, high school basketball coach
- June 2: Mary Anne Blake
- June 24: Chuck Dryden, World War II pilot and Tuskegee airman
- June 27: Clarke Stallworth, newspaper editor and reporter
- July 1: Kenneth Daniel, CEO of ACIPCO
- July 7: Chick Allen, Hueytown High School choir director
- July 31: Alice Chalifoux, harpist
- August 2: John Mark Stallings, son of Alabama head coach Gene Stallings
- August 7: Simpson Pepper, sports announcer
- August 11: Bert Langerwerf, lizard breeder
- August 14: Jackie McDougal, Bessemer municipal judge
- August 14: Lou Zaden, proprietor of Lou's Pub and Package Store
- August 18: Thomas Hearn, former president of Wake Forest University
- August 22: Jason Dean, Bessemer City Councilor
- August 26: Charles Alford, UAB doctor
- August 28: Jack Bulow, director of the Birmingham Public Library
- Late August: Jeffrey Ronilo, bookkeeper for Bessemer Public Library
- September 7: David Stiles, former principal of Mountain Brook High School
- September 8: "Cousin Cliff" Holman, children's television personality
- September 15: Brooksie Lovvorn, Center Point dry cleaner
- September 15: George James, long-time football coach for Alabama State University
- September 16: Warren Slater and his wife, Angie Felton
- September 26: Barbara Shook, philanthropist
- October 4: Al Gallodoro, saxophonist
- October 21: Tom Caldwell, pediatrician
- November 7: Abraham Woods, Jr, minister and civil rights activist
- November 15: William Bowron, former CEO of Red Diamond
- November 20: Mary Ross Strudwick, artist
- November 25: Thomas Brigham, dentist and ski resort developer
- December 2: Odetta, folk singer
- December 19: James Bevel, Civil Rights activist
Works
- April 8: "Stough Cross", sculpture by Cordray Parker at Carpenter House
- April 13: Seven Springs Ecoscape
- April 29: Blaze statue, a brightly-colored concrete mascot for UAB
- July 12: Linear Motion, a kinetic sculpture at the McWane Science Center
- August 29: Banksy graffiti, a controversial stencil painting in Ensley
Buildings
- January: Heritage Hall at UAB and an addition to Covenant Presbyterian Church in Homewood
- January: The Birmingham Social Security Administration Center opened.
- February: The Hoover Crescent Islamic Center in the former Point of Grace Church and the Rick & Bubba Broadcast Plaza and Teleport at the Vestavia Hills City Center
- April: Brewer Plaza at Samford University and the rebuilt Pleasant Sabine Baptist Church in Bibb County
- Serra Honda in Ensley
- May: Aldi on Gene Reed Road in Roebuck
- June: 2600 Highland Avenue and 700 A Condominium, as well as a new Calera High School
- July: Alabama National Cemetery
- July 25: Colonial Promenade Tannehill
- August: Ridgecrest Baptist Church, Trussville warehouse conversion
- October: Hewitt-Trussville High School
- October 9: Center Point Fire Station No. 5
- October 13: Trussville Civic Center
- November 18: Bass Pro Shops at Grand River in Leeds
- December 13: The G. H. Stevenson residence, home of Glenn Shadix, was destroyed by fire.
- Birchall at Ross Bridge
- Buck Creek Greenway
- Hoover Fire Station No. 9
- John Hudson residence
- True Love Church
- Washington K-8 School
- Slossfield Community Center was added to the National Register of Historic Places.
- Holy Family Hospital was added to the Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage.
Books
- Birmingham, 35 Miles, a novel by James Braziel
- Who's Who in Black Birmingham recognizing African-American leaders
See Also
| 2000s |
| << 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 >> |
| Births - Deaths - Establishments - Events - Works |