For years, the Daniel Payne Legacy Village Foundation has dreamed of building a mixed-use community development near One Pratt Park. Now they’re gearing up to make it happen, according to executive director Brandon Cleveland, and they want the support of the community. Here’s what you need to know.
What is the Daniel Payne Legacy Village Foundation
Bishop Harry L. Seawright, Bishop + President of the Daniel Payne Legacy Village Foundation + the foundation’s logo
The Daniel Payne Legacy Village Foundation is the charitable foundation for the 9th District of the African Methodist Episcopal Church. Their mission is to foster community growth through education, technology, economy, and well-being throughout the state of Alabama.
It is currently housed inside the Community Plaza, located on the former site of Daniel Payne Middle School. The Foundation purchased the Birmingham City Schools property in 2014.
Their current goal is to build a mixed-use development on the former site of Daniel Payne College with strong programming that will uplift the community.
Daniel Payne, who lived from 1811 to 1893, was a major force within the African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME). A bishop in the Church for more than four decades, he was also an educator, college administrator, and author who helped found Wilberforce University in Ohio.
What is the vision for the new Daniel Payne Legacy Village development?
Rather than a traditional subdivision, the Foundation envisions a mixed-use development with rich community-oriented programming at the corner of Daniel Payne Drive and Cherry Avenue in District 9. One Pratt Park and Carver High School are both nearby .
Mixed-use development
At the moment, here is what you will find on the site:
In the future, they aim to have:
- Single-family homes
- Multi-family units
- Public institutional buildings
- Commercial buildings
Housing is a mechanism to build community in North Birmingham, which has been a community in distress. They want to provide a community where people looking to improve their socio-economic status will want to stay.
Community development with the Daniel Payne Legacy Village Foundation
In a first phase, they would like to establish an institutional building that will allow them to continue what they are doing in the community:
- Serving community meals every Friday at Daniel’s Pantry between 5-6pm (over 12,000 meals served in the last 16 months).
- Legacy Prep, Birmingham’s first public charter school, currently serving grades K-5.
- Distribution of grocery bags every third Saturday of the month (more than 600 bags offered).
- Additional educational programming on topics such as home buying or workforce development.
Stay up to date on all things Birmingham by following Bham Now on YouTube, Tik Tok, Facebook, Instagram, + LinkedIn.
