An excavator was spotted moving rubble at the former Carraway Methodist Medical Center campus the week of Nov. 2, clearing more of the hospital that has stood among ruins in Birmingham's Norwood neighborhood for the last two years. The machinery marks fresh movement on a demolition project that has dragged on for years, even as the developer behind the site's planned $340 million-plus overhaul insists the finish line is close.
Teardown Inches Toward Star at Uptown
The teardown is laying the groundwork for The Star at Uptown, a mixed-use redevelopment from developer Corporate Realty that is expected to bring office, retail, entertainment, hotel and residential space to the long-vacant campus, according to AL.com. Corporate Realty's chief development officer, Brian Wolfe, has said building out the full 45-acre site will take roughly five to seven years once demolition wraps, the outlet reports. In January, the developer announced plans to turn Carraway's old emergency room into an indoor entertainment venue, with construction originally penciled in for that summer.
How big the site actually is depends on which report you read: AL.com and ABC 33/40 have both described it as 45 acres, an earlier 2022 AL.com report put it at 50 acres, and Bham Now has pegged the campus at 52 acres. The dossier does not resolve which figure is correct, and none of the accounts explain the discrepancy.
A Timeline With Conflicting Starting Points
Accounts of when demolition actually began also diverge. AL.com reports that demolition began in July 2022 and has faced many delays since. A separate report from WBRC describes demolition as having started in early 2026, with an original completion target of this past May that had slipped to October by the time of that report. Whatever the precise start date, the city has poured money into finishing the job: Birmingham City Council approved $3.7 million in funding to help complete the demolition in September 2024, on top of a $13 million incentive package it approved in 2020, the same year it voted to rezone the former campus, per AL.com.
CR Endeavors and a Birmingham city councilor have said demolition is expected to be completed by the end of 2026, according to Alabama's 42. The councilor said the city approved an agreement with CR Endeavors meant to ensure demolition prioritizes the health, safety and appearance of the surrounding community. Part of the recent slowdown traces back to an adjoining parking deck: CR Endeavors has said work was delayed to avoid damaging the BJCC-owned structure, since the hospital and the deck share a foundation that required underground shoring before crews could proceed safely, per Bham Now's reporting.
Neighbors Question Safety of Leaning Structures
Not everyone is convinced the site is being handled carefully. Community members have voiced concerns about partially demolished structures standing above a nearby road, and on Nov. 4, Mike Royer posted a video on Facebook of construction work at the site, questioning the safety of structures looming over the busy roadway. Patricia Dickey Whitlock echoed that worry, saying, “As we drove by it yesterday, I said sure hope the wind doesn't blow our way. This looks very dangerous.” Brandon Lee Webster described seeing the same scene on his drive home, calling it a “disaster waiting to happen,” while Michael Culberson offered a dryer take: “And just think, it only took 3 years to get this far.”
Britt Demolition and Recycling has said work on the wall in question has been completed up to the former hospital's solid concrete stairwell, according to Alabama's 42. A developer representative could not be reached for comment Thursday. Wolfe has previously attributed past delays to federal loan applications and the need to ensure safe use of nearby parking garages for concertgoers once the entertainment venue opens.
A Hospital's Long Fall From Grace
Carraway Methodist Medical Center opened in 1916 and was once counted among the top hospitals in the Southeast, growing into a 617-bed facility before it closed in 2006. Physicians Medical Center continued operating on the campus afterward but shut down in 2008 once new investors took over, leaving the sprawling site to sit empty and, in the years since, become an eyesore for residents. The hospital's iconic blue star was dismantled and placed into storage in June 2025 — a nod preserved in the name of the development planned to replace it, The Star at Uptown.
Despite the setbacks, the broader redevelopment has kept moving on paper. In December 2025, Birmingham City Council approved rezoning for 64 rental homes at the site, and CR Endeavors CEO Robert Simon said at the time that construction on The Star at Uptown would begin as soon as demolition of the former hospital wrapped up. Whether that holds to the current end-of-2026 timeline remains to be seen, but for now, the excavator parked among Carraway's ruins is the clearest sign yet that the long-stalled teardown is still crawling forward.
