A nature park grows in Tarrant

Birmingham Alabama

In the vicinity of ABC Coke in Tarrant, Alabama, is an oasis, a nature park, that stands out amidst a downtown area working hard to make a comeback.

Bham Now visited this weekend the Tarrant Nature Park (Ecoscape) in downtown Tarrant.

Tarrant 1 A nature park grows in Tarrant

About to bloom for Spring, the Nature Park is both an educational resource and a place for quiet reflection.

Located at 1113 Ford Avenue in downtown Tarrant, the park covers  half a city block with native and medicinal plants and different species of trees, not normally seen in a downtown area.  Designed for passive recreation and use as an outdoor classroom, the Nature Park’s bioswales also mitigate stormwater runoff from adjacent parking lots.

Birmingham Alabama

The ornamental fence by Fonde Taylor, which reflects the city’s industrial heritage, provides a place for climbing roses.

Tarrant 2 A nature park grows in Tarrant
Fonde Taylor’s ornamental fence

If you are in the area, give the Tarrant Nature Park, a visit.  It is a good example how a vacant lot can be turned into something special for the community – a place to see, breathe, touch and feel a little bit of our earth.

 

Pat Byington
Pat Byington

Longtime conservationist. Former Executive Director at the Alabama Environmental Council and Wild South. Publisher of the Bama Environmental News for more than 18 years. Career highlights include playing an active role in the creation of Alabama's Forever Wild program, Little River Canyon National Preserve, Dugger Mountain Wilderness, preservation of special places throughout the East through the Wilderness Society and the strengthening (making more stringent) the state of Alabama's cancer risk and mercury standards.

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