Sloss Furnaces is planning massive changes — Here’s what we know

Significant additions are being forged for the future of Sloss Furnaces, one of Birmingham’s beloved National Historic Landmarks, and these changes could mean a big boost for the city’s tourism.

The brainstorming process started a few years ago, Sloss Executive Director David Arias said, but there had been ambitious plans for Sloss’s future that date back to when it became a park in 1981. 

“What we were ultimately trying to do was figure out exactly how Sloss Furnaces was going to engage with the community.”

David Arias

After working with design firms since January 2025, Sloss now has a detailed plan of improvements and changes they aspire to complete in the next few years — as well as an estimated price tag of $12 million. 

Making Sloss a park

The framework includes plans for Sloss to go beyond just a landmark and become a park. 

“We have always seen that Sloss Furnaces could become the eastern bookend of Railroad Park. We’re only about a mile and a half away, connected through the trail system. 

“There really hasn’t been that kind of connection because we haven’t been a park. We’ve been a place to learn about the history of Sloss Furnaces and the history of Birmingham.”

David Arias

Arias said a barrier to Sloss being a place where the community can thrive is their tight hours — 10AM to 4PM, Tuesday through Saturday. 

“Not much of a park opportunity there if you’re looking for something to do with your family on a Sunday afternoon, for example.”

Sloss boasts an impressive 32 acres, much of which is open space that Arias said leadership doesn’t want to lose. 

Currently, Sloss has around 75,000 visitors per year for events, and five or six of those events attract at least 5,000 visitors each. 

“There’s a lot that goes on here, and the field needs to be sure to have the flexibility to be able to continue hosting events like that. So we didn’t want to put up a bunch of structures that would prohibit big stages being put up…

“We really wanted to make sure that we didn’t lose the openness of the space.”

Conceptualizing how people engage with Sloss

The intention of this project is “changing the flow of how people engage with Sloss,” Arias said. 

That includes concepts for many smaller projects, which include:

• Changing the main entrance to where 2nd Avenue North connects to 32nd Street
• Dividing the main road to allow one side for vehicles and another for pedestrians
• Establishing a 1K trail, allowing races to easily take place without shutting down city roads
• Adding a play area for young kids and “a bigger play area for big kids and adults”
• Creating a 65-by-90-foot maze in the footprint of the old water reservoir
• Building a walking trail that will go through the spray pond
• Bringing pedal cars to a half-mile-long pathway
• Installing an outdoor elevator to take visitors to a platform at the top of the furnace

Their plans, Arias said, are more of a framework as they raise funds and decide what should have the most priority. 

“We call this a framework rather than a plan for every single thing we’ve described. In other words, there isn’t a design for the pedal cars or the pathway through the spray pond.

“We know exactly what we want to do, so we’ll be building each of those out as we go.”

At the end of the day, however, Sloss leadership does not want their plans to interfere with the historic landmark aspect. There are also plans to enclose that area in order to protect and preserve it even when it is operating as a park. 

“We want to make sure people remain safe and the site remains safe while still keeping the park open long hours.”

When will all this happen?

Before anything else can happen, Arias said, they need to raise a whopping $12 million based on their framework. 

Their capital campaign will begin in 2026, and their ambitious goal is to secure all the funding by the end of the year. 

In the meantime, keep an eye out for other projects in the works, such as the 1st Avenue viaduct getting some shiny, new, color-changing LED light across the entire length of the bridge. 

Which of these projects are you most excited about? Let us know by tagging us @bhamnow on Facebook and Instagram.