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Spring/Summer 1996 Volume VI, Issue II $4.00 THE PUBLIC FORUM FOR DESIGN IN ALABAMA S T R E E T S ORePEOPL DesignAlabama Inc. Board of Directors: Rip Weaver, Chairman Sherlock Smith Adams Birmingham Lloyd Philpo't, Treasurer Ph/lpo 't Des/gn Decatur Faye DeMassimo Federal Highway Administration Montgomery Nancy Mims Hartsfield Auburn University Graphic Design Auburn Henry Hughes Shades Valley Forestry Birmingham Sam W. Kates W/regrass Museum of Art Dolhan Mark C. McDonald Mobile Historic Development Commission Mobile Kenneth M. Penuel Southern Company Services Birmingham Charles W. Raine Des/gn-Build Services University of Alabama al Birmingham Birmingham Sheri Schumacher Auburn University Interior Design Aubum Franklin Setzer, Executive Director Laura Quenelle, Administrative Director Philip A. Morris, Director Emeritus Southern Progress Corp. Birmingham This issue of DesignAlabama was designed and produced on Macintosh Computers utilizing QuarkXPress 3.3. Proofs were printed on a LaserWriter Select 360 and final output on an Agfa SeiectSet 7000. Desi nAlabama Volume VI, Issue II Cover: People and cars co-exist peacefully along University Boulevard on the UAB campus. Photograph by Philip Morris. From the Director: I realized, while attending a conference in Providence this past November, that DesignAlabama is held in extraordinarily high regard nationally, Our publications, such as this issue of the journal, are touted as excellent examples of effective public communication by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies, among others; and the Alabama Community Design Program (ACDP) is viewed by the American Institute of Architects (AM) and the NEA as an exemplary model for the productive "grassroots" involvement of design professionals in environmental design issues and concerns of communities. DesignAlabama does what it does very well. Everyone including the board, staff, members and others who participate in our programs-both past and presentshould be proud. The board and staff are anxious to continue the quality and to make improvements so that the organization's efforts will be even more effective. We are in the process of reviewing current programs and examining potential new initiatives that will broaden DesignAlabama's role as advocate for quality design in the state. The tasks of maintaining and enhanCing quality on one hand, while creating productive new initiatives on the other, seem daunting at times-especially in light of the changing fiscal environment that we face; but DesignAlabama will continue its success-with your continued support, 1- ~CI I~' -:x~. Franklin Setzer Managing Editor: Tomie D. Dugas Art Director: Nancy Hartsfield Associate Art Director: Ross Heck Electronic Illustrations: John Morgan Contributing Writers: Thomas Deloach, Kathy Hamrick, Philip Morris, laura Quenelle, Franklin SeiZer. This publication is made possible through funding by the Alabama State Council on the Arts. A special thanks to Philip Morris, editor-In-chief of Southern Progress Corp.~ tor his on-going assistance and advice with this publication. Submission Information DesignAlabama encourages submissions from its readers. Articles about work from all design disciplines are requested. as well as copy related to historic preservation. Please submil copy along with visuals (photos, slides, drawings, etc). to: DesignAlabama Inc. 204 North 20th St, Ste. 201 Birmingham, Al 35203 Items for Project News and Details of Interest should include a paragraph summary detailing the nature of the project, the design firm, principals and associates involved and any other details that may be of interest such as unusual or special design features, completion date, approximate cost, square footage, etc. Also include the name, address and phone number of the client and an individual wilh Ihe firm that we may contact lor further information. The deadline for the fall/winter issue is August 1. Direct inquiries to laura Quenelle at (800) 849-9543 or (205) 254-8545 or by fax: (205) 323-8385. Back issues are available for $6.00 including postage and handling. Contact laura Quenelle at the above numbers to order. Collinsville land use map marks areas slated for revitalization. p.19 DesignAlabama is a publication of DesignAlabama Inc. Reader comments and submission of articles and ideas for future issues are encouraged. CONTENTS Irondale community embraces its whistle-stop makeover. p. 16 The extension of Birmingham Green South Chattahoochee Trace Heritage Education along 20th Street beckons with character. p. 13 Workshop utilizes a visual survey form. p. 25 FEATURES "STREETS FOR PEOPLE" CITY OF BIRMINGHAM: A 25-YEAR CAMPAIGN TO MAKE STREETS BETTER FOR PEOPLE. 12 ------~---~~- -------.. -----.--------~--.-.--.-~- ANDALUSIA, IRONDALE, MOUNDVILLE AND MOUNTAIN BROOK: SMALL COMMUNITIES TAKING BIG STEPS TO CREATE PEOPLE-FRIENDLY DOWNTOWNS. 15 - .. --- .. -----------.. -- .. ---.----------.-....... ~-------- "IN THE WORKS" A SURVEY OF UP-AND-COMING PEDESTRIAN-FRIENDLY PROJECTS ACROSS THE STATE. 19 ARTICLES MAKING BIG PLANS FOR PEDESTRIANS AND BICYCLES SEVENTH AVENUE SOUTH DEMONSTRATION PROJECT INCORPORATES NON-AUTOMOBILE TRANSPORTATION. 20 SYMPOSIUM OVERVIEW HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE SYMPOSIUM ON THE CITY. 22 DEPARTMENTS Project.A.News Work of statewide significance. 4 . .•..•. ----~---... --.-----~-~.---- ACDP.Update Proposed changes in the program. ---~--.. --~ Historical'iPerspectives Chattahoochee In-di_an .H_er itage Center. .. _----_._-- Designer@?Profile Interior Designer Rebecca Hatcher. Design.Makes A Difference ResCore project. --~ Details+Of Interest Noteworthy observations. 7 8 10 24 25 Project .. News DesignAlabama 4 Project News is a regular feature of DesignAlabama and provides an opportunity to keep up-to-date on design projects that have an impact on our communities. Southeast Cardiac Building, Montgomery Darden Oaks Communiiy Housing, Opelika Phelan Park, Birmingham The Mobile County School Board recently selected The Architects Group Inc. for the design of a new $12 million high school in the Grand Bay/Alba area. Engineering services and environmental compliance support for the project will be provided by BCM/Smith Environmental. This award is one of several new school projects included in a new $60 million bond issue recently announced for Mobile County. Southeast Cardiac Building Partners in Montgomery has selected Goodwyn, Mills & Cawood Inc., also of Montgomery, for the design of their new 72,OOO-square-foot, $9.5 miliion cardiac cath lab/medical office building. In association with McCauley & Associates of Birmingham, medical consultants for the project, the architects have selected a four-coior granite skin system to complement the exterior design. The facility, which also wil! include diagnostics, examining rooms and a state-of-the-art medical record retrieval system, should be ready for occupancy by mid-1997. The Alabama Council of Human Relations recently approached Auburn's College of Architecture, Design and Construction to assist in the design of a unique affordable housing complex for the city of Opelika. The $2.5 million project is being constructed on a site formerly used as a high school football field in Opelika's Darden Oaks neighborhood. Chris Caloti, a visiting associate professor in Auburn's School of Architecture, was the principle designer of the project Borden, McKean & Payne, Architects of Montgomery is the architect of record, providing the construction documents and overseeing construction of the project. CaloU's design utilizes 10 two-story rowhouse-type units per building instead of the typical eight-plex plan (four units upstairs and four downstairs). Because of time constraints and federal guidelines for this type project, students did not participate in the design process, however, a second project is in the works in which students will have the opportunity to partiCipate. Located at the center of a revitalization and historic district in Birmingham's Southside, Phelan Park was once a center for drug dealers and prostitutes. Now, as part of a combined effort by the City of Birmingham's Department of Planning and Engineering, the Five Points Neighborhood Association and local businesses, Phelan Park and the surrounding neighborhood have been given a new life. The project, an example of how public/ private partnerships can improve whole neighborhoods, was designed by Lois Harrison of Grover & Harrison PC with extensive community input, managed by Russell Program Management Inc. and built by A. G. Gaston Contractors. The new park's open, organic design centers on a stone-capped circular siUing-wall surrounding heavy-duty round picnic tables. A walkway leads from the crown of the circle to a playground with state-of-the-art equipment donated by a neighborhood business, HealthSouth Inc. A stone wall marking the former park boundaries was removed and pedestrian ways introduced to clearly define the park as a focal point and gathering place. The project included significant improvements to the neighborhood's sidewalks, landscaping and lighting. These incorporate, among other upgrades, almost 13,000 square feet of new sidewalks, 4,350 square feet of concrete pavers, 49 new wheelchair ramps, 595 linear feet of new curbs and gutters, 54 stone-composite light poles, almost 1,000 new trees and shrubs and 45,875 square feet of new sod. These improvements, combined with Dreamland Restaurant's crucial decision to renovate adjacent commercial space have brought the community back to its focal pOint: Phelan Park. As part of Atlanta's preparation for the 1995 Summer Olympics, the Corporation for Olympic Development in Atlanta commissioned Birmingham landscape architecture firm Nimrod Long & Associates Inc. for the reno��vation of Hardy Ivy Park in downtown Atlanta. The current plan for the park's renovation and the rerouting of surrounding streets has been reworked from the firm's winning design for the 1991 Peachtree Street Competition. The triangular park will be anchored on the northern tip by the 1910 statue of Stanley Spencer, Southern Railroad's first president, by Lincoln Memorial sculptor Daniel French. Portions of the 33-foot tall facade of Atlanta's Carnegie Library, which had been stored in a pasture at Atlanta's Prison Farm since the building was demolished in 1977, will be reassembled to create a pavilion at the southern end of the park. The park will be regraded so that the central plaza, containing seating and a food kiosk, is elevated and visible from the street in an effort to make users feel safer. The project, which will cost approximately $1 million, should be finished in time for the Summer Olympics. Another sign of the preparation for the upcoming Olympic games is the renovation of Lenox Square Mall in Atlanta. Birmingham-based landscape architecture firm Grover & Harrison PC recently completed the interior and exterior landscaping for the $50 million expansion and renovation of the mall. The expansion adds a 170,000 squarefoot second level and 50-60 new stores. Grover & Harrison redesigned the front entrance of the mall, adding a series of flags commemorating the countries that have hosted past Summer Olympic Games. The interior landscaping's most outstanding features are the large-scale, European-style topiaries in the shapes of birds, globes and umbrellas. Topiary is the art of shaping plants to create living sculpture and dates back to the early Roman Empire. The topiaries, created by the same artist who makes the animal topiaries at Disneyland in California, were intended to complement the European theme in the design for the renovation of the mall. The interior landscaping also incorporates black olive trees, weeping ficus trees, California kentia palms and decorative urns filled with large flowering plants to create the feeling of an outdoor plaza. INTERIOR DESIGN Southern Progress Corp. has contracted with KPS Group Inc. of Birmingham, to provide interior design for a new office building to house its h h : < h support company Media Services. • h • h • h • h Based in Birmingham, Southern Progress is the largest regional publishing company in the nation, known for such magazines as Southern Living, Cooking Light, Southern Accents and Progressive Farmer Hardy Ivy Park, Atlanta Lenox Square Mall, Atlanta Southern Progress Media Services, Birmingham and for its book publishing company, Oxmoor House. Media Services processes all magazine and book subscriptions