Keystone, AL

When I was growing up, there was a little wide spot on US Highway 31 just north of Alabaster called Keystone. By the time I moved to this area in the late 1970’s, Keystone was gone, Pelham had swallowed it up when Pelham incorporated. North Shelby country has come a long way since then. Lots of improvements, and some changes that were not improvements. The three towns of Helena, Alabaster and Pelham have expanded until now they make up one big ‘geographic’ city, but with three city governments, three fire departments, three police departments, etc, etc. There appears to me to be a lot of inefficiencies in this arrangement. I think it is time to bring back Keystone. Merge the cities of Helena, Alabaster and Pelham into one city named Keystone. There is a vacant former Wal-Mart building right in the middle of where Keystone was located. Make that the city’s main building. Eliminate duplication, and hold new elections to fill the Keystone city government offices. Now to me, that would be a real improvement.