Save the Northport Park & Community Center

UPDATE 12/12/2023: The Parsons Firm, PC is honored to have assisted supporters of the Northport Park and Community Center this fall in exploring legal options related to the sale of the municipal park to a private developer.

On Monday, Dec. 11, the Northport City Council voted to rescind the developer’s due diligence period and will decline to pursue additional RFPS from other developers for the park location. In light of this decision and in consultation with the park supporters most closely involved in the legal fundraising efforts, we have decided to cease current legal actions related to the Northport Park.

We are sincerely grateful for the community’s donations toward a legal fund in support of a potential lawsuit on behalf of the park. We will be refunding all donations as soon as possible to those donors whose names we know. Those who donated to the GoFundMe organized by Sandra Barnidge will receive a refund via GoFundMe in the coming days. Those who donated via checks will be contacted separately.

We will also make every effort to return cash donations. It will take us some time to complete these refunds, and we appreciate your patience.

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The City Council in Northport, Alabama, is attempting to sell the oldest park in town to a private developer, over significant public outcry. Funds raised will go to the Parsons Firm, a local law office that is actively exploring legal actions to save the park, community center, and playground. The $100K goal is a very ambitious ideal—the lawyers are committed to taking action with whatever amount we raise, and gifts of any size are sincerely appreciated.

If the council ultimately decides against the sale and/or we end up with more money than we need, the remaining funds will help to establish a new nonprofit called Citizens for a Better Northport, which will support local greenspace initiatives, including the revitalization of the Northport Park once we save it from developers.

For more information about the proposed sale, here is an introduction, and here is the latest news. Additionally, here's a little more context about the new nonprofit.