and sales and provides computer and training support, customer service and record processing. The building is intended to be highly functional and flexible. However, it was important to Southern Progress management that the new offices echo the look and character of their award-winning headquarters, but with more attention to maintenance, use and cost issues. The tone of the interior of the building is transitional and corporate with great emphasis on expressing the primary exterior architectural features within. The best example is the main conference room found on the second floor. Its 24- foot barrel-vaulted ceiling and square window pattern directly reflect the design of the building's entry, the exterior's most outstanding feature. The interior arrangement is flexible for multiple uses with modular tables. Included is a "natural light" photo studio, which incorporates two working kitchens to provide a unique setting in which to photograph the magazines' cooking sections. The facility, which encompasses approximately 52,000 square feet, is being constructed in the Oxmoor Valley area of Birmingham and should be complete in September 1995. Architectural services also were provided by KPS Group Inc. URBAN DESIGN" Fourteen students and two faculty members in Tuskegee University's Department of Architecture recently completed a Proposed Revitalization Plan for the City of Thomasville. The Thomasville Chamber of Commerce requested the study in response to rapid development of the city's perimeter area and intense citizen interest in restoring downtown businesses. In the absence of any plans of the study area, extensive measurements and photographs were taken to document existing buildings and facilities. Additional site visits and interviews with downtown business owners and civic leaders also provided valuable information for concept development. The study resulted in a proposal that identifies various options for physical reVitalization, as well as recommendations for revised vehicular and pedestrian circulation, marketing strategies for locai businesses, more effective signage, landscaping, storm water control, lighting and handicapped accessibility. The proposals were developed as a general guide for the preservation and revitalization, as well as for the future growth of Thomasville's downtown area. Wetumpka has the distinction of holding the first future land-use charrette in Alabama. No other Alabama community has brought its townspeople together to prepare, in one day, a map showing how and where they want their community to improve and develop over the coming years. The citizens of Wetumpka, working with the Central Alabama Regional Planning and Development Commission (CARPDC), had not been able to agree on a future land use plan using conventional methods. Tracy Pippin, senior planner with the CARPDC, suggested the idea of a charrette similar to the charrettes organized by DesignAlabama's Alabama Community Design Program Darrell Meyer (ACDP). All parties involved agreed and asked Darrell Meyer, AICP, Alumni Professor of Architecture and chair of Auburn's graduate program in community planning, to facilitate the Wetumpka 5 Volume VI, No. II Future Land Use Map of Wetumpka. charrette. Meyer played a key role in the development of the ACDP's charrette program and has been an active participant in past charrettes. Charles Muncaster Assisting Meyer on the project were Charles Muncaster, an architect and planner from Mobile; Scott Finn, chair of Auburn's architecture program; and Patrick Sipple, graduate student in planning at Auburn. They asked questions and compiled and interpreted information from mission statements submitted by some 75 people who attended the day-long event held at the Fain Center in Wetumpka on January 13, J 1996. j The result was a Scod Finn computer-generated future land use map that can help guide growth and development in Wetumpka. Phenix City is another city gearing up for the 1996 Olympic Games. The women's fast-pitch softball events will be held just across the Chattahoochee River in Columbus, Ga., and Phenix City hopes to capitalize on the $25.7 million a day expected to flow through the area during the games. In addition to city-wide beautification projects, Phenix City has begun construction of a 1,500-seat amphitheater and four miles of walking and bicycling trails to be located along the river. The river-front project is intended to complement similar projects planned for the other side of the river in Columbus. The project is funded in part by a $2.9 million grant from the Alabama Department of Transportation and $850,000 in private donations. Architects for the project are Hecht. Burdeshaw, Johnson, Kidd & Clark of Columbus, Ga.; landscape architects are Gullatte & Associates of Phenix City; and engineers are Allen-Simpson Inc. also of Phenix City. The positive effects of this project are already being felt in Phenix City, increasing the momentum of a local industrial recruitment program. According to Mayor Sonny Coulter, the river walk project was one reason that Mead Coated Board recently decided to move its headquarters to Phenix City from Atlanta. In fact. Mead's new $6 million office building will be located adjacent to the amphitheater and river walk. Several other businesses have also expressed interest in locating along the river front. Phenix City residents and public officials hope that the benefits of the project will be felt long after the Olympics. DesignAlabama 6 Polaroid Graphics Coming Home Aubuml Coming Home Auburn! Phenix City Amphitheater .' 1:. ~•.""-'~ ' 0 .... -~ ... "~). Polaroid Graphics Imaging has awarded a design and production contract to SCI Systems Inc. headquartered in Huntsville, for a high resolution color printer used in proofing printed • material on conventional printing stock. The high resolution printer uses up to eight colors and multidensity inks to accurately evaluate subtle color graduations before going to press. Introduced at Europe's DRUPA95, the printer/stand enclosure design is by industrial designer Thomas Deloach, IDSA, of Meridianville, Ala. Mechanical design and production of the printer is by SCI Mechanical Products Division, Laceys Spring, Ala. GRAPHIC DESIGN, Graphic designer and University of Alabama graduate, Bruce Dupree has recently published two children's books that document the fun and excitement of a young fan's first college football game, "Coming Home Auburn!" and "Coming Home Alabama!." In the spring of 1994, Dupree began writing, researching and collecting "scrap" for the two books. "I probably looked pretty strange showing up to ballgames with a sketchbook and a camera," he says, "and after the game was over with, picking up used cups, press passes, tickets, leaves, programs, anything that would authenticate the story." Dupree then decided to publish the books himself and founded his own publishing company, Red Rover Books. In designing the books, he organized the text and the more than 80 drawings on computer. In the summer of 1995, the books were sent to Commercial Printing in Birmingham for publication. Distributed by Seacoast Publishing, the books are available at major bookstore chains, sporting goods stores and other retail shops. The process of writing, illustrating, designing, publishing and promoting two children's books has certainly been a learning experience for Dupree. He says, "the entire process has been like a terrific continuous journey with one adventure after another." FASHION DESIGN The Textile and Apparel Regional Electronic Sourcing System (TARESS), featured in our Spring/Summer 1995 issue, now is available on the Internet. The database, which links textile and apparel manufacturers with buyers, was created under the research umbrella afforded by the National Textile Centera consortium composed of Auburn, Clemson, Georgia Tech, and North Carolina State universities. lenda Jo Anderson, an associate professor in Auburn's Department of Consumer Affairs, was instrumental in organizing the project. TARESS, now known as the National Sourcing Database, is part of the Demand Activated Manufacturing project and is administered by the Clothing and Textile Technology Corp in Raleigh, N. C. It can be accessed through the Internet address: http://avalon.epm.ornl.gov:80/Dama2/. • • • e lSI In The Alabama Community Design Program (ACDP) is one of DesignAlabama's most highly regarded programs. It has been recognized for its effectiveness by the American Institute of Architects, the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies and the Corporate Design Foundation, among others; and it has been the subject of articles in several publications, including one in an upcoming issue of the Design Management Journal. But, as with anything good, it can be improved. The DesignAlabama board and staff are currently assessing the program in order to understand how it can be made more efficient and effective. The ACDP program is premised on the principle of broad-based citizen involvement in decision-making about community appearance and the design factors which affect it. Each locally initiated ACDP effort allows citizens to understand the physical character of their community and the trends which affect it both positively and negatively. This raised collective consciousness forms the basis for defining specific policy, planning and design initiatives to improve the community. The current program first involves a series of activities to lay the necessary groundwork in each community; the ACDP then provides a charrette site team composed of volunteer professionals from a variety of design disciplines. The ACDP site team participates with community leaders and residents to understand the physical attributes of their community, define problems and opportunities, and develop appropriate policy, planning and design recommendations. Since 1989, the ACDP has conducted intensive one- to five-day design charrettes in five Alabama communitiesClanton (1989), Florence (1991), Andalusia (1992), Hartselle (1995) and Scottsboro (1995). The ACDP charrette has been the forerunner of specific design and public improvement initiatives in these communities-Florence has instituted a successful Main Street program and done extensive streetscape improvements in the downtown; landscape improvements by Franklin Setzer ACDP program has served fewer communities than we would like. Many municipalities have expressed interest, but the program can serve only one community per year on average with currently available resources. Further, the intensive, but one-time-only, nature of past design charrettes is not as effective as desired. More front-end work prior to the charrette team visits and more post-charrette follow-up activities such as technical advice, grant-writing assistance and advo��cacy with potential funding sources will increase the likelihood that specific improvement projects will be implemented. In response to these issues, the ACDP is in the process of being reinvented in a form that will maintain its strong points while improving what needs to be improved. Four types of changes currently are being formulated: PARTNERSHIPS AND PARTICIPATION: Increased ACDP effectiveness will require partnerships with other organizations which share our commitment to responsive, community-based design. The partnership with the Auburn Center will provide greater access to both talent and technical resources. A cooperative agreement involving each of the 12 regional planning commissions in the state also has been put in place. Further, we intend to negotiate mutually beneficial agreements with organizations such as the Alabama Planning Institute, as well as state agencies, to accomplish mutual goals in community design and improvement. The ACDP also will drop its requirement that design professionals participating in site teams not seek work in the community for one year following the charrette to broaden the base of professional talent available to the program. REVISED OPERATING FORMAT: Revisions to the ACDP operating format will include three major components. First, a Three- Year ACDP Operations Plan will be developed, including yearly goals and objectives, as well as funding needs and strategies to provide a sound basis for planning and coordinating activities. Second, a shift will occur from the single charrette team have been made to the interstate highway interchanges from 1- site visit to a series of two, three or four visits that take place 65 that serve Clanton; Andalusia is currently implementing