Surprisingly elegant

A couple days ago the Birmingham News reported that the Elyton School (above), just a few minutes’ drive out of downtown Birmingham at Tuscaloosa Avenue and Center Street, may be demolished as part of a development proposal for senior housing at the site. The former elementary school, closed for about 10 years, is the second-oldest in the City after Powell School. It was built in 1908 in what was then the independent town of Elyton (which would soon be merged into Birmingham).

While I was prepared to appreciate historic architecture, upon my visit I was struck not just by the solidity and high quality of the structure, but by the particularly fine level of architectural detail. Many of these older schools have more recent additions, and this one is no exception–although in this case the addition is a wonderful, 1920′s era wing that works well with the original.

Brimming with potential

One can see that later addition to the right above. Many of us are mildly perplexed that such an historic structure would be considered for demolition, right in the middle of ongoing efforts to save Powell School. Time after time, old school buildings in other cities have been renovated with great success for new uses (see this earlier post here). Unfortunately it would appear that Vantage Development, judging from their website, has had little if any experience with anything but suburban, stick-built senior housing.

Not good, and seemingly inexcusable

Back in 2005, there was indeed a proposal to renovate the existing building into senior housing–but the City and the Board of Education could not agree on the price for transfer, and the deal died. Since then, the building has not been properly secured (see above), and neighborhood residents are understandably upset about squatters, etc. While the situation is frustrating, it’s not a reason to abandon hopes of recycling this building.

And more potential

The surrounding neighborhood has challenges–more boarded up structures across the street, for instance–but also great assets, like the historic commercial structures a block south where First Avenue North meets Center Street (above), Arlington Antebellum Home a few blocks west, or the thriving Princeton-Baptist medical a few blocks past Arlington. Elyton School could become a shining jewel in a rejuvenated Arlington-West End neighborhood. Let’s hope the neighborhood, and City leaders, will do all in their power to explore the viability of saving the structure. Because folks, they don’t build it like this anymore. And our City is that much poorer with the loss of another piece of its history.

UPDATE: Here’s a rendering below, courtesy of Vantage Development, of the proposal (shown along Center Street):

Out with the old, and in with...

Clever marketing

In a clever marketing twist on the recent “Occupy” movement, Occupy Avondale is a contest offering 6 months free rent for the commercial storefront at 200 41st Street South (above), directly across the street from the newly opened Avondale Brewing Company in the central Avondale historic district. [there is an existing loft apartment on the second floor.] A joint project of the brewery and Main Street Birmingham, preference will be given to applicants whose businesses have a food, retail, or arts related basis. Providing more foot traffic to the block is also a plus.

Getting proactive about growing their neighborhood

Kudos to the brewery (above) and Main Street  for putting together this kind of incentive to help continue the momentum in this historic commercial district just east of downtown Birmingham. This City needs creative ways like this to better market real estate that’s well positioned to build on existing synergies. We need to target incentives for businesses in a strategic way, identifying certain neighborhoods (like this one) where the investment can be best leveraged. So Birmingham, put your thinking caps on (preferably while quaffing ABC’s Spring Street Saison Ale) and come up with something fantastic for this space. Deadline is February 15. Cheers.

Worth documenting

As the City prepares to demolish the 4-block-plus area between directly south of Railroad Park between 14th and 16th Streets South to prepare for the new ball park for the Birmingham Barons, we are about to lose a good bit of historic, warehouse fabric that’s been little discussed. It is the opinion of this blog that the ball park is a good thing for downtown and the City, and that the old warehouse neighborhood around it (tentatively dubbed Parkside) has vast potential to be revitalized into a vibrant mixed-use district connecting UAB to the park. Before the bulldozers arrive, however, it would be great to try to document the buildings that are about to disappear forever (example above).

Remnant of another era

Some of these old structures serviced prominent retailers located several blocks north in downtown’s shopping district, such as the above warehouse which still has its “Jefferson Home Furniture” sign prominently displayed.

