Northport Park Gets New Playground Thanks To Sabans’ Gift

City leaders in Northport joined the former first lady of Alabama Football to cut the ribbon on a new playground funded by Nick and Terry Saban’s charitable foundation Friday morning.

As the Thread exclusively reported in January, the playground was funded by a donation from Nick’s Kids, the organization that Northport Council President Christy Bobo helped Nick and Terry Saban localize after they first arrived in Tuscaloosa almost 20 years ago.

The foundation has already seen several public playgrounds built in Tuscaloosa parks, and Bobo was able to successfully lobby for a similar donation for equipment to upgrade Civitan Park on Main Street in Northport.

The project, announced in January, is now complete, and Terry Saban joined the Northport City Council and other officials to cut the ribbon there Friday morning.

“It’s such a joy to be here today as we officially open the Nick’s Kids Playground for the city of Northport,” Bobo said. “It’s a space that represents presents so much more than just slides and swings. It’s a place that’s been built with love, a community spirit, and a shared commitment to children.”

Bobo thanked the Sabans and foundation CEO Katie King for working with the city council on this project, and Brion Hardin Construction Company for installing the equipment.

“What we’re celebrating today is more than a ribbon-cutting. It’s a celebration of what can happen when people come together with a shared vision to invest in our future and create spaces where families can laugh, play, and grow,” Bobo said. “On behalf of the Northport City Council, thank you to everyone who has played a role in this effort. Let this playground be a reminder of what’s possible when we work together with a purpose, and let it ring with the sound of joyful children for years to come.”

Mrs. Terry also addressed the small crowd gathered for the ribbon-cutting and teased another exciting milestone to come — the groundbreaking at the $150 million Saban Center across the river in Tuscaloosa.

“I have four sisters, and we talk often. I feel like Northport is Tuscaloosa’s sister and we should always support and help each other,” Terry Saban said. “Playgrounds are important, as Christy said, because it’s a learning situation where you get the children away from the TV, from their phones, from their laptops and video games. You get them out here for exercise and fresh air, and they learn to socialize, they learn to problem solve, they learn to share.”

With the construction contract for the Saban Center awarded, Mrs. Terry said ground should be broken on that enormous project sometime next month.

The Saban Center will involve children playing at the hands-on museum for young people, and the Tuscaloosa Children’s Theater will have a large area there,” Terry Saban said. “It will be a STEM Center for the state of Alabama where children can come and through our displays and programming, we’re going to be teaching science, technology, engineering and math. We’ll be bringing teachers and their classes to learn state-of-the-art science and technology.”

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