Etched in the city

More than 400 Mountain Brook residents, past and present, now have a new residence in Crestline. 

Their names are etched into bricks in the Spartan Square courtyard in front of the new Municipal Complex, but their position is not exclusive.

A new round of brick sales will begin this month, according to Hannon Davidson of the Mountain Brook Chamber of Commerce. 

“We have gotten a great response so far,” Davidson said. “They are proud to have their family member out there, and other people are wanting to be included in the second phase.”

Up to 1,000 more bricks can be ordered to be engraved and dedicated to current or past Mountain Brook residents. The new bricks will fill in open spaces in the courtyard that will surround a 16-foot-wide brick-encased fountain with a 7-foot geyser. 

The fountain should be installed later this year, according to complex architect Nimrod Long of Nimrod Long Associates, and will be named after Carl Wittichen, longtime trustee of the Linn-Henley Charitable Trust. 

The foundation donated $250,000 to build the fountain, said City Council member Amy Carter. One of Wittichen’s favorite poems, “If” by Rudyard Kipling, will be printed on a plaque next to the fountain.

But the bricks’ place in the community doesn’t stop in the courtyard. 

All funds raised from each $100 brick will go to future Leadership Mountain Brook projects and to Spartans Helping Spartans tornado relief in Pleasant Grove, just as the first phase did.

As a result of the first set of sales, the City of Mountain Brook presented Pleasant Grove Mayor Jerry Brasseale with a check for $14,000 at the Municipal Complex Open House in August. Other funds have been set aside for future Leadership Mountain Brook projects, which this past year included installing recycling bins in the villages and creating a mobile site for the Chamber of Commerce. 

The brick project started as a way for the first Leadership Mountain Brook class to fund their proposed city projects, but after April 27, 2011, the class decided to donate some of the proceeds to tornado relief efforts as a part of Mountain Brook’s Spartans Helping Spartans focus on helping Pleasant Grove.

To purchase a brick, visit welcometomountainbrook.com, complete the order form, and mail it to the Chamber with a check. Students in this year’s Leadership Mountain Brook class will also be selling the bricks.