an improvement plan for its courthouse square; and Hartselle recently received a state grant to fund design services for a over time in each ACDP community. In this new concept, each visit will be shorter and more focused on specifically defined issues than is possible with the single team visit. ACDP activi-downtown improvement plan. All are either directly or indirect- ties will start with a citizen education program focused on the Iya result of ACDP involvement. importance of design to the local community; then move to a With these successes come some concerns as well. The description and assessment of the community's physical envi-ronment as a basis for establishing community consensus regarding problems and opportunities. Policies, as well as strategies for planning and implementation, then will be addressed. Finally, the details of implementing design proposals will be fleshed out, and the ACDP will provide staff followup to assist in securing additional design services, funding and other technical advice. Third, an initiative to integrate available technologies into the program-with emphasis on computer-based imaging and data management-should improve work quality, efficiency and make the monitoring of implementation efforts more manageable. FINANCIAL PLANNING: In the current environment of reduced public funding, the ACDP (like all DesignAlabama programs) is being examined from a fiscal standpOint. The revised operating format will certainly have cost implications which must be identified and addressed. The funding needs currently anticipated will require the creation of a predictable funding base. Corporate sponsorships will likely be one component of a comprehensive funding strategy PUBUC EDUCATION ABOUT THE ISSUES: Finally, DesignAlabama intends to place even more emphasis on public education about community design with the publication of a Community Design Handbook. The book will serve as a citizen's primer about community design and its importance to economic development and quality-of-life issues in the local community and will provide information about the program, including the steps required to become an ACDP community. • • • The AGDP program assessment is still ongoing. We Vlelcome any sug-gestions you might have on ways the AGDP can beffer serve Alabama com-munities. Please contact DesignAlabama with your ideas by fax at (205) 323- 8385 or mail at 204 North 20th St., Ste. 201, Birmingham, AL 35203. ••• Franklin Seizer is an associate professor of architecture and director of the Center for Architecture and Urban Studies for Auburn University. He is also the new executive director for DesignAlabarna. 7 Volume VI, No. II Historical~Perspectives ee ~'Re· · e Fire" DesignAlabama 8 by Kathy Hamrick ~ family of people flomished here,inour hbmeland long before imdl()nger thanou.r nation has be,en. Highly.~ivilized and gifted, the Creek Indian culture lost its identity and heritage under the advancing AmeriCan dream. The "flame" of Indian life was Virtually snuffed out. The Chattahoochee Indian Heritage Center at Fort Mitchell is a gesture to rekindle the fire of the Creek Indian culture, whose people were harshly treated and long ignored in history. A collaboration of architectme, landscape deSign, fine art and graphiC design, the Center is designed to celebrate the cultme and accomplishments of the Creek Indians who indwelt the Chattahoochee River Valley until their removal. By incorporating native American symbolism and contemporary deSign, the Center will be a tangible representation of reconciliation with people who once believed themselves bitter enemies but are now people of "kindred fire." The Indian Heritage Center, to be constructed within Ft. Mitchell County Park, will tell the story of the early inhabitants of the Valley through its 26-acre environmental setting incorporating words and symbols, a monument, plaza, amphitheater, trails and ball field. This "museum without walls" seeks to remove participants from the contemporary American landscape and envelop them in the realm of Creek Indian cultme and the time before. Guests not only see but also feel, experience and, hopefully, identify with the Creek Indian in his world. The Center functions to educate intellectually, aesthetically and spiritually. Visitors will enter a Pilthway that winds 250 feet through a wooded section reminiscent of the woodland origins of the Creeks. Participants are introduced to the cultme and contributions of the Indians by a series of bronze plaques describing their lifestyle as hunters, gatherers, craftsmen and as people of dignity and sensitivity. Participants will emerge at the summit of an earthen platform onto a plaza patterned after the square ground, a meeting place where all-important events of history and faith were consummated. The plaza is to be iniaid with concrete pavers of black, red and buff in the design pattern of the Stomp Dance, critical toc the annual Green Com Ceremony. These colors reflect the Creek culture and are found consistently on Creek artifacts. Four curved concrete "arbors" seating 30 people each, will deck the plaza at the cardinal directions after the architectural arrangement of the Creek village in a square. Disks of white, blue, black and red, positioned on the backs of the arbors, symbolize birth, youth, death and warriors, respectively. The sacred fire sculpture emanates from the plaza center. Stainless steel and bronze constructions intertwine at the base in a spiral, open skyward and taper to a 20-foot flame weighing 10,000 pounds. The two flames symbolize the Indian village distinctions of red (war and politics) and white (peace and religion) that, united, formed the Creek Nation. The sacred fire was the center of all life among the Creeks. The sun was the face of their supreme god and fIre was a small bit of that deity on earth. The sun and the fIre pro- ) - j s ; Left: Brick pattern for the plaza is laid in the design 01 the Stomp Dance. Right: Four concrete arbors lace the sacred lire sculpture that blazes in the center 01 the plaza. Inset: The site plan shows the picnic and parking areas to the left, the plaza in the center and the 450·foot·long ball field on the right. vided light, warmth, sustenance .. .life. The flame represented purification and new life, as all flres were rekindled from the sacred fire. The sacred fire sculpture has historical authenticity while expressing aesthetic values from the past for today's and tomorrow's generations, uniting all as American people "of the same fire." Four horizontal pillars of Dakota mahogany granite, placed around the sacred fire and pointing to the cardinal directions, represent the four logs of the sacred fire. Upon each inner end of the granite logs rest four pillars of yellow Brazilian granite, forming a square around the flre. These represent the ears of corn placed upon the logs. A 25-foot pole standing west of the plaza exemplilles the effigy pole of the Creek ball field, the Creek ideology concerning the movement of life toward the setting sun, and ultimately their removal to the West. Large bronze plaques will be set in the ground around the plaza. These will list 3,500 names of the Indian household heads of families living in the Chattahoochee Valley before removal in 1833. 11lis plaza "square" will serve as an educational site for symposiums, plays, cultural reenacttnents, dances and other programs provided through the Indian Studies Consortium. Sixty feet further to the south, visitors stand on the brink of the amphitheater which steps down 35 feet vertically and 200 feet horizontally to a great ball playing field, where spectacular Indian ball games will be held. An unbroken vista over boundless greenlands, the love and lifeblood of the Creek Indian, unfolds to the horizon. An interpretative nature trail enwraps the entire Center with plant����ings of herbs and vegetation used by the Creeks for food, medicine and ceremony. Another trail will lead three-quarters of a mile to the Chattahoochee River. Extensive tree, shrub and vegetation plantings will restore the site to period forest conditions. The Center's parking area, plaza and sculpture will be lighted for night use, and power will be available for special events. A picnic area will be located below the parking lot. The site will be handicapped accessible. The Fort Mitchell location in Russell County is steeped in Indian frontier history. The largest concentrations of Creeks were here in the lower Chattahoochee River Valley, and the fort was an origin for the Creek Indian Trail of Tears. The Chattahoochee Indian Heritage Center, proposed by the Chattahoochee Indian Heritage Association and the Historic Chattahoochee Commission, was implemented as a design competition. The Jaxon Co. Inc. with a design team consisting of Jay Jaxon, account executive, Kathy Hamrick, art director, and Mike Hamrick, architect, were selected for their design package. Barrett and McPherson provided civil engineering services, and Larry Godwin provided technical assistance and sculpture fabrication services. The first phase of ball field construction, amphitheater construction, culverts and site grading has been completed with the assistance of the US. Army engineers from Ft. Benning. The bid for the second phase of plaza construction, parking lot and roadway construction, electrical service and lighting, water service, stonework and walkways was awarded to Cline Construction Co. of Columbus and will be completed in July of 1996, in time for the Summer Olympics. Assistance is being provided at the second phase by the Russell County Commission. Fundraising for future phases of construction to include the sacred fire sculpture, interpretive trails, additional signage and improvements is ongoing. Tax-deductible contributions may be mailed to: The Chattahoochee Indian Heritage ---- Center, P.O. Box 33, Eufaula, AL 36072-0033. For more information contact Doug Purcell, executive director of the Historic Chattahoochee Commission, (334) 687-9755. ~ Kathy Hamrick, in with'conjunction: with her husband, Mike, an architect, and jay jaxon, president of jaxon Co .• has pro-duced sculpture for a number of jimts and organizations from throughout the SoUtheast including BellSouth, ColeriianCo.'(AsSOCiated Press, Rock Tenn, Montgotniny Bilst1iess Council for the Arts and Charbroil. She is a freelance art director and nwther of six. 9 Volume VI, No. II Designer~Profi Ie DeslgnAlabama is proud to announce the addition of a new department to our journal. The Designer Profile is our way of introducing our readers to innovative and noteworthy designers across the state . • Rebecca Hatcher '1 reached a )JI)int ldwre I needed i(; gicl! f)(!d~ to the C(mnnuJlfzv much to /lie." The owners 01 the new Hot & Hot Fish Club, located on Birmingham's Southside, asked Hatcher to help create a unique, hand·crafted look lor the interior olthe restaurantto complement their unique and creative approach to lood. The use 01 custom·designed chairs, tables, bars and chandeliers crafted by local artisans gives this restaurant its one·ol·a·kind look. Laura Quenelle serves as the adminis· trative director of DesignAlabama. She holtis a B.F A. in Historic Presemation from the Savannah College of Art & Design. DesignAlabama 10 Interior Designer by Laura Queneile Interior designer Rebecca Hatcher has demonstrated both exem· plary talent in the field of interior design and a substantial commitment to the community. She is an outstand· ing designer and an outstanding citi· zen as welL Hatcher founded the interior design firm, Hatcher Design Associates as a one·person firm in 1979. The business now employs nine full·time designers, assisted by a three-person support staff. The firm's success is well documented. Hatcher Design specializes in interior design for medical facilities. Hatcher prefers these projects because of the creative challenges posed by heavy use of the facilities and the limitations imposed by standardized materials such projects require. The firm also has worked with many local commercial clients, but roughly 50 percent of its clientele are associated with hospitals or other medical facilities. Hatcher's list of professional affiliations is long and varied. She was past secretary of the American Society of Interior DeSigners and past treasurer of the Institute of Business DeSigners. She serves on the Vestavia Hills Landscape and Architecture Review Committee board and is a member of the state Chapter of the Newcomen Society, a national organization that honors