Birmingham-Southern College President Daniel Coleman, asking for $5 million in city loans for the private liberal arts college to stay open, told a City Council committee it’s “better likely than not” that the college will open for the fall if the city provides the loans.
“It’s really important to our future to get this funding and to continue working on private funding,” Coleman said.
Coleman appeared before a committee of the Birmingham City Council on Tuesday afternoon, where Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin presented the plan for two $2.5 million loans from the city to the college from the city’s $289 million general reserve fund.
The first loan would be forgiven if Birmingham-Southern College reopens with classes in the fall. The second loan would be repayable over 20 years, secured by the campus property, which would make the city a lienholder on a second mortgage if the college closes.
Council member Crystal Smitherman asked Coleman whether if the city gave the loans, the college would definitely reopen in the fall.
“I think it’s better likely than not,” Coleman said. “This is the big question we’re working on. We want to make sure the city’s protected in case we didn’t. This allows us to get through June, for sure. That gives us time to address these issues.”
The city had previously pledged $5 million contingent on the state loaning the college $30 million, but State Treasurer Young Boozer denied the college’s loan request.
“I really wanted the state to take some action first,” said Council member Clinton Woods.
“We’re hopeful that the state will reconsider,” Coleman said.
Woodfin presented the loan plan as a necessary step to keep the college open and anchor the city’s planned economic development of west Birmingham. He noted that BSC has about 700 students and 292 employees.
“I think there’s a question: Why help Birmingham-Southern?” Woodfin said.
Woodfin called Birmingham-Southern College an anchor institution for the Bush Hills and College Hills neighborhoods, and said the Arkadelphia exit on Interstate 20/59 is the gateway to those neighborhoods and Smithfield, where the city is planning invest with a $50 million federal grant.
If Birmingham-Southern College closes, it would undermine the city’s efforts to develop west Birmingham, Woodfin said. “It could strike a blow to everything we’re trying to do west of I-65,” he said.
If the BSC campus closed, it would be a catastrophe similar to the closing of the former Carraway Methodist Medical Center in Norwood. That property fell into disrepair and became a blight for decades before the city found a developer to help revitalize the area.
“If you need further evidence of what happens when an anchor institution closed, look no further than Carraway Hospital,” Woodfin said.
“I know some (city residents) may give you pushback,” Woodfin told the City Council. “But ask the residents of College Hills and ask the residents of Bush Hills how they would feel if this anchor institution closed within their neighborhoods.”
Woodfin highlighted a plan by Birmingham-Southern College to expand its graduate programs for workforce training, offering master’s degrees in data science, computer science, cybersecurity and information systems.
The new master’s programs would be gradually implemented, with the first next fall, to accommodate 1,000 graduate students over the next four years, Woodfin said.
“We can provide a lot of workforce development in the future,” Coleman said.
“Birmingham-Southern is good for Birmingham’s reputation,” said Council member Valerie Abbott, who earned a master’s degree from BSC. “I think that Birmingham-Southern is one of our great assets and we just need to hang onto it.”
The committee endorsed the plan, but the budget ordinance must still be approved in a future City Council meeting.
“This is something we should support,” Woodfin said. “I’m grateful for the council asking tough questions on this, but this is the right thing to do. This is something I stand on.”
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