Village Living Volume 6 | Issue 3 | June 2015
Remembering Alex
neighborly news & entertainment for Mountain Brook
Lane Parke: Generation next
Read more about the founding of Alabama Forever and the legacy Alex Sokol has left in Mountain Brook.
Features page B1
Where’s Mocha?
John and Rele Evans are continuing the legacy of their grandfather and father, who first developed the Lane Parke property more than 60 years ago. Construction is scheduled to begin on the development’s new retail phase in June. Photo by Keith McCoy.
By MADOLINE MARKHAM
Many have been searching for a dog named Mocha since she disappeared from Crestline. Find details inside.
The completed Lane Parke development has been years in the making. Talk of redevelopment started in the 1990s, the city approved its master plan in 2012, and construction began on the new apartments in 2013.
A slate of eight new restaurants and retailers coming to the development’s first retail phase was released May 1 following years of anticipation. A groundbreaking will be held for the retail phase in June. Evson Inc.’s John Evans said they could have developed a tenant list sooner but they
wanted to take the time necessary to focus on attracting unique boutique retailers. “It has been a marathon, but we can see the finish line now,” he said. For Evans’ family, ties to development
See LANE PARKE | page A22
Features page A17
INSIDE Sponsors ........A4 City ..................A6 Business .........A12 Community ....A14
School House...B5 Sports ...............B8 Faith .................B13 Calendar ........ B14
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Hitting the road Greg Echols, Mountain Brook’s legendary track, cross-country coach, wraps up career
By DAVID KNOX Greg Echols will probably wake up every morning and slip on a green Spartans shirt. It’s more than habit. It’s been a way of life. The retiring track and cross-country coach arrived in the Mountain Brook system not as a coach, but as a second-grader. His parents both taught in the system, and his grandmother taught at Crestline when it was a two-room schoolhouse — 94 years ago. After graduating from MBHS and then the University of South Alabama, he returned as a teacher and coach at Brookwood Forest Elementary. He progressed to the junior high and then the high school and just completed 38 years of coaching track and crosscountry this season, his 22nd year at the high school.
See ECHOLS | page A21
Greg Echols has coached at Mountain Brook schools for 38 years. He retired in May. Photo by Keith McCoy.