outstanding entrepreneurs. Hatcher also is velY involved with her alma mater, Auburn University. She currently serves as the chair of the adviSOry board for Auburn's Interior Design Program and as a member of the campus-wide Research Advisory Council, which reviews and approves the university's research projects. Hatcher'S involvement with civic and charitable organizations is equally as extensive. However, she insists that she has not always been so involved, noting, "I reached a point where I needed to give back to the community that had given so much to me." That realization has led her to involvement in a wide variety of activities. Since 1993, Hatcher has been a member of Leadership Birmingham, an organization that proffers educational programs on a variety of issues for a membership comprised of business, community and religiOUS leaders in the Birmingham area. Leadership Birmingham provides its members a chance to learn from and interact with leaders from all walks of society, and Hatcher feels that she has benefited greatly from her involvement in the group. Hatcher also is active with Girls Inc. of Central Alabama, a non-profit group which seeks to build girls' capacity for responsible and confident adulthood, economic independence and personal fultlllment through educational and training programs at three centers in the Birmingham area and an outreach program. Hatcher not only selves on the group's board of directors and donates her time to the group's programs, but also has COntributed in-kind design services to the organization, as well as to other groups like the Ronald McDonald House and A Baby's Place, a home for babies born with the AIDS virus. Hatcher served on the 1994-95 board of directors for the Kiwanis Club of Birmingham and currently serves on the YMCA Metropolitan board of directors. She also works with the United Way of Central Alabama, helping them to determine the eligibility of organizations they SUPPOlt. Involved with several local women's groups, Hatcher participates in The Women's Network, The Women's Forum and The Breakfast Club, all groups that provide forums Dne 01 Hatcher's most recent clients, Biohorizons is a young biomedical engineering lirm based in Birmingham. The interior 01 their oftice building needed to convey the relaxed, Iriendly personalily 01 the company and still speak to the highly technical aspect olthe products they create. Hatcher's use 01 bright finishes, natural woods and comlortable lur· nishings serves to create an atmosphere that is warm, casual and professional. for discussion and interaction among professional women in the Birmingham area. Hatcher and her husband, archltect Everett Hatcher, moved to the Binningham area in the mid-70s. They currendy reside in the Vesta,ia Hills community with their three children, ages six, 12 and 15. Hatcher identifies herself as a big basketball fan. She played on her high school team and played forward for the Auburn Lady Tigers basketball team in college. Today she enjoys coaching and helping wid1 her children's teams. Born in a small town in south Georgia, Hatcher depiCts her family life as very strong and credits her parents for instilling her with a strong work ethic. Her father was a doctor, and her mother, an early x-ray technician, was highly active in their community. Hatcher acknowledges that these early influences also might have inspired her own efforts to"help improve the lives of individuals and the community as a whole and to make Birmingham a better place to live." Whatever the motivation, Rebecca Hatcher srunes as a deSigner who realizes the importance of suppotting the community. May her example inspire others in the design fields to excel as designers and as active and productive members of society. '" A 25-Year Campaign To Make Streets Better for People As part of an urban design initiative to create a new mixed-use neighborhood in Midtown between downtown and the UAR campns, the City of Birmingham is installing phased streets cape improvements like these bordering Southside Station apartments and a new city parking deck The aggregate concrete light post matches those installed on the UAR campus_ Landscape arcbitects: Grover & Harrison DesignAlabama 12 .~ ~ E Birmingham Green, completed in 1973, was the city's first effort (within memory) to introduce pedestrian amenities along a public street. Extendingfrom the railroad overpass north seven blocks to what was then called Woodrow Wilson (now Linn) Park, the brick sidewalks, benches, lighting, trees and ornamental plantings were an immediate success. Though it did not save downtown retail as hoped, the project turned the street into a place, created a climate for investment in major new office buildings and set the city on a course it continues to this day. Birmingham Green was a public/private joint venture with property owners paying a portion of the cost, but the City of Binningham went on to establish public streetscape improvements as an essential function of civic government. In 1989, when the Birmingham Historical Society published "Designs on Birmingham," a sUlVey of landscape history, it noted that the City of Birmingham had completed 46 such projects from Birmingham Green to the present at a total investment of $28.6 million. Since then, the work has continued with such major projects as the Cultural District landscaping along Eighth Avenue North and 1- 20/59, the Civil Rights District, Five Points West and the extension of Birmingham Green south to Five Points South. Funding has come from various sources including city bond issues, federal revenue sharing and street warrant funds (the pOltion of state fuel taxes returned to the city and earmarked for street improvements). If this sounds like a lot of money, keep in mind the years over which the work has been programmed. Assume the total today reaches parts add up to something greater. Consider a north-to-south tour starting at BirminghamJefferson Civic Center, along the Commemorative Garden Waik, through Linn Park, down Birmingham Green (updated in the early '90s), then along Birmingham Green recently extended south through Midtown, past DAB to Five Points South, then along Highland Avenue. Every step of the way (or block driven) has been transformed by public streetscape. Vutually all projects have been designed under contract to Birmingham landscape architecture firms, with selected others executed by archltects. At the same time, the city's aggressive urban design initiative has assured a certain level of compatibility and fit with larger plans. (Note: the unfortunate suburban-style design for 19th Street and adjoining avenues deSigned by architect Pedro Costa preceeded the establishment of the Urban Design Department). il: $50 million. Averaged over 25 years that amounts Affected citizens' participation in project designs also has been assured through the use of the city's active neighborhood organizations, Commercial Revitalization District representatives and various committees of Operation New Birmingham (ONE) involved in city center issues. >- ~ to $2 million per year, a reasonable amount in a o If city this size. What has made public streetscape so transforming of Birmingham's urban core and many neighborhoods is that Birmingham did not stop with a few token projects, but developed it, step-by-step, into a comprehensive program linked to commercial and neighborhood revitalization efforts. These projects enhance the urban experience for both people on foot and in cars. Though implemented in dozens of phases, the The first head of urban design, Michael Dobbins, FAlA, did discover that even landscape architects, whom he expected to be sensitive to the larger urban environment, often had to be coaxed to see beyond the limits of a specific project. "We have had to remain proactive in making sure that continuity is there," says his successor, MIT-educated architect William Gilchrist, director of planning and engineering for the City of Birmingham. The extension of Birmingham Green South along 20th installed street light standards based on the classical col- Street creates a continuous pedestrianj'riendly spiue umn produce a strong civic character. Gresham, Smith & from Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center to Five Points Partuers were landscape architects on the lO-block-long South. Along with patterued sidewalks, street trees, project and Nimrod Long & Associates for this segment benches, bus shelters and trash receptacles, the uewly- adjoining the Kirklin Clinic. There have been many interesting paver band wbicb is usually repeated for corner lessons learned and standards set over the years. bulb-outs or special empbasis zones. Ibis Some examples; approacb assures a degree of continuity Fom • A dominant canopy tree is repeated tbe place to place but allows for distinctive variation. lengtb of a street and spaced closely enougb (usu- -Selection of ligbt standards can bave a ally 25-35feet on center) to produce tbe desired powelful impact on tbe arcbitecture of tbe street. unifying arcbitectural effect. In some instances, A traditional metal standard based on tbe classi-smaller trees or treejorm bollies are used for portions of a street witb wires ouerbead. To avoid possible loss of all tree cover to a bligbt, tbe dominant tree will be varied by street. Ibis also brings distinction to a street, like Second Avenue NOl1b lined tuitb ginko trees. It lDa'! iVimrod Long's J1u')ter street tree planfor downtown (implementation begun in 1984) tbat set tbis pattern. cal column but witb an arched pendant arm used along Birmingham streets tbrougb the 1950s bas been designated for use along Bim/ingbam Green Soutb, Cicic Center Boulevard tbrougb tbe expanded BirmingbamJefferson Cicic Center (B.!CC) and otber city center streets. Repeated at closer distance than usual today, tbese bl£lckjinisbed columns bridge between pedestrian and automobile scale and establisb ciuic presence. Similar!)', tbe smaller globe-toppedflXture used in Linn Park was carried under tbe elevated 1-20/59 expressway along 21st Street Nortb as pal1 of a streetscape project to .~ link the BJCC to tbe expanded Birmingbam g" Museum ofA lt and destinations beyond. The fix;- :c ~ tures boost ligbt lece1s but, just as i1l1p01tant!y, ~ bring buman scale to an otbem,i,e bostile setting. ~ 0. oMore recent r"lfinements initiated by tbe ·Sidewalk improvements may vmyfrom street-to-street or by district, but standardfeatures baue been incOlporated ouer tbe yea/so Birmigba/11 Green sidewalks were brickedfrom curb to building line witb plamers buffering trat- Though design Of specifiC sidewalk segmenIs may be tailored to setting, the City of mayor's office and tbe planning department include two kinds of grapbics.· wayfinding and fie. Tock!.y, most new sidewalk, consist Cif a contin- Birmingham's urban design staff over the years uous paced surface (usually scored concrete) beld estabUshed two basic treatments for urban sideabout 24 incbes off tbe curb. I1?e space between walks. Where there is curbside parking (left), the walk and curb gets concrete pacers on compacted strip between the concrete sidewalk and curb is gravel 01; if tbere is no curbSide parking, grass. In fitted with removable pavers aUowing flexibility this strip go street trees, signs, parking meters and in placement of trees, parking meters and signs. other objects. Cbanges here are faCilitated, and Where there is 1W parking, a grass strip fills the tbe sidewalk gains color and/or texture from tbe edge. Trees here are zelkovas. place-marking. First pbases of tbe wayfinding system include strategically-placed kiosks witb maps indicating major destinations and signs to public parking facilities. The district, or place-marking, grapbics attacbed to existing poles at intersections now include tbe FOUl1b Avenue N011b District, tbe Cultural DL,trict and tbe Loft District. 