The mood was somber in the auditorium at A.H. Parker High School Monday night as neighbors of Birmingham-Southern College expressed their concern about the announced closing of the liberal arts college as of May 31.

State Rep. Juandalynn Givan, D-Birmingham, hosted a town hall to field questions about the school. Of particular concern was what will happen to the 192-acre campus. More than one compared BSC to the old Carraway Hospital property, which deteriorated for years north of downtown.

“I would certainly hate to see the same thing happen to this neighborhood,” said Smithfield’s Minnie Kennedy. “I am encouraged from what I have heard tonight. Out of these schools and businesses, I really feel in my heart that something good is gonna happen and the neighborhood won’t be left with that big hole. That would be terrible for the neighborhood.”

Some in the Parker High auditorium wondered whether the value of their  property would plunge because of the closing. Maria Knight, chair of the Jefferson County Board of Equalization, said it’s too soon to know.

“All of our values are based on sales activity that has already occurred,” Knight said. “We can’t project what might happen in relation to sales. I’m not really sure what that closing would do to what homeowners are willing to pay. We would have to wait to see if that affected sales that were occurring.”

Samuetta Drew, who said she has her left foot in College Hills and her right foot in Smithfield, said the thought of Birmingham-Southern closing is very difficult for her. She feared that “urban miners” may swoop in and get things from the campus.

“It takes no time for the urban miners is to come in and strip those facilities,” she said. “The real estate may go for this cost, but the buyer has to spend so much money refurbishing what has been taken. That’s a concern. When you talk about securing the property, you’re talking about almost 200 acres. That’s a lot.”

Drew fears that homeless persons will make their way to the Hilltop and take shelter in campus dorms. She also asked if lights – which “are very important for security at night” – will stay on.

“What happens to us? What happens to the community? Will everybody suffer when the lights have gone out?” she asked. “The property is not gonna look like it does today. Somebody has to cut the grass. Somebody has to maintain the buildings and somebody has to secure the facility. That’s a lot. If there’s not a plan in place, there needs to be an immediate plan put in place to address all that.”

State Rep. Patrick Sellers, D-Pleasant Grove, said he hopes the Jefferson County legislative delegation, city leadership and county leadership come together for an aggressive recruitment campaign to find another entity to be on the campus.

“We need to be on the same page to make sure that campus is repurposed for whatever it is,” Sellers said. “Whether it is another (institution of) higher education, or whether it’s a movie studio – did ya’ll catch that? – or whatever it can be repurposed for.”

Toni Griffin, a who earned an undergraduate degree from BSC in 1997 and a master’s in 2007, said a task force should be formed to encourage some entity to take over the campus.

“People in other states don’t understand the implication that this is going to have on us,” she said.

Donna Kirkland of College Hills suggested that a gated community might be developed on the campus. Tremain McIntosh, vice president of the Wylam Neighborhood, wondered if the property might be subdivided and sold in smaller chunks.

Darrell O’Quinn, president of the Birmingham City Council, said that isn’t a good idea, that the property is more valuable as a whole.

“I don’t believe that Birmingham-Southern will turn into a Caraway

Hospital,” Givan said. “That land is too rich. What I do know for sure is that Birmingham-Southern takes up almost half of the Bush Hills community. This is a neighborhood within itself. I certainly could not imagine the city of Birmingham would allow an entire neighborhood to just crumble and fall.”

A resident asked if it was “carved in stone” that Birmingham-Southern will close May 31.

“I believe in a Hail Mary,” Givan said, acknowledging that the legislative session was to resume Tuesday. “I don’t know what’s going to happen with my colleagues. But I will tell you this: In order for it to (stay open), there’s going to have to be a conversation, A, with the Jefferson County delegation. You’re going to have to pull the Black Caucus in. You’re going to definitely have to have a strong showing to the Republican Caucus in the House of Representatives. If any of those fall apart, because the votes are so close. I don’t see it staying open.”