A pair of metro leaders are taking dueling stances on who should maintain the 31-acre City Walk linear park in downtown Birmingham.

Jefferson County Commission President Jimmie Stephens calls the space under Interstate 20/59 “a municipal park.” Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin said that it is not and that it makes no sense to him for the county not to be involved.

During Tuesday’s committee meeting of the Jefferson County Commission, a proposed event that would be at City Walk was broached. Stephens said an ongoing debate over who is responsible for paying for continued maintenance of the space should be settled before committing to the event.

“There’s been some controversy surrounding City Walk, and right now, the BJCC is handling an undue burden as far as the maintenance and upkeep of City Walk,” said Stephens, who is a member of the board of the Birmingham Jefferson Civic Center Authority. “I fully support this program, but I would want to make sure that that funding is in place to have City Walk there when this event occurs.”

The commission president said the Alabama Department of Transportation contributed to the construction of the recreational space and built it. The BJCC manages and operates City Walk, which includes areas such as a skate park, though there are funding challenges to maintain the space.

ALDOT and the BJCC are working together to find a sustainable funding model for its maintenance, which currently costs more than $1.4 million annually. Under that agreement, the BJCC’s expenses were reimbursed by ALDOT, which capped its contribution at an amount that has been reached.

The commission president said he’s taken the position that the county has no involvement at all in City Walk.

“It’s a city of Birmingham park that is on state of Alabama right-of-way,” he said. “The position that I’ve had is we don’t have any responsibility for that. Now, if the commission thinks differently, I’ll be happy to revisit it.”

Contacted by BirminghamWatch, Woodfin, also a member of the BJCC board, took a different position.

“City Walk is state property,” he said. “It has a management agreement with BJCC. The city is willing to support this because it is an asset for the BJCC, the city and the county.

“If the city, BJCC and the private sector can partner to support it, it makes no sense for the county to not be involved,” Woodfin continued. “It’s simply shameful.”

Jon Paepcke, communications coordinator for ALDOT, declined to comment beyond the following statement: “ALDOT is in continuous communications with the BJCC and other stakeholders to develop strategies to ensure that City Walk BHAM will remain the viable community gem it is.”