2026

2026 is the 155th year after the founding of the City of Birmingham.

Events

• January 1: UAB Health System acquired Southview Medical Group.
• January 13: Saks Global Holdings of New York City filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization.
• January 16: 2026 Birmingham train collision
• February 8: The Free Alabama Movement began a coordinated inmate work strike at Alabama Department of Corrections facilities.
• March 4: The sale of the former Birmingham-Southern College campus to the U.S. Coast Guard for a training center was announced.
• March 5: The vacant building formerly housing The Quest nightclub was damaged by fire.
• April 1: A FIFA Arena was dedicated outside the Powell Steam Plant ahead of the 2026 World Cup.
• April 8: Jefferson County Sheriff's Office cleared out an encampment under U.S. Highway 280 near Brookwood Village.
• April 29–May 2: Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority regional conference at the BJCC.
• May 16: The Birmingham Folk Festival was held at Avondale Park.
• May 30–31: Iron City Comic Con at the BJCC.
• May 31: The Alabaster YMCA closed.
• June 24–26: Sloss Tech
• The Karl C. Harrison Museum of George Washington reopened in Independence Hall at American Village.
• September 11–12: The Foothills Festival was held in Jasper.
• October 17: 2026 Yonder Walls Mural Festival in the Parkside District.

Business

• First Fidelity Bank of Ft Payne merged into First Bank of Alabama of Talladega.
• Milo's Tea Company closed its original manufacturing plant at 36 Barber Court.
• Digital Motion Event Services merged with NiBuild LLC.
• March: Royal Cup Coffee announced plans to acquire Farmer Brothers Coffee Co. of Fort Worth, Texas.
• March: RFG Advisory acquired RVA Wealth Management of Richmond, Virginia.
• April: The Regional Medical Center of Anniston was acquired by Orlando Health of Orlando, Florida.
• April: The Bowlero Riverview bowling center rebranded as Lucky Strike Birmingham.
• May: Sharp Realty and Management sold West Hills Plaza to America's Realty LLC of Owings Mills, Maryland.

Establishments

• Warrior Met Coal's Blue Creek Mine went into production.
• January: Chase Bank Mountain Brook branch opened.
• February 9: The Village Bar & Grill opened at Heritage Towne Centre.
• February 17: Matt Coltrin opened Roll Cajun Boudin at Iron City.
• February: Josh and Tess McNeill opened McNeill Prosthetics Lab in the Beacon Ridge Tower.
• March 3: Own the Red Carpet opened on Linden Avenue.
• March: Bayt Al-Qahwah coffee house opened at Edgemont Town Center.
• March: Bandida Bowls opened at Five Points Lane.
• March: Ali Mathani opened Desi Twist at The Village at Brock's Gap.
• March: Remnant Coffee opened on Parkway Drive in Leeds.
• Spring: Vuori opened a store at The Summmit
• August: Allie Harrison Imaghodor and Jeannine Jersey Bailey opened the Serendipity Hill event venue in the former Double "LL" Bar-B-Q on Valleydale Road.
• The Theodore event venue reopened.