Not something you see here often

In a central city laid out on a relentlessly orthogonal grid, it’s downright shocking to see this curving alley way between two warehouses (above), which followed the curve of a rail spur. Goods could be loaded directly onto rail cars from the warehouse docks. Wouldn’t it be great if the new ball park facility had a graphic display somewhere with images and history relating to this neighborhood and its (unsung) relationship to the better-known areas adjacent to it?

First sign of progress

Once these buildings are documented properly, and their history outlined for the public, we hope that upon completion of the ball park many of the surrounding warehouse-type buildings will be renovated to complement new, infill construction in a district with housing, restaurants, bars, shops, offices, and other amenities. A hint of what could come is seen above at the corner of 18th Street and 2nd Avenue South, where the real estate firm Shannon Waltchack moved from the suburbs into a freshly renovated former National Biscuit Company building (they plan phase 2 with loft apartments next door; architect for the project is Cohen Carnaggio Reynolds).

Yes you are

Only a few years ago, the building across 18th Street from Shannon Waltchack had fully rented storefronts. The tenants left and took the storefronts with them; now all that remains is a (still beautiful) shell. Understanding the value of historic buildings is important, and we hope this one can be returned to service. Part of what will make this neighborhood work are built-from-scratch projects like Railroad Park, the Barons park, and proposed new UAB buildings. Destruction of some existing historic buildings will be inevitable. Let’s get them professionally documented before they go.

Displaced by development

It always seemed a bit too good to be true. Birmingham, which embarassingly for a city its size has no proper central skate park, suddenly got a temporary version right across from Railroad Park in the 1500 block of First Avenue South when Railroad Park opened downtown (above). An almost-forgotten warehouse district was instantly brimming with green and people, and the skate park created a great synergy with its larger neighbor across the street. The balletic activity of the skate park was close enough to be visually compelling, but at just the right distance to not disturb people pic-nicking across the street in the grass. However, the writing was on the wall when the Birmingham Barons baseball team announced its intention to build a new downtown park in the area; the skate park has now been dismantled, awaiting imminent construction of a large baseball park at that location.

A path to success

Enter the A.Skate Foundation, a local non-profit that helps kids with autism through skateboarding. This nationally-recognized group, which holds clinics all over the country, just won a $50,000 grant for design of a new skate park in Birmingham, just a couple months after winning another equal grant for their clinics. This is probably the best opportunity to get an urban skate park built that we’ve had in a while.

Sculptural landscape, urban activity, kids--what's not to like

Prototypes for the park are illustrated above (real design will start once a location has been selected; the designer is SITE Design Group out of California). This is a no-brainer for the City–an opportunity to create a remarkable outdoor space, fulfill a true recreational need, and help kids with autism all at once. Talk about positive publicity. Birmingham should be jumping to identify property in the City Center or immediately adjacent neighborhoods. However, we hear that other metro cities are jumping quicker to assist the potential project. We’d love this park to be somewhere in the metro, period; we think a downtown location is ideal not only for the centrality to all populations, but for creating the best visibility for this very urban sport. We strongly encourage Birmingham to consider this worthy project.

Birmingham, make it happen

For anyone interested in donating to A. Skate’s mission, or who has ideas about possible locations for their new skate park, please contact them here. A skate park is part of any successful city’s urban fabric. Birmingham should be no exception.

[thanks to A.Skate for the renderings and photos of skate kids]

A victory for adaptive reuse

Birmingham’s Design Review Committee had a broad spectrum of design issues on the agenda today. Universally commended and approved was the signage package for the new Walgreens complex on Clairmont Avenue and 32nd Street South, where the historic Fire Station #22 is being restored with a hair salon and Bogue’s Restaurant as tenants (above). A new Walgreens building and parking lot are displacing these two businesses directly to the west of the Fire Station. We first broke the story of Walgreens’ original plan to demolish much of the block including the Fire Station. We are thrilled the Fire Station and the historic Bogue’s neon sign are being reused, and that a very old local restaurant isn’t disappearing. We are still concerned about the relationship of the new Walgreens to its western neighbor, Henry Sprott Long and Associates. But the salvation of the Fire Station is a win for the neighborhood, and an example of how a large, national chain can work with grassroots activists to achieve a better, more urban solution for retail developments.

