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The Foundation
Sloss Furnaces holds a very special place in the hearts and minds of the people of Birmingham. The original blast furnaces constructed by James Withers Sloss in the early 1880's served to propel the fledgling city of Birmingham into the pre-eminent industrial center of the South. For this reason Sloss Furnaces is a rich source of local pride and an invaluable part of our collective identity. But the Sloss Furnaces story doesn't end there. We are now looking to the future with plans to preserve Sloss Furnaces and expand on it's base as a cultural icon. You'll find these plans are big and bold, much like the towering smokestacks and enormous furnaces that made Sloss the stuff of legend.

The Foundation

Preserving the Past

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Preserving the Past

Why does Sloss engender such strong feelings of support? And equally strong feelings among a few that it should be torn down? crane.jpg

Precisely because it is a huge artifactual reminder of our history over the past 120 years. Every major social upheaval in Birmingham was recorded in the workplace. As a very visible reminder of that history, Sloss evokes the emotions of these events. Whether those events included the celebration of the birth of a city i.e. the casting of the statue of Vulcan from Sloss Iron for the World’s Fair in 1904, or the upheavals of the Civil Rights movement in the 1960’s Sloss was there and so were its employees. And it is in its work force that Sloss meets its most important historical resource.

  1. It is the employees who built and operated Sloss and 52 other furnaces in the Birmingham District that built this City.
  2. It is people who moved from the rural countryside that operated the foundries, operated the furnaces, mined the coal and worked in the cast iron pipe companies that provided the human raw material from which the City of Birmingham was built and have a sweat equity ownership of this city.
  3. It is the stories of these people, told on the site on which they labored – told in their own words - that make Sloss a uniquely qualified place to tell the story of Birmingham.
 

The Future of Sloss

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site_plan2.jpgThe Future of Sloss
The blast furnaces that once produced iron in times past are now producing quite different and exciting benefits for the City of Birmingham. Sloss Furnaces, a National Historic Landmark and the only such entity of its kind in the world, is undertaking a renovation to improve educational resources, stabilize on-site historic structures, and construct both a Visitor Center and Exhibit Gallery. There are also plans for a new amphitheater with improved parking and other amenities that will attract new audiences.

The master site plan is being developed by HKW, a local architectural firm. HKW will begin work on the conceptual design for the new building in November.

Even the biggest of plans needs a little help. If you’d like to play your part in forging the future at Sloss Furnaces contact:

Dr. Robert Rathburn, Executive Director

Telephone: (205) 324-1911
E mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Ask about making a donation to the Sloss Furnaces Preservation Fund.
   

Membership

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Our Goal

Our goal is to raise $15,000,000 through a mixture of private and public funds. Sloss aims to raise $5,000,000 from private contributions, $5,000,000 from the City of Birmingham, and $5,000,000 from the Federal Government and National Foundations.

The money will be used for educational programming, site development and preservation.

To become a member of the Sloss Furnaces Foundation, please call Joy Hullett, Sloss Furnaces Development Officer at 205.324.191 or click here to join.

Donor Levels

Stove Tender: $35
  • Complimentary Free Gift
  • 10% discount on Museum Shop Purchases
  • Discounted admission on Sloss Furnaces events
  • Free Parking to Special Events
  • e-newsletter

Future Furnace Keeper (Kids Club, Ages 4-12): $50

  • Sloss Souvenir Bag
  • Free Admission to several events throughout the year

Millwright: $60

  • Complimentary Free Gift
  • Free Admission
  • 20% discount on Museum Shop Purchases
  • Discounted admission on Sloss Furnaces events
  • Free Parking to Special Events
  • e-newsletter


Pattern Maker: $150

  • Complimentary Free Gift
  • Free Admission
  • 10% discount on Museum Shop Purchases
  • Discounted admission on Sloss Furnaces Events
  • Free Parking to Special Events
  • e-newsletter
  • 2 Free Weekend Passes to the Stokin' The Fire BBQ & Music Festival


Family Quarters: $175

  • Complimentary Free Gift
  • Free Admission
  • 10% discount on Museum Shop Purchases
  • Discounted Admission on Sloss Furnaces events
  • Free Parking to Special Events
  • e-newsletter
  • 2 Free weekend passes to Stokin' The Fire BBQ & Music Festival
  • 2 Complimentary memberships in Future Furnaces Keepers Kids Club
  • $25 discounted rate for each additional Kids Club membership
   

Board of Directors

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Officers:
President: Robin Wade President, Wade Sand & Gravel

Vice President: Mike Keel Senior Vice President, McWane Inc.

Secretary: Gary Grooms Area Manager, Alabama Power Company

Treasurer: Steven Reider Principal, Bancography


Cathy Adams
Editor, Portico Magazine

Mike Buckentin
Vice President, CMC Steel Alabama

Monte Burnham
Vice President, US Pipe & Foundry Company

Scotty Colson*
Administrative Assistant to the City of Birmingham Mayor

Barry Copeland
Executive Vice President, Chamber of Commerce

Charles DeBardeleben
Executive Vice President, Steward Machine Company

Albert Folcher
President, SCA Planning and Construction

Dr. Jay Goldman
Professor, UAB

Wyndall A. Ivey
Shareholder, Maynard Cooper Gale

Doug Jackson
Director Community Affairs, Regions Bank

Alan Lott
Senior Vice President, Aliant Bank

Philip McWane
Chairman, McWane Inc.

Jim Park
Vice President, New South Federal Savings Bank

Maxine Parker*
Coucilwoman, City of Birmingham

Bob Rathburn
Executive Director, Sloss Furnaces NHL

James Richardson
Wachovia

Gene Robinson
Integrated Medical Systems

A. Page 'Pete' Sloss
Chairman, Sloss Real Estate

Michele Jenkins Utomi
Chief Executive Officer, Housing Enterprise of Central Alabama

Brandon Wilson
President, The Wilborn Institute

* Landmark Board only

   

Volunteer

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Volunteer at Sloss Furnaces!

Sloss needs outgoing, energetic people  for a variety of volunteer opportunities.

For those eager to learn and enjoy interacting with the public, we need folks to help conduct guided tours for a wide variety of groups including classroom field trip groups and a multitude of adult groups.

For those who aren't able to dedicate time to being trained as a tour guide, we are also always looking for individuals to help out at our many special events. As you know Sloss is the host to a large number of events throughout the year, we can always use a helping hand for lots of different tasks involved with these events.

Ultimately, the preservation and restoration of Sloss is the most important aspect of our National Historic Landmark and we need you to help us maintain the site. For those who wouldn't mind giving up a few hours on a weekend to come out and help us clean up areas of the site, give us a call! We sure could use the extra hands!

For more details on the kind of volunteer opportunities at Sloss, please give us a call. We'd love to chat with you.

Please call or email us at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or 205.324.1911

Please note that all prospective volunteers will have an interview, docent training and a background check.