Disestablishments

Pihakis Restaurant Group logo

• ProAssurance was acquired by The Doctors Company of Napa California for $1.3 billion.
• January: Tamburro's Italian Home closed.
• January 8: Burton Campers was acquired by Bish's RV of Meridian, Idaho.
• January 21: Jeremiah's Italian Ice in Chelsea closed.
• January 23: UAB Medicine St Vincent’s Urgent Care in Vestavia Hills closed.
• January 24: Steele Hall Brewing in Trussville closed.
• January 31: Sol y Luna at Lane Parke closed.
• January 31: Tallulah Brewing Company in Jasper closed.
• February 1: Gro Marketing LLC was acquired by WILsquare Capital of St Louis, Missouri.
• February: Simplicity Group of Summit, New Jersey acquired LeSourd Partners insurance brokers.
• February 19: Dent Moses was acquired by Doeren Mayhew of Troy, Michigan.
• February 28: El Gezira Riding Academy in Harpersville closed.
• March: Oerlikon Balzers Coating USA closed its Pell City pulsed plasma diffusion plant and moved its physical vapor deposition operations to Murfreesboro, Tennessee.
• March: Red Clay Brewing Co. in Opelika closed.
• March: Winn-Dixie stores at Eastwood and Inverness Corners closed.
• March 27: Parkside on Fifth closed.
• March: The Beef 'O' Brady's at Brook Highland Plaza closed.
• The SalonCentric Distribution Center in McCalla closed.
• April: Serta Simmons closed its bedding manufacturing plant and distribution center in Good Hope.
• April: The Saks Fifth Avenue at The Summit closed.
• April: Birmingham Restaurant Supply Inc. was acquired by Singer Equipment Co. of Elverson, Pennsylvania.
• April 12: Tasty Town closed, along with two Hero Doughnuts locations, signaling trouble for Pihakis Restaurant Group
• April: Dobber's closed.
• April 27: Valley Post and Rodney Scott's BBQ in Trussville closed as liens against Pihakis Restaurant Group began to pile up.
• May: Safeway Environmental Services of Glencoe was acquired by Arcwood Environmental of Indianapolis, Indiana.
• May 29: Valley National Bank closed its Crestline Village branch.

Education

• May 9: Magic Johnson gave the commencement address at Stillman College.
• August: Primer Birmingham moved its K-8 program to Holy Family Cristo Rey High School

Government

• January 13–April 20: 2026 Alabama legislative session
• January 21: Hanceville Mayor Paul Campbell resigned from office.
• March 1: The City of Alabaster acquired the assets and operations of the Alabaster Water Board.
• March: The Birmingham Parking Authority laid off 33 employees as it turned over day-to-day operations to The Car Park of Boise, Idaho.
• March: Southern Company subsidiaries Alabama Power and Georgia Power were approved for up to $26.54 billion over 30 years through the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Energy Dominance Financing Program.
• March 7–8: The Birmingham Department of Transportation converted Richard Arrington Jr Boulevard South between Highland Avenue and University Boulevard into a 2-way street.
• May 4–8: The Alabama State Legislature convened for a special session to discuss abandoning the provisions of the Voting Rights Act ruled unenforceable by the U.S. Supreme Court days earlier.
• May 26: 2026 primary elections
• August 11: 2026 special primary elections for Congressional Districts 1,2,6, and 7 as they were drawn in 2023
• November 3: 2026 general election

Sports

• March 13–March 15: Spirit Varisty Double Down Championship DI/DII Nationals at the BJCC
• March 13–14: 2026 NCAA Division III Indoor Track & Field Championships at Birmingham CrossPlex
• 2026 American Athletic Conference Men's and Women's Basketball Tournaments at Legacy Arena
• April 9–12: 2026 U.S. Wheelchair Rugby Association National Championship at Lakeshore Foundation
• April 29-May 3: Regions Tradition at Greystone Golf & Country Club
• June 16–June 23: 2026 World Boccia Challenger at Lakeshore Foundation
• June 19: 2026 East-West Classic at Rickwood Field.
• August 7–9: FISE World Birmingham at City Walk
• August 29: Alabama State University Hornets vs. Southern University Jaguars at Legion Field
• October 31: 2026 Magic City Classic at Legion Field

Professional teams

• 2026 Birmingham Barons (Southern League)
• 2026 Birmingham Legion FC (USL Championship)
• 2026 Birmingham Squadron (NBA G League)
• 2026 Birmingham Stallions (UFL)

Individuals

• Ronnie Pruitt succeeded Tom Hill as CEO of Vulcan Materials.
• Turner Burton succeeded Rob Burton Jr as CEO of Hoar Construction.
• April 1: John Gobbels succeeded Mike Hallman as CEO of MedJet.
• April: Anil Chadha succeeded John Turner Jr as CEO of Regions Financial Corp.
• May: Stuart Bell was selected as president of the University of Florida.
• July 31: Graham Boettcher left the Birmingham Museum of Art to lead the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, Massachusetts.

