Here’s the Design Review Committee agenda for Wednesday (December 19). Remember, the meetings are open to the public and take place at 7:30 AM at Auburn Urban Studio, 3rd Floor of Young and Vann Building, corner of 18th Street North and First Avenue downtown.
[Also, as anticipated, the Chicago-based developer of downtown’s recent Cityville mixed-use development has announced a new mixed-use development just south of the new baseball park, with 245 housing units and, we assume, ground-floor retail/restaurants. More details will follow once we see plans and renderings.]
I. Call to Order: Minutes of the November 28, 2012 meeting.
II. Name: Ms. Mary McSpadden
Site Address: 5500 1st Avenue, South, Smiles For Keeps
District: Woodlawn
Requesting approval for: Signage
III. Name: Mr. Ricky Armstrong (Modern Sign)
Site Address: 1200 4th Avenue, North (America’s First Credit Union)
District: Downtown Northwest
Requesting approval for: sign replacement
IV. Name: Mr. Trevor Matchett (Hendon & Huckestein Architects)
Site Address: 1924 11th Avenue, South, Surin
District: 5 Points South
Requesting approval for: façade renovations
V. Name: Mr. Jimmy Meeks (Owner)
Site Address: 1001 20th Street South (The Break)
District: Five Points South
Requesting approval for: Paint and Awning
VI. Name: Ms. Brenda Daniels (Daniels Signs)
Site Address: 9441 Parkway East (Tax Associates, Inc)
District: Parkway East
Requesting approval for: Parapet sign and Pole sign reface
VII. Name: Ms. Sheila Chaffin (UAB)
Site Address: Block bounded by 12th & 13th Streets and 4th & 5th Avenues, South
District: Midtown
Requesting approval for: Temporary parking
VIII. Name: Mr. Tim Hallman (Innerface Signs)
Site Address: BJCC Market Place
District: Cultural
Requesting approval for: Storefront temporary signage
IX. Name: Mr. Daryl Williams
Site Address: 514 19th Street, Ensley (Volcano)
District: Ensley
Requesting approval for: Facade repairs
Bhamarchitect's Blog 
I understand the reasoning behind the name, but it strikes me as ironic that the area around the BJCC is known as the “cultural” district when it is arguably the most planned and sterile area of the city.
Thanks for the agenda update as always. Glad to see a few facade improvements planned in Five Points. A lot of the storefronts down there just need a good power washing and minor updates.
We have argued for a fresh, comprehensive, and professionally coordinated branding effort that’s city-center-wide; this is long overdue, and could help solve some of the problems we have with lack of branded districts and sub-districts–as well as outdated/ineffectual branding such as what you mention. Thanks for reading!
i was disappointed by the insipid design of the new apartments near railroad park that i saw on al.com. Enough is enough of that look. How about a cohesive modern design for a change?
These big national developers typically aren’t interested in creative design; the projects share similar components and aesthetics regardless of the location, with minor exceptions. They are purposefully “middle of the road” to attract a large market.
Our best hope is probably that these big developments help make the place popular enough for more adventurous designs to follow. And of course continuing to insist on very high standards for projects like Railroad Park helps too. Thanks.
oops i looked again and the pic i saw was cityville so i am a dummy LOL. I hope they do a better job with this project. The idea of breaking a large project into a lot of small pieces with different finishes to somehow look like separate buildings is rather silly to me.
I’ve heard from people who’ve seen the rendering of this new project–that it looks comparable. Whether that means using materials to “break up” the façade in a similar way, we’ll have to see. Thanks.
Glad to see that Surin in Five Points is FINALLY planning a facade renovation. Excited to see it take shape!