Category Archives: Uncategorized

Ask and ye shan’t receive

Posted on October 7, 2010 | 13 comments

Design Review Alert: The Webb building, on 20th Street North and Second Avenue, has undergone a renovation definitely not in keeping with the design approved by the Design Review Committee back in March (see our initial post, with the approved renderings, here).

Going rogue

Instead of the sleek, metal fascia coursing (with the ability to host signage) proposed by architect Pete Pritchard in March, that was unanimously approved by the DRC, we get scored stucco panels that…don’t seem to be approved by anyone. Unless I’m missing something here, this is an example of a building owner going through the correct motions of hiring a good architect, preparing renderings, going to DRC, and getting approved—and then doing something completely different. Why? And what repercussions are there? This is such an important intersection, and to replace solid, blank infill panels with, well, solid, scored infill panels is not acceptable. What was originally storefront glass transoms needs to be replaced either with glass, or with projecting metal/signage, in order for the building base to be correctly proportioned to the top.

Next door, moreover, the owner also owns another great historic building. Guess what he started doing today? See below:

Are you kidding me?

Yep–they’re painting all that beautiful cornice, trim, and historic brick what appears to be battleship gray, in a manner similar to what we saw in the 1970s when downtown property owners were desperate to try to camouflage all that old-fashioned detail in order to compete with suburban malls. This paint job, unless I’m wrong, did not go to Design Review and is literally going up on the whim of the owner.

[It is my understanding that architect Pete Pritchard has not been engaged in either of these situations.]

I’ve learned today that DRC will review what’s happening at both properties and ask the owner to come into the next meeting to explain himself. Penalties? Not sure, but one obvious one is denial of certificate of occupancy. Let’s hope we’re not left with a recalcitrant owner, a partially painted and heavily stuccoed pair of forlorn buildings,  and a frustrated City in a reluctant standoff mode. Stay tuned.

[thanks to Chuck Strahan for the pics]

13 Comments

Posted in Uncategorized

Tagged , , , , ,

The moviegoer

Posted on October 3, 2010 | 3 comments

Coming out of a great weekend of indie film at the Sidewalk and SHOUT film festivals in downtown Birmingham, there’s hopeful news on two fronts for lovers of smaller distribution films that are often hard to find in town.

Essential part of an urban environment

While a lot of us are used to Netflix and other means of watching films at home, there’s something about watching films in public, in a cinema, that can’t be beat. There’s something even better about such a cinema being woven into the urban fabric so that you can grab a quick dinner before the show and walk over, or stroll for a drink afterwards to discuss the film you’ve just seen with friends. It’s been many years since we’ve had this amenity in Birmingham–all cinemas moved out to mall locations years ago.

Most exciting, there was an announcement at Sidewalk’s opening night about a possible new indie theater opening sometime soon. [Full disclosure: this author has been involved in this effort for a good while.] You can join the Facebook fan page here. I hope to be able to announce more details about this independent, community-oriented project in the near future.

Secondly, the new Edge 12 cineplex in Crestwood has opened, replacing the older Regal 18 that used to anchor the now frayed shopping center. While there is no website yet, their advertising claims 2 screens are dedicated to independent film. So while we’re all waiting for the larger project, support indie film by checking out the Edge (205-595-8900). Currently on those 2 screens? The Girl who Played with Fire and–well, as far as I can tell all the others playing there are regular mainstream movies you can see elsewhere. Maybe a second screen for indies isn’t quite open yet.

Regardless, Birmingham for too long has been the largest metro area in the country without dedicated screens for indie films. Mobile, Montgomery, and now Huntsville all have this option. It’s about time for the largest city in the state to start showing some quality, non-mainstream movies. Walker Percy would be happier along with the rest of us.

[thanks to kencta for the shot of the IFC Cinema (formerly the Waverly) in Greenwich Village]

3 Comments

Posted in Uncategorized

Tagged , , , ,

Play ball

Posted on September 30, 2010 | 2 comments

Building community pride

About 10 years ago Memphis opened a new downtown baseball park and the minor league Redbirds moved in. Since then, over $80 million of development has occurred around the site, and Memphis has a great, family-friendly downtown activity set against the backdrop of the city skyline (seen in photo above).

Could the Birmingham Barons be poised to move to a new park downtown across from Railroad Park? While other locations across the city center could be possible, Railroad Park makes a lot of sense for many reasons, among them:

1. The huge community interest and momentum behind the Railroad Park itself;

2. The proximity to UAB and the ability to easily walk/bike from campus;

3. A large, mainly underdeveloped fabric of one and two-story warehouse type structures between the Park and UAB that could easily be renovated/rebuilt as housing, restaurants, and other amenities;

4. Ease of access from all points northside and southside .

The Birmingham News printed an editorial praising Mayor Bell for leading the effort to bring the Barons back to the City after a long spell out in Hoover at an outdated, isolated, suburban location. Mayor Petelos of Hoover recently stated that if the Barons did indeed move back to Birmingham, he would see it as a win for the region, not a loss for Hoover. This kind of regional thinking has been too infrequent in metro Birmingham; kudos to both mayors for meeting and talking like partners, rather than like competitors.

