Village Living neighborly news & entertainment for Mountain Brook
Volume 6 | Issue 10 | January 2016
BUILDING A LEGACY
HARD WORK PAYS OFF FOR MOUNTAIN BROOK’S MILLER GORRIE By ANA GOOD
I
f you ask Miller Gorrie to tell you about his life, you’ll quickly realize you need to be a bit more specific. “I can give you a book on it,” he said as he stood up from the round table in his Birmingham office to retrieve not one, but two books that have been written about him. “Oh,” he said with books in hand and a smile on his face, “you probably won’t have time to read all that. What do you want to know?” Gorrie, founder and current chairman of the multibillion dollar Brasfield & Gorrie construction firm, opened up about his beginnings in construction on the heels of his firm’s 50th anniversary and right as the Mountain Brook Chamber of Commerce gears up to present him with the Jemison Visionary Award this month. Looking back, Gorrie said, his interest in building began out on a family farm in Trussville when he was just 14 years old. “My dad decided he wanted to build a cabin,” said Gorrie, staring out his office’s floor-to-ceiling windows and across the Birmingham skyline. And so, for nearly two years, Gorrie and his father would drive the 11 miles to Black Jack Farms and build late into the day. Though neither he nor his father had any real
See GORRIE | page A20
INSIDE Sponsors ........................................A4 City ...................................................A6 Business ........................................ A10 Community ....................................A12 Faith ................................................A16 School House ................................B10 Sports .............................................B13 Calendar .........................................B14
When he was 28 years old, Miller Gorrie decided to start his own construction firm. Brasfield & Gorrie has since become one of the biggest national names in the business. Photo by Frank Couch.
Amazing Grace
YEAR IN PREVIEW
A mother is inspired to raise money for research after her daughter got cancer.
See page B4
Face of Spartan Spirit
Pre-Sort Standard U.S. Postage PAID Memphis, TN Permit #830
facebook.com/ villageliving
Mountain Brook junior employs professional mentality when donning school mascot.
See page B8
Lane Parke’s Phase I tenants to receive spaces in April By ANA GOOD Lane Parke’s first group of retail and restaurant tenants is scheduled to receive its new spaces in April. Though the buildings will be little more than bare bones, it will be a big step toward opening the spaces to the public, said Todd Becker of Retail Specialists. Construction on the site’s Phase I began following a Sept. 10 groundbreaking ceremony. Becker, a restaurant specialist, said construction is currently on track for the spring delivery. From there, the tenants will work on customizing the inside of the spaces. Depending on the workload, he said, the first tenants could open their doors by summer 2016.
Among those scheduled to fill the 66,640 square-foot space are newcomers — some to the state — CharBar No. 7, Kinnucan’s Specialty Outfitters, The Local Taco, Revelator Coffee and YEAH! Burger. Already-existing Mountain Brook retailers — A’Mano, M&S Interiors and Western Supermarket — are also scheduled to receive their new spaces and begin the move. Becker said that although Retail Specialists is not quite ready to release the names of other tenants, the public can expect another food and beverage establishment as well as two “unique fashion tenants,” one for men, one for women. Once Phase I is complete, Western will
See LANE PARKE | page A21
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