Locals ready to celebrate at a block party on March 15.

Vulcan Park & Museum in Birmingham is celebrating 120 years since its giant, cast-iron namesake was created, and the reopening of the observation tower that has been closed for restoration since June 2023.

To kick off the festivities, the park and museum is holding a block party from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Friday, March 15 – the first in a new series of events called Sunsets at Vulcan. The series will include a variety of activities, from fitness and painting classes to beverage tastings and more, park and museum officials said.

“We know the community has missed going up to the top of the tower and taking in our beautiful city, so we wanted to celebrate in a big way,” Amanda Hare, Vulcan Park & Museum’s vice president of marketing and public relations, said in a press release.

Vulcan Park & Museum knows how to throw a party to honor the beloved iron man. (contributed)

“Part of our mission is to encourage exploration of the Birmingham region, so we felt that this is a great way to expound on that and expose all the great things that our region has to offer to the community in a fun way.”

At the block party, guests can once again access the stairs inside the observation tower. The first 50 guests to climb to the top will receive a prize. There will be live entertainment, on-site food and drink vendors, and free popcorn for ticket holders. Tickets are $6 for ages 13 and older, and $4 for children ages 5-12. Kids under 5 are free. There is no charge for Vulcan Park & Museum members. Tickets will be sold on site at the Vulcan Park & Museum ticket booth. No advanced tickets are available.

Sitting atop Red Mountain, the 56-foot, 60-ton statue is the largest iron figure ever cast, according to the Encyclopedia of Alabama. At the time it was made, it was the biggest statue created in the United States and the nation’s second-tallest, behind the Statue of Liberty.

It was conceived for the 1904 World’s Fair in St. Louis, and cast with iron made from ore mined at Red Mountain. The intent: to promote Birmingham, and the city’s and state’s iron industry.

Guiseppe Moretti poses with a model of his sculpture. (Encyclopedia of Alabama)

Italian sculptor Giuseppe Moretti was commissioned to undertake the project. His credentials included works for the Austro-Hungarian emperor, the city of Pittsburgh and American industrialist William Vanderbilt, the Encyclopedia of Alabama said.

After its debut at the World’s Fair, the statue was reassembled at the Alabama State Fairgrounds in west Birmingham where it remained until the 1930s when funds provided by the Depression-era, federal Works Progress Administration were used to move it to a new park site atop Red Mountain. The new park included a museum and a 124-foot pedestal for Vulcan with an open-air observation platform. The statue was reassembled at its new location in 1937 and the park completed in May 1939, according to the Encyclopedia of Alabama.

The statue underwent repairs in the 1960s, and in the early 2000s a major restoration of Vulcan took place under the direction of the newly created Vulcan Park Foundation. The park and a completely rebuilt museum reopened in 2004. To learn more about Vulcan Park & Museum and upcoming programs and events, check out visitvulcan.com.