Field of dreams

The skyline of our own city (above) sure looks great from the new Railroad Park. It would look even better if a new ball park for the Barons was built adjacent, and the crack of the bat and roar of the crowd became as common as a picnic on the new lawns. Fingers crossed.

UPDATE: one of my favorite local blogs, Heaviest Corner, just posted a very detailed piece critical of publicly funded sports projects, which is well worth a read. While on balance, I believe that Birmingham could attain a net benefit from a new downtown ballpark, economically and psychically, there are indeed many variables and potential pitfalls to be mindful of. And it goes without saying that given the choice between a well-funded, well-organized transit system or a ball park—I’d have to take the transit system.

[thanks to theogeo for the Memphis pic and Terry McComb for the Birmingham pic]

2 Comments

Posted in Uncategorized

Tagged , , , , , , ,

Skate park! (2)

Posted on September 19, 2010 | 11 comments

It's a start

While it’s far from the full-blown skate park this city needs, the skate plaza at the newly opened Railroad Park at least demonstrates that skateboarding can be successfully integrated into a multi-use public area. Today everyone from small kids to elderly ladies were enjoying the balletic acts of skaters in the plaza.

Hopefully there will be more exciting skate news to post about soon. In the meantime, check out the skate plaza next time you’re at the park!

11 Comments

Posted in Uncategorized

Tagged , ,

Sign of things to come

Posted on September 12, 2010 | 4 comments

Urban signage–so important to our physical and psychic understanding in a city. We have two new additions to the downtown core:

It's here!

First the 18th Street entrance to Railroad Park (opening officially next weekend), showing a simple white sign with black lettering recalling traditional railroad crossing and station signs. Excellent choice.

Big time

Next is the new “Wells Fargo” lettering being prepared to illuminate the top of the former SouthTrust (now Wells Fargo) Tower on 20th Street North. While the loss of hometown banks is not necessarily something to celebrate, a well-proportioned, highly-visible sign like this helps “make” a skyline. The north and west faces are already complete:

Corporate image making

Much, much more on signage to come.

4 Comments

Posted in Uncategorized

Tagged , ,

Turning Inwards

Posted on August 30, 2010 | 14 comments

Another era

Coming out of the 3-day Green Building Focus conference last week, I thought I’d post a few images of our local convention center, the Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex, located just north of the I-20/I-59 connector from the CBD. An example of many maxims of 1960’s “urban renewal” thinking, this complex when completed in 1976 after 6 years construction was among the top 20 largest convention centers in the nation, and had a total price tag of almost $400 M in today’s money. Intended as a true “civic center”, with theatre, exhibition, sports, restaurant, and performance arranged around a courtyard, its design–one of 1966’s major national competitions–was pretty well received at the time. Bhamwiki has an excellent history of the competition here.

All pavers point to... a trash can

While the forms themselves may be described as somewhat “brutalist”, with their large, unrelieved masses, lack of human scale, and hostile attitude to the street and any existing fabric, at this point in history one can appreciate the sculptural quality of some of the massing and space-making. The actual concrete panels and other materials feel worn and somewhat cheap, however–and of course the silly retro-lamps and sad little planters recently placed around the courtyard to “soften” things need to be replaced with accessories more appropriate to the scale of the surroundings. The courtyard itself–cut off from the surrounding streets, almost unknown to visitors and citizens alike unless you have occasion to attend an event here–was never truly civic. It is too isolated, too closed from the day-to-day activity of a major city around it. Not to mention the terrible idea to locate the interstate connector between the historic downtown and the complex.

Waiting for a change

As many of us know, there have been major changes suggested for the BJCC in recent years, including the addition of a major domed stadium and an entertainment district, and the submerging of the interstate connector. While the complex would be well served by an expansion and general updating in my opinion, let’s take a little time to appreciate the earnest efforts of Geddes Brecher Qualls Cunningham, architects (now defunct) from Philadelphia, PA—which have given us a pretty unique urban environment, albeit it one with some serious flaws.  It’s a little bit of Brasilia in Birmingham.

In the meantime, let’s order some new light posts and planters.

14 Comments

Posted in Uncategorized

Tagged , , , , ,

Greening Birmingham

Posted on August 24, 2010 | 4 comments

We’re at the Green Building Focus conference in Birmingham–come check out our booth! The vendor hall is free and open to the public at in the North Exhibition Hall of the BJCC starting 8:30 AM Wednesday and continuing Thursday.

Where do I go?

In the meantime I can’t help but illustrate how the lobby of the downtown Sheraton needs help. This lobby of the main hotel connected to the convention center has no visual focus. It’s a blur of beige tiles, brown paneling, more brown planters–and odd little angled reception desks hidden behind columns. This space is lacking in “visual hierarchy” , where elements and colors are carefully arranged in relation to one another to guide guests to the check-in, to the elevators, the ballrooms, etc.

In the 5 minutes I stood there, I saw at least 4 people looking bewildered, asking the bellman where to find elevators, wondering where to check in, etc.  This could be much, much easier with a change of materials, color, and orientation. OK, back to the conference! More on greening Birmingham shortly!