Awards

• Miss Alabama's Teen: Grier Feldman

Retirements

• February 27: Barnett Wright resigned from The Birmingham Times
• May 1: Bill Partridge retired as chief of the Oxford Police Department

Deaths

• January 5: Tom Cherones, television director and producer
• January 17: John Giles, lobbyist
• January 23: Mike Bolton, outdoors columnist
• January 24: Jim Savage, Methodist minister
• January 25: Clinton Forge, baseball player
• February 16: George Barber Jr, founder of Barber Motorsports Park
• February 17: Nina Reeves, storyteller and camp director
• February 17: Ray Reach, jazz musician and educator
• February 26: Roscoe Robinson, soul and gospel singer
• March 13: Bobby Strickland, restaurateur
• March 16: Wayne Perkins, guitarist
• March 17: Donald Wood, curator of Asian art at the Birmingham Museum of Art
• March 20: Pastor Steve Gaines died in Memphis, Tennessee
• April 4: J. Mason Davis, attorney
• April 7: Owen Vickers, CEO of BHT ReSources
• April 15: David Dobbs, track coach at Hewitt-Trussville High School
• April 16: Ron Countryman, dancer and librarian
• April 23: Ben Russell, chair of Russell Lands
• April 30: Liz Bonis, medical reporter for "Good Day Alabama"
• May 12: Jalil, giraffe at the Birmingham Zoo
  • List of homicides in 2026

Works

Belle Collective: Birmingham

• April 10: "Belle Collective: Birmingham" debuted on OWN.

Books

The Ghosts of an Empire: The History of the Alabama Fuel and Iron Company in St. Clair County

• Austin H. Stone (2026) The Ghosts of an Empire: The History of the Alabama Fuel and Iron Company in St. Clair County. America Through Time ISBN 9781634995955
• Ashley M. Jones (2026) What The Mirror Said: The Necessity of Black Women in Poetry. University of Michigan Press ISBN 9780472040193

Buildings

• Benjamin Russell High School in Alexander City
• Chase Bank Mountain Brook branch
• Chilton County Courthouse in Clanton
• Heman Drummond Center of Innovation at Bevill Industrial Park
• East Side Park in Roebuck Springs-South Roebuck
• FIFA Arena at Powell Steam Plant
• Fifth Third Bank branch at The Bray Town Center
• The Heights at Inverness apartments
• Helena City Hall
• Independence Hall (replica) at American Village
• Irondale Civic Center
• Irondale Municipal Complex
• McWane Economic Education Center on 6th Avenue North
• Morgan Stanley building at 740 Shades Creek Parkway
• Northern Beltline (future Interstate 422) between Alabama State Highway 75 and Alabama State Highway 79
• Shelby County Road 52 improvements at Pelham Parkway
• Truckworx headquarters in Acipco-Finley
• Yeilding's Building redevelopment on 2nd Avenue North

Demolitions

F. D. McArthur School

• Brighton Elementary School
• Brookwood Village
• Burleson Building
• Cobb Lane Apartments
• Dian Apartments
• Jefferson County Medical Society building
• F. D. McArthur School
• Norwood Plaza Apartments
• Exchange Bank Building
• 18 residences in Muscoda

Context

During 2026 the United States conducted a military operation to bring Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro and his wife to face criminal prosecution in New York, and joined Israel in a bombing campaign against Iran. The U.S. Supreme Court sharply narrowed enforcement of section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. Spirit Airlines shut down, CBS Radio went off the air, and the Pabst Brewing Company ceased production of Schlitz beer.

Notable deaths in 2026 included those of activists Claudette Colvin and Jesse Jackson; actors Robert Duvall, Chuck Norris and Catherine O'Hara; cartoonist Scott Adams; FBI director Robert Mueller; media mogul Ted Turner; musicians Afrika Bambaataa, David Allan Coe, Dave Gallaher and Bob Weir; philosopher Jürgen Habermas; producer Sid Krofft, and race car driver Kyle Busch.

2020s

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