Not again...

In an eerie replay of the earlier Walgreens controversy, Family Dollar presented a proposal for a suburban-style store at the corner of Tuscaloosa Avenue SW and 13th Street, in West End (my own quick sketch above). Just a few blocks from the thriving Princeton Medical complex, and surrounded by a relatively dense, historic fabric, the developer (Boos Development of Clearwater, FL) insisted that he’d followed the zoning guidelines (which he had), and that Family Dollar’s commitment to the neighborhood was predicated on this site plan–where a generic, blank-box Family Dollar is situated behind a swath of asphalt parking. The Committee was not pleased.

The context is urban, not suburban

Directly across from the currently vacant site is a reminder of the historic importance of this West End neighborhood–a two-story, commercial structure now sadly deteriorated, but illustrative of the urban, pedestrian character of the streets. The rest of the block has newer buildings–a post office, a county health clinic, a library–which speak of the continued civic importance of this area.

It's already a pedestrian neighborhood

In objecting to the proposal’s suburban, car-centric design, a couple Committee members mentioned they’d either grown up in this neighborhood or have family here–and that people walk. And that many will be walking to the Family Dollar. Above is the relatively new library across the street which, despite an awkward architecture, does  form a pedestrian-friendly street edge. Parking is concealed to the side and rear. Even on a very rainy morning, a number of pedestrians were out walking between the post office and library, and from the surrounding neighborhood–a visual confirmation of the Committee’s point.

More street edge in West End

Right down the street from the site are these fine church and residential buildings (above), another indicator of how out of character the proposal is with its surroundings.

Lots of potential here

More than many other neighborhoods on this part of town, West End shows promise (house across 13th Street above). Recent investments in the area–including this possible Family Dollar–show a stability that can be a strong base for future improvements. Committee member Marc Fugnitto was passionate about treating West End no differently from Five Points South or South Avondale, where large national chains wanting to invest in urban neighborhoods were required to redesign their proposals to be pedestrian-friendly and appropriate to local context. Others agreed, and hoped that the City Comprehensive Plan, currently in the works, will address the lack of Smart Code and other tools that would tell the developer up front what’s expected, from a form-based standpoint. Or, at the very least, that the Plan will consider this part of West End as an important urban node in the City, which needs clearer design guidelines to help steer development.

A harbinger of things to come?

The Committee asked the developer to meet again, informally, to discuss solutions for the site; the proposal as presented was not approved. On a brighter note, a few blocks further west at 48th Street and Court “V” in Five Points West, Hoskins Architecture presented the above plan for revitalizing a small park adjacent to the Five Points West library. A thoughtful palette of varied trees and plantings, elevation changes, and modern furnishings bodes well for the type of design we all hope will occur around the new Birmingham Crossplex (which is a block north). A bland piece of grass with a few desultory plantings will be transformed into a real place. This one passed the Committee with flying colors.

More potential, slowly getting realized

Back downtown on the 1700 block of Third Avenue North, a small, vacant two-story commercial structure (brown brick, above), was approved for renovation into a law firm downstairs, and the lawyer’s loft apartment upstairs. The simple, historically sensitive design is by NHB Group. Just one block west of the Alabama and Lyric Theaters, this side of the street is full of potential but, in the absence of a coordinated plan for the Theater District, has been slow to revitalize. Besides the renovation of the lower building in the right of the photo (private residence), and the mixed-use tailor shop and loft (below), both of which we designed, this block has been pretty stagnant. With the planned renovation of the Lyric Theatre, a strategic focus on this district, and more investors, this row could be a real downtown jewel. City, onwards!