4 Comments

Posted in Uncategorized

Tagged , , ,

Abroad (2)

Posted on August 19, 2010 | 3 comments

Density works

Regular posts will start again shortly now that we’ve returned from a trip abroad. In the interim a pic of the East London (Westferry) view we had from our friend’s apartment–great, medium-to-high density neighborhood with a mix of older and newer buildings; excellent light rail connection around the corner; diverse population of all races and types. Primary school around the other corner, stroll to the park.

Good times!

3 Comments

Posted in Uncategorized

Abroad

Posted on August 7, 2010 | Leave a comment
Due to some travels (and preparations leading up to same), it won’t be until later in August that regular posts occur again on this blog. In the meantime, I thought I’d send a very brief snapshot of Williamsburg, Brooklyn, where I’m staying the first part of my trip and where I lived way back in 1995. The brick commercial loft building above is where I lived–a 3500 SF loft on the second floor (facing North 10th Street which is the facade you see here). It was an illegal sublet, rented to us by an artist who’d used the place as a studio. At the time Williamsburg was full of artists living in cheaply converted space, with rents extremely affordable compared to fancier parts of Brooklyn, not to mention Manhattan. I was one of a first wave of “invaders”–donning a tie and taking the train back into the city during the week to work a professional job–and I was fascinated by the mix of artists, elderly Polish-Americans, and those like me who found the run-down, somewhat bleak nature of Williamsburg a refreshing break from increasingly gentrified Manhattan.
Today, although my building still appears as untouched and run-down as ever, the surrounding neighborhood has transformed. Below is directly across Berry Street from my old place, where there used to be a vacant lot and a storage warehouse with amazing graffiti:

The new Berry Street

These luxury loft condos are but one example of new construction that has popped up everywhere, along with vacant storefronts and repair shops converted to ultra-hip lounges and restaurants. The lonely, sparse sidewalks were literally choked this evening with hipsters, wanna-bes, and kids from Manhattan in for a Saturday night fling. The quiet sense of possibility I knew back then has been replaced with American Apparel and all sorts of consumption.
There is even a huge new complex at the river, which used to be lined by empty warehouses and weedy yards. Now 35-story condo towers are preparing to open, with new pedestrian piers, tens of thousands of square feet of available retail and restaurant space, and parking garages. An immense old warehouse designed by the architect Cass Gilbert (who is perhaps best known for the Woolworth Building in downtown Manhattan, in 1913 the tallest building in the world) in the rarely employed neo-Egyptian style has been totally renovated and is currently renting out with amenities (and prices) not before seen this side of the East River.

From Egyptian warehouse to luxury lofts

The amount of gentrification in the old neighborhood just boggles the mind. It shows how quickly an urban place can transform, within the context of vast numbers of people and dollars that is New York. Does it all feel right? No; I miss the grittiness of the old place. A lot of the new architecture is banal. Most of the artists have departed for cheaper digs further out in Brooklyn or Queens.

But hey, if you just have to have that perfect pomegranate mojito, you no longer have to take the train into Manhattan to get it.

Birmingham, I won’t be around to attend Design Review this coming week, comment on the latest (non-drive-through!) plans for Chick-Fil-A, etc. But we’ll be back and ready to examine lots of new topics in just a couple short weeks. Stay cool.

Leave a comment

Posted in Uncategorized

Tagged , , , , ,

Donut fix

Posted on August 3, 2010 | 20 comments

A yankee transplant

Dunkin’ Donuts, the fabled donut purveyor based in Canton, MA, serves over 3 million customers a day in 31 countries worldwide. It has recently started a push into the deep south–where Krispy Kreme has long reigned supreme–and the second (“flagship” , according to the News article here) metro location will be on 6th Avenue South between Richard Arrington and 22nd Street. It is in a small, historic commercial structure wedged between a massive Regions drive-through and the Fish Market restaurant. It was most  recently a Domino’s pizza outlet.

Cohen Carnaggio Reynolds has prepared the rendering shown above. The News article states that the owners will be attempting a drive-through here; speaking of drive-throughs, the same architects are slated to slog it out again on behalf of Chick-Fil-A at another working session for the controversial Five Points South restaurant proposal today at 4 PM at the Auburn Urban Studio, 1731 First Avenue North, 3rd floor.

Local favorite under attack

It’s great to see this small structure being reinvigorated; and while many may decry the Yankee usurper bringing it’s cake-ish donuts (and renowned coffee) to Dixie, a little competition may be good for everybody. As to the drive-through? While not at the same level of density and diversity as the heart of Five Points just up the street, this block is still a very urban situation with good pedestrian access from the surrounding hospitals. The City should think long and hard before allowing a drive-through here. Such a concept is fundamentally anti-urban and should be discouraged.

Birmingham, brace yourself. Just when we thought we couldn’t ingest anymore calories…

[Rendering from the Birmingham News; KK donuts courtesy karenn]

20 Comments

Posted in Uncategorized

Tagged , , ,