Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin stood in front of the remnants of a charred house just moments before bulldozers and crews descended on the site, to highlight a focus on blight removal.

Woodfin said the city has removed 126 buildings so far this year. Nearly 2,500 demolitions were completed by the city since 2018.

“Neighborhood revitalization is our top priority,” Woodfin said Wednesday afternoon. “The city is committed to removing blighted structures and enhancing public safety in our communities. City departments coordinate each week to target problem areas to ensure our efforts are effective in creating positive change in our neighborhoods.”

The mayor was flanked by several senior department heads including the city attorney, fire chief and the directors of planning, engineering and permits, and public works.

Birmingham faces a major challenge in its effort to catalog, legally condemn and demolish blighted structures, and finally draft a plan to revitalize the sites.

The city workforce to handle the work has dwindled over the years with the public works staff shrinking from a high of 914 to a low of 536, according to the city’s 2023 comprehensive annual financial report.

Birmingham budgeted $1.5 million for demolition this year, a fraction of what is needed to tackle the blight present throughout the city or the list of properties cleared to be demolished.

Officials said about 580 condemned properties are currently eligible for demolition following the process of condemnation.

However, the list continues to grow. For example, it would cost the city at least $2.32 million to handle the current list of properties that are cleared for demolition, using a low cost of $4,000 per building. And that’s not counting all the other blighted areas across the city that await legal clearance.

Demolition costs range from $4,000 to $7,000 for a single-family residential structure. That price is typically higher for larger, non-residential structures.

While public works crews take part in demolitions on private property, the majority of demolitions are now conducted by contractors, city officials told AL.com.

Woodfin’s focus of demolition across the city comes three months before city elections, a season where neighborhood issues including blight and redevelopment are highlighted as central political issues in mayoral contests.

Katrina Thomas, director of Planning, Engineering and Permits, said the city tries to work with private owners to address issues with their properties.

“When they fail to do so, that’s when we step in and begin the condemnation process,” she explained.

Thomas said the city then pivots to foreclose on the properties and make them available for future development.

The city also contracts private demolition companies which are typically awarded 20 houses at a time.

City Attorney Nicole King said her office coordinates with other departments to streamline the blight removal process. A particular challenge is tracking down absentee and out-of-town property owners, she said.

“We work collectively with PEP, the Birmingham Police Department, and we have an in-house investigator and two police officers where we actively investigate out-of-state property owners,” King said. “We are able to track them down and hold them accountable in municipal court.”