13 Volume VI, No. II Light standards are often fitted with graphics To create human scale on 21st Street North Streetscape was coupled with an urban design demarcating various districts or, as here in extending under the elevated 1-20/59, the plan for the Birmingham Civil Rights District. the Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center area, pedestrian-scale light fixtures and railings Grover & Harrison picked up brick colors prOViding way;/inding information. were included in a streetscape renovation from the historic Sixteenth Street Baptist designed by KPS Group. Increased light level Church (background) and new Civil Rights greatly enhances the passage, but the fixtures Institute for paving patterns. themselves are the key factor. The City of Birmingham's experience says Virginia Williams, chief assistant to Mayor with making streets inviting to people has proved Richard Arrington Jr. "The FOUlth Avenue NOlth satisfying both to those adminstering the program group has put their logo on everything they do." and those benefiting. "It is interesting to me how Looking back over the program as part of a larg-really proud people are of their district signs," er urban design initiative, she adds, "We have UAB Gets With It One of the dynamic aspects of Birmingham's city center is the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) campus, happily not located out on the urban fringe like so-called urban campuses at University of North Carolina at Charlotte and Auburn University at Montgomery Since the early 1980s, UAB has made the most of this with a sophisticated campus planning process. Attention to the character of streets, sidewalks and open spaces has come only in the past five years, but changes for the better have been dramatic. Sidewalks in the UAB Medical Center blocks, the tenniS courts. Landscaped gateways also have been placed most densely developed part of the campus, were the first to at key approaches to the campus. And, in a dramatic trans-be upgraded with brick headers, edging and corner landings. formation, the parking lot that once demeaned historic Benches, pedestrian-scaled light fixtures and excellent direc- Hillman Hospital on 20ih Street, where the medical center tional graphics have humanized this zone. University Boulevard, a four-lane divided arterial extending east-west through the gO-plus-block campus, has been comprehenSively treated with sidewalks, trees, light fixtures, parking lot screening and median planting. At University and 18th Street, a small but urbane park occupies a site that once held a.slgnAlabama 14 began, is now a beautiful green square. The City of Birmingham has contributed finanCially to certain of these projects. Between them, UAB and the city have forged a palpable bond with attractive sidewalks and public spaces. At. conSistently tried to tie things together, and the streetscape, lighting and graphics have been effeaive tools. It's when you look at blocks we haven't gotten to yet that you realize the transformation. In 20 years it's just a different place." At. Within the past six years, UAB has devoted great attention to streetscape and landscape improvements. Here the gateway to the medical center on 19th Street has been defined with gateway treatment that includes benches much used by visitors and staff during lunch breaks. A formerly undistinguished University Boulevard through " the UAB campus has been transformed with a compre" E ji hensive streets cape landscape plan prepared by g & Gresham, Smith & Partners. In addition to new sidewalks, £; trees and pedestrian-scale light standards, parking lots t*f. have been effectively screened and softened. The city of Andalusia, founded in 1843 as the new county seat for Covington County, was once a thriving commercial center. In the ear61 twentieth century the community boomed as two major railroads extended lines to the city to service the county's thriving lumber industry Like thousands of other cities in America, Andalusia began to decline after World War II. Officials responded to this decline in a number of ways. In 1946, a new street was cut through the heart of its old courthouse square and new parking installed on both sides. This action, though well-intentioned, greatly diminished the character of the downtown area. Changes in retail practices and the development of outlying strip shopping centers further eroded the downtown retail core. Since the 1960s, several attempts have been made to revitalize the dovmtown. Most projects, however, were never funded or involved only the renovation of a few histoIic buildings. In 1992, Andalusia was the subject of a design chalTette organized by DesignAlabama's Alabama Conm1unity Design Program (ACDP). The team worked with tl1e city's public officials and citizens to generate design proposals tl1at addressed specific design problems faCing the community. Proposals generated by the team's widely publicized visit served as an in1portant catalyst for city action. In 1994, the City retained the Binningham landscape architecture and planning firm, Cecil Jones & Associates Inc., and the local engineering finn, Carter, Darnell & Grubbs Inc., to prepare the Downtown Andalusia Revitalization Pian. This study, together with an area-wide transportation study prepared by Post, Buckley, Schuh & Jernigan Inc., examined existing conditions, presented conceptual proposals and recommendations for future development and outlined an implementation strategy for ad1ieving the proposed revitalization. The study reiterated the ACDP's recommendation that restoration of Andalusia's courthouse square would anchor the revitalization of downtown and create an attractive focal point for the city. The plan also offered strategies for preserving historic resources; providing additional John Tisdale, chairman of Andalusia's Downtown Redevelopment Authority (left) with Dale Fritz, landscape architect with Cecil Jones & Associates of Birmingham· An overhead view before work began. parking, in1proving pedestrian and vehicular circulation and upgrading public infrastructure in a 105-acre area of the city center. After review by the Downtown Redevelopment Authority, city officials and citizens, Andalusia was ready to move forward with the first phase of the project-the counhouse square. 111e City retained Caner, Darnell and Grubbs Inc. to prepare the final plan with the assistance of Cecil Jones & Associates Inc., led by landscape architect Dale FIitz. The plan for the square consists of a nine-square gIid surrounded on all four sides by public parking. The three sections on each side of the grid are separated by sidewalks. The corner sections are anchored by raised planting areas landscaped with overcup oaks. 111ese areas are contained by brick seating walls, eliminating the need for benches. 111e central sections of the square spanning east to west contain open lawn areas. This maintains the visual axis across the square as it is approached on the main thoroughfare which runs east to ,vest through the dmvntown area. Sidewalks and streets hordering the square and those in the first block of sun'ounding streets were replaced. Additional parking was added, and wheelchair ramps and decorative light fixtures installed. The majority of funding for the 51.8 million project was provided by the City of Andalusia, with additional support from a variety John Harris, of Masonry Specialty Co in Montgomery, lays embossed bricks sold by the Downtown Redevelopment Authority to raise money for the project. A view of the square during construction. of sources. The City received a S600,000 Federal Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), as well as a $20,000 Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs planning grant to fund the creation of the Downtown Andalusia Revitalization Pian. 111e Downtown Redevelopment AUu'1ority, incorporated at the reconm1endation of the ACDP, provided 580,000 toward the cost of brick pavers and seating walls in the square. Chaired by John Tisdale, the Redevelopment Authority played a key role in generating public support and funding for the project It provided a portion of the matching funds for the planning grant and helped secure the CDBG, as well as a $100,000 grant from the Alabama Department of Transportation under the Intennodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA) to fund street and sidewalk improvemenls directiy south of courthouse square along South Cotton Street. According to the plan, full implementation will cost approximately 57 million. At present. the City is in the process of securing funding for the remaining phases of tl1e plan. At the time of printing, the courthouse square was nearing completion. According to Mayor Paul Armstrong, the benefits of the project are already being felt with property values and private investment in ti1e area on the rise. "It's been tough," the mayor says, "but we can see the light at the end of the tcmnel." ~ The final plan for the square shows the courthouse directly to the north of the square At the center is the nine-square grid with corner plantings. 15 Volume VI, No. II The historic commercial district of Irondale, located only a few miles east of downtown Birmingham, was once considered a "slum and blight area" by the Irondale City Council based on the poor condition of its public improvements. It now has been given new life thanks to the interest generated by a successful novel and movie and the efforts of the City of Irondale and the Jefferson County Office of Planning and Community Development. Fannie Flagg's book "Flied Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe" was set in Irondale's old commercial district. The district languished until it became the subject of renewed interest and tourist activity because of Flagg's book and the subsequent, successful movie, In 1993, under the leadership of Mayor David Krider, the City of Irondale initiated the Whistle Stop Revitalization Project in an effort to clean up and beautify the downtown district. The City enlisted the help of the Jefferson County Planning Depanment in prepaling the Urban Renewal and Redeue/opment Plan jar tbe Wbistle Stop Study Area, which represents the first project of this kind to be undertaken by the planning department and can serve as a model for fi.lture commercial revitalization activities of similar type. Conditions in the area posed several challenges. Over the years) industrial activities had sprung up which conflicted with the one-block con1l11ercial district, depleting the area's aesthetic quality. The pleasant, uniform architectural characrer of the district had been lost as buildings were "modernized." And, as in many small towns, the focus of commercial activity had shifted to "stlip development" along a large highway nearby. The railroad that nms directly adjacent to the historic district also posed a problem by making access to the district difficult. Other specific problems present in the area included a lack of sufficient parking; cracked, uneven or nonexistent sidewalks; poor lighting; an inadequate ston11 water drainage system; streets in need of resurfacing; and the presence of two unsightly auto repair and junkyard operations directly adjacent to the commercial district. Construction began in February 1995 and was completed in June 1995. Improvements include a new stom1 drainage systen1, resurfaced roads, nevv sidewalks and crosswalks, decorative street lighting, directional signage) street furniture, Mayor David Krider on the donated caboose that houses the Irondale Chamber of Commerce. DesignAlabama 16 "Before" view of downtown Irondale. landscaping and the constluction of a viewing stand adjacent to the railroad track, modeled after a typical train boarding platfonn. The City also was able to acquire the two auto repair shops and convert the sites to public parking lots. As centerpiece of the project, the viewing platform is located partially within the railroad right-of-way, less than 15 feet from the tracks. It allows visitors a close-up look at trains entering and leaving Norfolk-Southern Railroad's Nonis Train Yard nearby and serves as a safety buffer keeping people away from the tracks. The tracks are a major character-defining element in the area. Rather than trying to hide the rails (an impossible task), the approach was to embrace them \vith a vie\,ving platfon11. According to Mayor Klider, "the railroad tracks, and the fact that Irondale was [clrmed as a 'whistle stop' community, were always a focal point of the idea." Norfolk-Southern played a key role in making the project a reality by allowing access to the railroad right-of-way and by donating a train caboose and flatcar to tl1e City. The caboose has been refurbished to house the Irondale Chamber of Commerce and the Whistle Stop Headquarters, a promotion and tourist center. The flatcar is being restored for use as a stage for future public events like tl1e Annual \'V'histle Stop Festival held every May and a recently initiated series of street dances and social events to be held in the historic distlict. Visitors view an oncoming train from the safety of the viewing platform. 