One of Alabama’s most historic high schools won’t be closing any time soon, Birmingham city leaders said this week, trying to squash rumors officials called “baseless and unfounded.”

A.H. Parker High School, located in Birmingham’s historic Smithfield community, was Alabama’s first public high school for Black students. After officials released a multimillion-dollar plan to revitalize the neighborhood, some community members voiced concerns that Parker High would close.

Mayor Randall Woodfin took to social media Tuesday, calling the statements a “misinformation campaign.”

“The school itself is an anchor of what we’re trying to get accomplished,” Kelvin Datcher, the mayor’s senior advisor, told AL.com Wednesday. “It has been in that community since 1900, and it is an important – if not the most important – institution in Smithfield and it is not going anywhere any time soon.”

Birmingham City Schools Superintendent Mark Sullivan released a statement Wednesday in support of the city’s proposal.

“Baseless and unfounded statements have surfaced recently regarding the future of the historic Arthur Harold Parker High School, the first public high school for blacks in Alabama,” he said. “There are no current or future plans to close this institution that has produced world leaders in business, education, civil rights, science, ministry, arts, entertainment and other areas of influence.

“We are excited about the City of Birmingham’s plans to infuse the area surrounding Parker with new housing and businesses. This will ultimately increase the Parker High School enrollment and give more students an opportunity to learn in one of our nation’s most historic high schools.”

What is the Smithfield-College Hills-Graymont Choice Neighborhood proposal?

The City of Birmingham said in January that it had submitted a grant application to the U.S. Department of Housing and Development’s CHOICE Neighborhood program. Officials said they planned to use the $50 million grant, if awarded, for revitalization efforts in the historic Smithfield community.

Birmingham was named one of eight finalists for the grant in May.

Woodfin said the grant could unlock $294 million in overall investment into the neighborhood, including about 1,000 new affordable housing units, sidewalks connecting the area to downtown Birmingham, parks, trails and broadband access.

The city’s proposal involved acquiring a little over 11 acres of “surplus property” near Parker High School to build multi-family homes and green spaces.

City officials told AL.com they recently purchased the land from the school board, which they said was not being actively used by the high school.

They also stressed that the plan would not disrupt any school activities – and that it would actually help enrollment, rather than hurt it.

The student population at Parker High has steadily declined over the past few decades. In 1995, enrollment was 1,052. Today, that number has dropped by 30%, to just over 700 students, according to state data.

“Parker has always been connected to the Smithfield community. What we’ve seen is that like in many other areas in Birmingham, Smithfield is in need of significant investment,” Datcher said. “We do believe that by bringing in families and brand new housing, some market-rate and an overwhelming amount of affordable housing, that we can bring lots of students and bring a lot of vibrancy back to Parker High School.

“There’s great staff over there, great leadership at Parker,” he added. “We just need to make sure that we continue to bring great, talented students to their doors and Parker will continue to produce the great students that they always have.”

HUD is expected to announce Choice Neighborhood grant winners within the next two months. To learn more about the plan, visit www.smithfieldchoice.org.