Retail on the street. We need more

[Thanks to Blackmon Rogers Architects for the Fire Station elevations and Hoskins Architecture for the park plan]

That's what it's all about

As we continue to ponder our own City’s destiny (please consider attending the imminent round of public workshops regarding transportation, green systems, community revitalization, and economic development as part of the new City Comprehensive Plan), it’s always instructive to recall what’s compelling in other cities–in this case, San Francisco and the Bay Area, which was a holiday trip this year. Above is a shot taken in San Francisco’s Mission District: density is a fundamental aspect of this city, enabling walk-ability,interesting streetscapes, and healthy public life.

Only NYC is denser

A good mix of mid-rise and high-rise buildings define the downtown area, above.

Consuming the city

Above is the main shopping area downtown near Union Square, which manages to feel authentic–even a bit gritty–despite the very expensive chain stores. It was great to see huge crowds out on the sidewalks.

...and more shopping

It’s important to remember that San Francisco has one of the higher per capita incomes in the US, and is considered one of the world’s top tourist destinations. Hence the preponderance of luxury stores downtown, from Neiman Marcus to Diesel, above.

Unique

Chinatown, above, is unique in this country as a large, tight-knit ethnic community with a very old history. The projecting signage, fruit stands, and shoppers make for a superb walking environment.

How can you beat it

In the Russian Hill neighborhood, we stumbled upon the original Swensen’s ice cream parlor, a quaint corner shop with a lunch counter. This neighborhood is filled with corner coffee shops and dry cleaners.

Good edge

Across the water in Berkeley, the university campus is edged with vibrant streets lined with retail and restaurants, above. It’s a great urban amenity for staff and students alike.

Is it real?

Over at the edge of Oakland, the Bay Street Mall is an urban mall with all the right elements of good urban planning–lots of shops lining sidewalks, housing above, parking hidden away in garages, bike racks, etc. (above). Yes, it all feels mall-ish and homogenous. But if you do new construction malls, this is a really good effort.

Keeping fares low

Back in San Fran, the subway system, like many others across the world, is getting creative with selling ad rights. Above is the Union Square stop, which a bit jarringly feels like the “Banana Republic” stop when you leave the train. But it helps keep fares low. And with such a relatively comprehensive transit system, I guess we can’t complain too much about corporate branding like this.

Inspired by a great trip, it’s good to be back in Birmingham, ready to work to improve the city.

The beginning of a new era

…of year when we wish everyone a great holiday. We’ll be back in January.

The last shot of 2011 is actually from 1963–Second Avenue North looking east from 19th Street (above). 1963 was a transitional year for Birmingham: downtown merchants were feeling pressure from suburban competitors (Eastwood Mall had opened a few years before) while the infamous Eugene “Bull” Connor finally left City Hall as civil rights protests swirled through central city streets. Downtown retailers would increasingly invest favorably in suburban branches, leaving the downtown locations to cater to lower socioeconomic classes. Over the next decades, many would leave downtown altogether.

As the City sees new life across many neighborhoods, there are still many challenges to overcome. Let’s hope 2012 brings Birmingham–and all of its citizens–much success. Cheers!

[thanks to Tim Hollis for the pic from his book Birmingham's Theater and Retail District]

Urban place making through signage

As we reported recently, Southpace Properties won approval to install a large, illuminated projecting sign at their downtown location on Richard Arrington Blvd. North and Third Avenue. It just went up. A great addition to the urban streetscape, and a harbinger, we hope, of better times for commercial real estate here and around the country.

Thanks Southpace!