'After" view with platform on the right. According to Philip Richardson, landscape architect With the Jefferson County Planning Department, the redevelopment plan "respects the commercial district for what it is and does not attempt to remake it into something that has no historic precedent and would not have the support of the city leaders and merchants in the area." General contracting services for the project were provided by Milton Construction Co. Inc. Paragon Engineering Inc. served as civil engineers \'vith stnlCtural engineering sef"v'ices provided by Christy-Cobb Engineering Inc. Funding and in-kind services totaling lTIOre that S225,000 were provided by the City of Irondale for implementation of the project, in addition to more than $400,000 in Federal Community Development Block Grant fi.lnds administered by the Community Development Department of the Jefferson County Office of Planning and Community Development. The Planning Department also worked vvith the City to develop a set of design gUidelines and sign regulations for the district \vhich since have been adopted. Currently, the City is working with building owners and merchants in the area to implement a building facade improvement program to complement the recent streetscape project. According to Krider, "we're on the right track in Irondale, and the beautifully Detail of viewing platform from the city side. unique appearance of our downtown district demonstrates that direction." • Completed in fall 1988, the streetscape projects implemented in the city of Moundville serve as an excellent example of a small town's successful effort to create "streets for people. JJ Moundville, located about 15 miles south of Tuscaloosa, is a rural farming community with a population of less than 1,500. Its downtown had fallen into decline over the years. Some older 'Before" view of downtown Moundville. buildings had deteriorated and vacancy rates were high. In 1986, the City of Moundville initiated the Downtown Revitalization Pian in an effort to prevent further decline and to create a downtown of which its citizens could be proud. After City Council approval of the revitalization plan, the City set out to secure a $300,000 Community Development Block Grant to fund streetscape projects in the downtown area and along a residential street that leads into downtown and created the Downtown Revitalization Committee to oversee implementation of the projects. The committee commissioned Harrison Engineering Inc. of Tuscaloosa to prepare the final plan and to conduct a survey to help city officials better understand the needs and concerns of the area's merchants and residents. The survey revealed that its citizens overwhelmingly wanted to maintain Moundville's small-town character and identity. They liked the convenience of their traditional downtown and wanted to preserve and revitalize this area as the focal point of the community. Downtown Moundville consists of a large three-way intersection surrounded by commercial and office buildings. Traffic problems in the area had been identified by the survey as a major concern. A one-way street running through the heart of downtown had Robert Lake, past mayor of Moundville, and Larry Taylor, chairman of the Downtown Revitalization Committee. the right-of way through the intersection making pedestrian movement through the area dangerous and confusing. The plan called for two-way traffic to return to this street and new "After" view with new landscaping. stop signs at each corner to slow traffic through the intersection. It addressed the lack of parking in downtown, another concern identified by the survey, by reorganizing available spaces and adding several new ones on land donated by local businesses. All sidewalks in the area were torn out and replaced with consistent concrete pavers scored to look like brick. The sidewalks were separated from the street by a two-foot strip landscaped with trees and other vegetation. UnSightly power poles were replaced with fewer, more attractive concrete poles and moved back from the streets. thanks in pan to assistance from Alabama Power Co. The most significant aspect of the project was the installation of a landscaped, open space adjacent to the main intersection. This public space acts as an attractive focal point for the downtown and helped improve pedestrian movement through the area by forcing neighboring streets to be narrowed, making them easier and safer to cross. Lighting in the area was another major concern. New lampposts, manufactured at the local Moundville Foundry, were installed to provide consistent, attractive lighting, enhancing the feeling of safety in the area. The aluminum lampposts were less expensive than the traditional cast iron. Improvements along residential Market Street motivated homeowners to landscape their own property Moundville's improvements were not limited to the downtown area. Market Street, a wide residential street lined with attractive, historic homes, runs from a major highway into the downtown area and effectively acts as a gateway into town. Improvements made to this street included the addition of new sidewalks, lamp posts, power poles and landscaping, creating a consistent, attractive character. Robelt Lake, now executive director of I the West Alabama Planning and Development o 5 Council, was mayor of Moundville when the 5 ~ streetscape projects were planned and imple: g ~ mented. Despite obstacles inherent in such an extensive project, Lake feels that the benefits to the town far outweigh any problems that arose during the process. Even those residents originally opposed to the project now can see benefits. "People resist change when they can't see what it's going to look like" Lake says, "but once it was completed, everyone was pleased." According to Lany Taylor, chairman of the Downtown Revitalization Committee, the positive effects of the project have been widespread. The streetscape project in downtown has spurred renovation of many of the area's commercial buildings, and vacancy rates in the downtown have dropped drastically. Improvements in the Market Street neighborhood have inspired area residents to spruce up their own propeIty with new landscaping and other renovations. Most importantly, Moundville citizens have a new attitude toward their town. "As important as the physical changes are," Taylor says, "the most significant change is the residents' renewed sense of civic pride and community spirit." .. Plaza and improved storefronts in downtown showcase the locally manufactured lampposts. 17 Volume Vi. No. II In 1926, Robert Jemison Jr, already renowned as a residential developer in Birmingham, set out to create the area's largest and most generously developed subdivision, Mountain Brook Estates. The site chosen for the development, just over Red Mountain trom downtO\vn Birmingham, was an idyllic natural expanse of 400 acres. It was described in the 1925 Olmsted Report to the Birmingham Park Board as "wild and picturesque." Jemison's goal was to create a conununity with the "chann of the Old English countryside" while maintaining the natural beauty of the indigenous landscape. In Mountain Brook, Jemison succeeded in creating a unique addition to the Bilmingham landscape. With its winding roads, scenic vistas, natural wooded areas and collection of fine homes, Mountain Brook remains one of the most desirable communities anywhere. The development was one of the frrst in America to include a commercial shopping village. Mountain Brook Village and the later developments of English Village and Crestline Village have evolved over the years with their own unique character derived from distinctive architecture, scale and amenities. Although each exempliHes the principles of quality design and respect for the natural environment found in the original plan, the pedestrian qualities have been lost over the years in the mounting need to accommodate automobile traffic. In 1995, the City of Mountain Brook retained the Birmingham landscape architecture and planning frlm of Nimrod Long and Associates, led by Project Manager Joel Eliason, to design streetscape improvements for its three historic commercial villages. The goal of the project is to enhance the existing qualities of each village with specific improvements such as pedestrian -walks" attractive lighting fixtures) reorganized parking and proposals for appropriate infill developments which will strengthen the villages' character and commercial appeal. Steering committees complised of village merchants and city residents were organized in each of the three villages to work with deSigners in creating the final plan. These committees provided valuable feedback, ensuring that the plan would meet the needs of the city's merchants and residents. The streetscape improvements are designed to (Teate a sense of continuity throughout each village by bUilding on the existing architecture and scale and will, in the words of City Manager Sam Gaston, 'enhance our already attractive conllTIercial villages." Quality sidewalks of blick and concrete will replace dangerous or inconsistent pavement, and new pedestrian OesignAlabama 18 "Before" view of English Village "Before" view ot Crestline. lights will provide better illumination in each conununity. Unsafe vehicular intersections will be reworked, and traffIc Signals upgraded. Parking, at a premium in these small villages, will be reorganized for better effiCiency and to increase the number of spaces. Specific improvements in Mountain Brook Village include the addition of a public plaza to be located within the area's main intersection, which is large and circular in shape. Improvements in English Village include widening sidewalks along the main thoroughfare. In the process, streets will be nan-owed, making crosswalks safer and easier to navigate. There are plans also to install a piece of artwork in a cen��trally- located public space. Crestline Village's sidewalks and crosswalks also will be reorganized to better accommodate pedestrian movement. The village's busiest intersection will be reworked and updated with a traffic signal to ease congestion. The addition of a public plaza with a 40-foot clock tower adjacent to this intersection will give the village a strong focal point. 'After" version of English Village with wider sidewalks. ':4l1er" rendering of Crestline with new clock tower The City of Mountain Brook chose a unique method of funding the 53.5 million project. The City Council agreed to raise the city's sales tax by one percent until funcls for the project are raised. City Manager Gaston estimates that it will take approximately five years to raise the necessary funds. After that point, the sales tax will return to its original level. With commercial development in the villages already on the lise, Gaston describes the project as a "win-win situation for the community." Contracting services for the project, which should be completed by fall 1996, will be provided by Stone Building Co. Inc. In addition to streetscape projects in the three villages, Mountain Brook also commissioned Nimrod Long and Associates, led by Project Manager John Courtney, to design a village trail system creating 5.4 nmes of new walkways to connect with 8.4 miles of existing walkways and trails, much of which was part of the city's original plan. The completed system, while enhanCing pedestrian safety, will link all three villages, as well as recreational, cultural and educa-tional facilities in the area. The MOUNTAIN BROOK VILLAGE project was funded by the Alabama Department of Transportation under the Intermodal SUlface Transportation EffiCiency Act (ISTEA) grant program. Scheduled for completion in August 1996 the total cost is estimated at $700,000. Milton Constmction Co. Inc. is the general contractor with the participation of the Jefferson County Roads and Proposed plan tor Mountain Brook Village. Transportation Department, Bridge Division .