POSTSCRIPT: not there yet, but one of our readers pointed out that this type of large, neon sign is reminiscent of the type of signage you see on Shanghai’s famous shopping street, Nanjing Road. I’ve been there, and it’s indeed amazing at night. A shot below:

Neon writ large

Re-purposing an old neighborhood

Central Woodlawn – a few minutes’ drive (or future tram ride!) east of downtown Birmingham – is a superb example of urban place: well-scaled commercial storefronts, memorable historic architecture, a mixture of wider and narrower streets, and short blocks. This once-busy retail and business center has lost tenants and foot traffic over the years, but the fabric  largely remains. Main Street Birmingham, a non-profit dedicated to revitalizing neighborhoods, has recently renovated a row of one-story storefronts into 55th Place Arts, with low rents targeted to artists (above, on 55th Place North). This city has been too slow to recognize the key role artists can play in urban revitalization; the Phoenix Building downtown (which we developed and designed), with its 74 live-work units of which 60 are subsidized and targeted to artists, is perhaps the only other comparable project in town.

It's all about the fabric

The corner of the project at 55th Place and First Avenue South is seen above, with the entrance to the new City Arts Boutique. Note the fine texture of the buildings along 55th Place, and the easy pedestrian scale of the environment.

Adding color can be literal too

Besides reactivating the street with new businesses and artistic energy, we really appreciate the paint job on the facade, illustrated above. Rather than the standard, conservative browns and grays painted evenly across a surface that you tend to see around town, playful angles and varied tones suit the reconstitution of these storefronts into artist workspace. Kudos to Main Street (and to the Design Review Committee, which today approved new signage and door treatments for the project) for allowing color to be used creatively here. It looks super.

If only the corner had been handled more sensitively

Just down the street (at First Avenue South and 55th Street North), Smiles for Keeps–a dental clinic for children and teens–is building a new facility on a prominent corner site, currently asphalt parking. Above is a rendering (architect: John Holmes), showing the new building with a landscaped area at the corner, and a proposed future building just beyond. A good deal of parking will remain at the rear. Clearly, reclaiming any piece of asphalt parking for a new building is a good thing; on a corner it’s even better. It’s good these buildings have relatively generous storefronts to allow transparency, and that they come to the sidewalk line along 55th Street. What’s less satisfactory is the resolution of the corner itself; while the intent was to mimic the corner entrance at the building currently leased by the clinic around the corner, in this case the “corner entrance” isn’t actually at the corner of the lot. The left-over green space feels just that–left over–and one wishes there were some way to extend the mass of the building out to that corner.

Back on First Avenue North, the corner feels resolved

Above is the historic Woodlawn building currently occupied by the clinic, with that original corner entrance that works seamlessly with the site. Despite this gripe, overall it’s great to see what Main Street Birmingham has been able to encourage in terms of neighborhood investment and even “buzz” about the cool factor represented by the potential in this neighborhood. Working with minimal staff and very tight budgets, this non-profit is on to something here. We wish them, and Woodlawn, much success in the future.

[thanks to John Holmes for the rendering]

How long will YOU walk for that cup of coffee

Over at Fast Company’s Co.Design is an interesting dialog about how important it is for cities to figure out what their fundamental goals are. While this sounds basic, governments, planning agencies, and citizens can get too wrapped up in individual difficult issues; without having big-picture guideposts, solutions to these issues can be disconnected or even harmful. The article is a discussion between a city planner in Gainesville, FL and an urban designer from Perkins + Will, the global design firm.

Same reality, different perception

One of the topics discussed–and one mentioned on this blog previously–is the importance of perception in the urban environment. Above is a diagram of a portion of Manhattan from the article, making the point that if you’re standing at Lexington and 32nd, and a friend calls to say “meet me for coffee at Lex and 42nd”, you’d start walking the short 10 blocks without hesitation. If that same friend says “meet me at 6th and 32nd”, despite the fact it’s exactly the same distance, you’ll brace yourself for a less amusing crosstown schlep. Why? Short blocks with more intersections to cross mean more diversity and visual interest; long blocks with fewer intersections mean less diversity and more visual monotony.

The same could be said for blocks containing empty storefronts, parking lots, few awnings or projecting signage: it becomes a chore to walk. It becomes a delight to walk when you’re visually stimulated on a regular basis along the route. You think less about the distance, and more about the pleasure of being in the street. Food for thought as you think about your next cup of coffee.

[thanks to Co.Design for the diagram]