• Communities large and small throughout Alabama are initiating programs to create pedestrian-friendly streets and public spaces. Here are just a few "Streets for People" projects currently in the works around the state. Auburn County: Lee Population 33,830 Project Name: Auburn Central Area Revitalization Plan Project Scope: Downtown, nearby residential neighborhoods and business districts to the north and east Estimated Cost: Not determined Project Stage: Presented to City Council; No formal action Completion Date: Not determined Contact: Planning Director, City of Auburn (334) 887-4970 PROJECT DESCRIPTION: The plan proposed by KPS Group of Birmingham for the central core includes improvements for traffic circulation and bicycle routes, upgrades of pedestrian connections and provisions for off-street parking. Improving streetscaping in the city right-of-way, establishing a major focal point in the city center and instituting architectural covenants will enhance the village concept. Collinsville County: DeKalb Population 1,429 Project Name: Architectural and Revitalization Plan for Collinsville Project Scope: Downtown commercial district Estimated Cost: $250,000 Project Stage: Planning stage Completion Date: Not determined Contact Mohamed Sieiman Top of Alabama Regional Council of Governments (205) 533-3330 PROJECT DESCRIPTION: A wide range of issues facing the downtown are addressed in this plan. Details include widening of sidewalks and the reorganization of utility equiprnent, parking facilities and crosswalks. It provides recommendations for improved street furniture, light fixtures, signage and landscaping, as well as recommendations for the renovation of many historic buildings in the area. County Population: Project Name: Project Scope: Florence Lauderdale 36,426 Downtown Area Plan 9 blocks Estimated Cost Not determined Project Stage: 3rd phase Completion Date: Not determined Contact: Jane Dembner LOR International Inc. (410) 792-4360 or Barry Broach City of Florence Planning Department (205) 760-6340 PROJECT DESCRIPTION: The plan entails recommendations for new landscaping, street furnitures, light fixture and trash bins. Sidewalks and crosswalks will be reorganized to increase pedestrian safety. Florence's Downtown Area Plan is one of five area plans included in the city's Comprehensive Plan, which was awarded the 1996 Outstanding Planning Effort Award by the Alabama Chapter of the American Planning Association. Toomers Corner, Auburn Collinsville Land Use Map Streetscapes Program, Mobile Downtown Florence Courthouse Square, Opelika -.". Northport Master Plan Mobile County: Mobile Population: 196,278 Project Name: Downtown Mobile Streetscapes Program Project Scope: 34 blocks Estimated Cost: $2.3 million Project Stage: Phase 1 completed Completion Date Not determined Contact: Elizabeth Sanders Main Street Mobile (334) 434-7540 PROJECT DESCRIPTION: The program includes provisions for new sidewalks, period light fixtures and trash bins and landscaping to be installed in the Lower Dauphin Street Historic District of Mobile. It also calls for the replacement of much of the area's aging and deteriorated infrastructure, as well as the repaving of the downtown's major thoroughfares. Northport County: Tuscaloosa Population: 17,366 Project Name: Northport Renaissance Plan Project Scope: Entire city Estimated Cost Not determined Project Stage Planning stage Completion Date Not determined Contact: Waring Blackburn City Planner, City of Northport (205) 339-7000 PROJECT DESCRIPTION: The key element of this far-reaching plan is the creation of a two-mile-Iong flood control levee and river walk along the banks of the Black Warrior River, which runs through the heart of Northport. The plan also will include a number of provisions intended to revitalize the city's historic downtown including, but not limited to, the installation of new landscaping and other pedestrian improvements. County: Population: o elika Lee 22,122 Project Name: Opelika Courthouse Square Project Project Scope 2.3 Acres Estimated Cost: $550,000 Project Stage: 20% complete Completion Date: July 1996 Contact: Waller C. Dorsey Jr. City of Opelika Engineering Department (334) 705-5450 PROJECT DESCRIPTION: The project involves the conversion of an existing public parking lot directly in front of the Lee County Courthouse into a public square. The square will feature an open plaza with a fountain, pavilion, landscaped lawn area and reorganized parking. Period light fixtures will be installed throughout the square. 19 Volume VI, No. II I How do you design or retrofit a city street to make It more attractive and safer for pedestrians and bicycle riders? by Philip Morris Seventh Ave. South was selected as a demonstration project for bicycle/pedestrian retrofit improvements because it carries less automobile traffic than nearby thoroughfares and has inherent pedestrian scale. It connects the UAB campus to nearby services and the emerging Lakeview District. The City of Birmingham will resurface and remark the street to accomodate two lanes of traffic, a turn lane, curbside parking and bicycle lanes. Philip Morris is editor-at-large for Southern Living and Southern Accents. He is Han. AlA. Han. ASL4 and a member of the board of regents of the American Architecture Foundation. DesignAlabama 20 As part of the Birmingham Area Bicycle, Pedestrian and Greenway Plan for Jefferson and Shelby counties, Greenways Inc. and its team of consultants produced a report on three demonstration projects: a new greenway for Shelby County, a rail-trail conversion through parts of Birmingham, ! Fairfield and Midfield and an on-road upgrade for Seventh Avenue South ~ from VAB through the Lakeview District. ~ [ All three have good potential to link neighbor-hoods and destinations (the greenway plan parallel to Highway 119 has drawn enthusiastic response from Shelby County reSidents). But the Seventh Avenue South project has compelling simplicity, as the Greenways report notes: "The on-road demonstration project was chosen specifically to demonstrate how an existing street corridor can be "retrofitted" to better accomodate people on foot and on bicycle. The bicycle improvements recommended for this project, for example, are designed to fit within the existing street cross section. This eliminates the need for a costly road-widening project." Total length covered is 12 blocks, or 1.2 miles. A latent demand analysis shows that many people who live or work in this area take trips under three miles in length, and many of these could be done on a bicycle in less than 15 minutes. With UAB a major generator at one end, the large Compass Bank service center and Forest Park at the other, plus many restaurants and other attractions between, the.route has potential for increased foot and bicycle travel. The present character of Seventh Avenue South also lends itself to such activity. It carries much less automobile traffic (approximately 6,700 vehicles per day) than nearby University Boulevard (Eighth Avenue South) or Fifth Avenue South. There are existing sidewalks on both sides, And many older buildings, now often used for antique stores, shops or restaurants are close to the sidewalk giving the street edge definition and human scale, Because Seventh Avenue South connects to 20th Street and the recent extension of Birmingham Green at one end and the also recent Lakeview District streetscape improvments along 29th Street at the other, it becomes part of a larger system. +- UAB1 MILE The demonstration project report breaks design recommendations into two parts. For pedestrians, the recommendations include: -Improved pedestrian crossings at intersections, either painted or slightly elevated crosswalks (called "speed tables', to slow vehicles. -Curb extensions, or "bulb-outs" at intersections, similar to those used in other Birmingham streetscape projects, which shorten the street crOSSing for people on foot and improve their visibility. -More continuous street tree planting (currently sporadic) along the route. -Improvements to unoccupied or unimproved storefronts. Though not directly on the route, the report also recommends pedestrian improvements at intesections along University Boulevard one block to the south to make it easier for pedestrians to cross this busy, high-speed route and reach the safer, more amenable Seventh Avenue South. For bicyclists, recommendations include: -Convert Seventh Avenue South from tour 10-foot wide travel lanes to two 10-foot-wide travel lanes and a central turd lane, freeing space for bicycle lanes to either side. -Resurface the street and then restripe it to include five-foot-wide bicycle lanes between the travel lanes and curbside parking (see section drawings). -Mark bicycle lanes with decals to clarify use and avoid confusion with right-turn lanes. -Install bike route signs that denote mileage to destinations. The report stresses that grinding out existing lane striping and re-striping is not recommended. Indentations left by the machines that do the grinding create a hazard for bicyclists and old markings visible on rainy nights can create confusion. The City of Birmingham has responded favorably to advancing the project as described. Pedestrians and Bicycles Wl.Etm + CHURCH RCONNE;CTION TO OTHER PROPOSED SIKEI?EOESTRIAN FACIUTE$ S.;v UNIVERSITY Birmingham AreaBicycle,Pedestrian and Greenway Plan A study to becompletedthls summer will become a model inAlabamaforhow the needsofpedple on foot andbicyclecanbegiven\~%irdue in atransporta, tion plan. The Birmingham Area BicycleiPedeslrian and GreenwayPlanprovidesa cOmprehensive inventory of . exisliggconejitions for Jefferson and/Shelbycounties, . selected routes and standards for planning or retrofitting properaccomodation for non-auto needs. Developed under the auspices of Birmingham Regional Planning Commission (BRPC), the yearclong; $250,000 study addresses the need for oHoad bicycle and pedestrian travelways, such as sidewalks and bicycle tributionsfrom the City of Birmingham,Jefferson County, Shelby County and BRPC have made the study possible. The nationally-known.Greenways Inc.based in Raleigh, N C, has developed .theslud/alongwith consultationlromBirminghalTJ~ based Cecil Jones and Associates, the Bicycle Federation of America, the Railsto- Trails Conservancy from Washington,D.C.,and Grover & Harrison, Birmingham landscape architects. Coordinating the project for BRPC is transportation planner Bill Foisy. Withinputfrom an advisory committee and interested citizens, the team developed maps and other lanes, as well as off-road corridors, such as greenways documentation rating various routes for current and and raiHrails (abandoned railroad rights-of-way trans- potential use. A rating system was used to establish the formed into trails). Federal air quality funds and local con- most promising routes along existing roads or elsewhere, Before 7th Avenue-Typical Section Drawing ON-ROAO FACILITY DEMONSTRATION PROJEC, 7TK AVE. SOUTH £X/$,7N$ COII'OITtONS ~ Birmi':;~':;:; Rogional 'f-,-,-~ Planning Commission and these were voted on both by committee members and by the public at workshops. Out of these, three demonstration projects were selected. Upon completion, the comprehensive study is expected to stimulate development of both local and regional routes for pedestrians and cyclists. These routes are identified as having transportation potential related to work, shopping or other types of trips and, as such, will be included in the area's long-range transportation plan for potential funding. Also, as existing major highways are expanded or resurfaced and new routes built, pedestrian and bicycle ways can be incorporated .• I .... ~ ...... ~ .......... ~.~ .......... ~ ....... ~ .. I lb 8' parking 10' Iravel 10' Iravel 10' Iravel 10' Iravel 8' parking dJ lane lane lane lane lane lane After (~l ~ ~ .,.~ I ... .. . ...... {ii .. :,!,:,) lb dJ ' , Ii 8' parking .5' bike 10' Iravel 10' cenler 10' Iravel 5' bike 8' parking lane lane lane Iravell.ne lane lane lane 21 Volume VI, No. II Dean David Mohney works on the fairground charrette with Eduardo Maiz from Florida A&M and Kendra Halliwell of the U. of Arkansas. Corridor charrette students:Jesse Fraiser, U. of Tennessee, Kristi Lemmon, u. of Kentucky; and Andy Rutledge, Auburn University. Symposium Overview: ()({Core/Fringe/Hinterland· Relationships and Responses to Growth and Change in the l?VIf.f1 etropo ll't an Reg'lo n )) by Frmlklin Setzer Event highlights includ-ed the keynote address try Professor Peter G. Rowe, dean of Harvard University s Graduate School of Design, and a day-long design char-rette involvingfaculty and students from six schools of architecture in the southern region. OesignAlabama 22 F ebruary 22-24, 1996, marked an important three days for commu-nity leaders, planning and design pro-fessionals, students and others interested in the past, present and future of our cities, as Auburn University's School of Architecture hosted the sec-ond annual winter Symposium on the City in Birmingham. The event, entitled "Core/Fringe/Hinterland: Relationships and Responses to Grovvth and Change in the Metropolitan Region,1t \-vas spon-sored by the Alabama Gas Corp. and Southern Natural Gas. The symposium offered a full plate of events including design charrettes, lectures and case study presentations by nationally noted educators and practitioners and lively discussion for the nearly 200 people who participated. Event highlights included the keynote address by Professor Peter G. Rmve, dean of Harvard Universit~/s Graduate School of DeSign, and a day-long deSign charrette involving faculty' and students from six schools of architecture in the southern region. The first day was devoted to the 12-hour design charrette which set the tone for the remaining symposium activities. Participating schools included Auburn, Tuskegee University, the University of Arkansas, the University of Kentucky. Florida A & M university and tile University of Tennessee's Urban Design Center in Chananooga. The 44 student and faculty panicipants were organized into four teams, v,lith representatives from every school included on each team. Two charrette teams focused on issues of a ne\vly-urbanizing hinterland and prepared development concepts for a 14- square-mile area of rural Jones Valley in Jefferson County known as the Eastern Valley Road corridor located bet\'veen Bessemer and Vance, home of the new Mercedes-Benz plant. The schemes embodied both innovative and prdgmatic design responses to accommodate ne\v residential, Corn-mercial and industrial gro\vth within a concept to preserve and enhance much of the natural character and amenity of the valley landscape. The other ttvo charrette teams examined questions of inner city revitalization and prepared schemes for the redevelop-ment of the 120-acre State Fair Grounds in Bilmingham's \Vest End. Both fairground schemes addressed oppOltunities to capture the historical and cultural signi£ kance of the site while providing for the specific needs of sun'ounding neighborhoods including service facilities and recreational amenities. The four conceptual proposals from the charrette were presented on Friday morning at the Birmingham Museum of Art (BMA) auditorium. The presentations were followed by a lively discussion of the many issues involved in such projects. Friday afternoon was devoted to the educator's roundtable, a series of presentations and discussions dealing with the education of designers about the city. Case studies of student work at Auburn (by Professor Paul Zorr) and Arkansas (by Professor John Forney and Professor Scott Wing) were presented. The discussion which followed, led by Dean Roy Knight (F.;\MU) and Philip Morris discusses the media and design. Professor Stroud Watson CUT/Chattanooga Urban Design Center), focused on two points about design education, First, the body of knowledge about urbanism that is important and relevant includes historical, economic and cultural aspects that are often peripheral to many other types of design problems but are central to design at the urban scale. Second, the critical role that values play in successful design at this scale includes an attitude of stewardship regarding the larger natural landscape and a hUmility that respects the larger urban process rather than a preoccupation with the design object. Peter Rowels keynote address, given in the main sanctuary of the Episcopal Cathedral Church of the Advent, provided a wide-ranging exposition on contemporary American urban form. Following a brief histoty of our urban evolution, Rowe focused on the changes in urban settlement patterns wrought by the automobile, the interstate highway system and the Federal Housing Administration, which encouraged home ownership in the post-World War II period. He illustrated the difference between the idealized pattern of regional subcenters that was sought versus the real patterns that have actually emerged. Rowe took the design professions to task for our tendency to merely react to presentday dilemmas rather than to address the underlying causes. He stated that while the contemporary American city seemingly embodies principles of mobility and access, the reality is much different. Today, American urbanismcore, fringe and hinterland taken together-really represents the lack of these essential qualities, and the result is the absence of equity for alL Saturday started with a presentation by Carroll William Westfall, professor of architectural history at the University of Virginia. Westfall's talk, entitled IIRenewing the American City,1I was both a lucid indictment of contemporary American urbanism and an optimistic view of what the future might hold. Westfall described Colonial Williamsburg as an example of a uniquely American urban pattern involving three balanced components: land, town and city. Westfall then contrasted contemporary urban patterns to Williamsburg. Today, land is valued only for its ability to generate wealth for the few. "Civicll values of equality and justice-represented in the core of the city-are devalued and often abandoned in favor of the pursuit of wealth through the mindless development of the fringe and hinterland. Westfall observed that the current pattern is institutionalized by laws which mandate the construction of " ... things which we do not like and forbids the construction of what we do like. It is in this last observation that he fmds hope, however. More and more, he observed, we are beginning to understand America!s urban heritage and its unique attributes. He is optimistic that we will continue to rediscover the civic values of equity and justice for all citizens. The remainder of Saturday moming was devoted to a panel discussion led by Philip MOrriS, executive editor of Southern Living magazine, and Vernon Mays of Alexandria, Va., who is an author, design critic and the editor of Inform magazine. The discussion dealt with the media and public education about urban issues. Key points included the fact that the rules under which both the electronic and daily print media operate seldom allow the in-<iepth analysis of complex issues-urban or othetwise-and that those knowledgeable about urban issues must actively seek to be heard in available forums such as newspaper op-ed pages. The early afternoon session was highlighted by presentations made by David Mohney, dean of the University of Kentucky School of Architecture, and Alan Mallach, director of Planning and Community Development for Trenton, N. J. Mohney discussed a new downtown revitalization initiative involving the city of Lexington and his program and showed a 20-minute computer-animated video documenting the results of an intensive, two-week effort involving faculty, students and city leaders. Mallach used current revitalization activities in historic but badly deteriorated parts of Trenton to illus��trate key points about the importance of non-deSign factors such as community panicipation and the pragmatics of implementation. Such factors must, in his view, inform the design work that is necessary for successful revitalization efforts in the older parts of cities. He encouraged designers to respond to the larger socia-cultural and economic purposes that such efforts must serve rather than to focus merely on the narrow self-interests often associated with the creation of design objects. The roundtable discussion that concluded the symposium included both a wide-ranging review of the issues raised during the three days and a spirited call from Rowe, Westfall and Mallach to make concerns of social and economic eqUity-the larger purposes which design must serve��central to the consideration of American urbanism. 0 The second annual winter symposium was a success from several standpoints, but two are of particular note. First, Alabama Gas Cop. and Southern Natural Gas received a national achievement award from the American Gas Association for their ongOing sponsorship of the Auburn School of Architecture Lecture Series, qf which the winter symposium was a part. Auburn is most grateful for their support and pkased about the national recogniJion. Second, the design chaITette was so well-received by students and faculty that the six participating schools have decided to do iJ again (at kast once) next year Plans call for a fall chaITette at either the Chattanooga Urban Design Center; the Universi1y of ArPansas or the University of Kentucky. o In addition to the overall sponsorship by Alabama Gas Cop. and Southern Natural Gas, the Auburn School qf Architecture would like to thank the Birmingham Department of Planning and Engineering and the Jefferson County Offu:;e qf Planning and Community Development for providing information for the chan-ette and the Sloss Development Group, SouthPace Properties and Forstall Art Supplies for donations to defray chan-ette costs. o 23 Volume VI, No. II Design.Makes A Difference J.&.. C-M;7'....<J:> .. '-'"'-""'-" ~ R.,-'''), .... c.. ....".,<"<'» i><£ J"'~""""""<'\l Student design team explains design concepts to Robert Wendt 01 Oak Ridge. DesignAlabama 24 Design concept sketch by student Will Creech. , . MIU WF>U.. ~"""0S 1'>u"""' 7d'..f~/4 a,~<."1.<',U>,'~' . c,...,.....,..,.<><- ... ...-../t'" ~ .....'. " 0""';;' Tv A<-<-<>t.0 J!.<.."-I:u-'<., '...,>S'<t<ro><::.. 1':> :'>"1>,...,~ .. ,,~ a 1'\",,,,,, 4 Tb ""''''"''~) ;:::;<''1 ~ ~''''''7~ (( ~~c,.o. ourth-year Auburn University industrial design students, supported by a team of graduate student researchers, are developing a multi-functional energy- efficient utilities core for residential construction. The research grant, funded by the U.s. Department of Energy, is administered by Robert Wendt of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tenn. The goal of the project, now known as ResCore (Residential Core), is to design a system to be mass produced by industry which will incorporate cost-saving manufacturing with energy efficiencies to reduce construction costs for low, moderate and middle income housing. An additional goal is to use industrial design principles to make the utilities' interface with housing more efficient and more livable for a greater number of people. While attending a review meeting at Auburn, Wendt explained the reason for the project. "What we're looking at specifically is the high value-added portions of the home, such as the appliances, heating and cooling systems, plumbing and electrical systems. Traditional construction methods require these items to be installed individually in a home. Because this involves many different craftsmen and much coordination, it is very ineffiCient. We're trying industrialize this part of house construction, to make it more efficient by doing it in a controlled environment" Wendt commented that modular home construction was not a new idea, having been initiated in the 1950s, but has never flourished. "Our challenge is to try to learn why and to overcome the prOblems," he said, noting that if the concept can be adopted successfully for residential construction, the techniques also may prove feasible for other types of building construction. Auburn industrial design administrators Clark lundell and Thomas Deloach are directing the project, with professor Tin Man lau serving as instructional leader. Student design team members are fourth-year students Will Creech, Daily Gist, David Hall, Tim Lindsay and Eric Schafer. • by Thomas Deloach The entire project requires three academic quarters to complete. The first quarter's effort was concerned with research and development of design concepts. Extensive literature research coupled with on-site visits to industrialized housing manufacturers provided a foundation for analysis and conceptualization. The following quarters focused on developing and building a full-size prototype. A functioning prototype will be installed in a Habitat for Humanity residence to be built in central Alabama in the near future. Research, analysis and documentation of resulting cost savings in construction and operation will follow to gauge the sucess of the effort. An advisory team of outside collaborators was formed to provide input by representatives of potential homeowners. Current industrialized housing manufacturers on the advisory team include Chandeleur Homes Inc. of Boaz, Crimson Industries Inc. of Haleyville, South Ridge Homes Inc. of Hamilton and All Temperature Control Inc. of Florence. Utilities are represented by Alabama Power Co. and home builders are represented by Habitat for Humanity officers in Auburn and Montgomery. Other advisory team members represent the Auburn chapter of AlA, faculty of the Department of Building Science and practicing industrial designers. Auburn's industrial design program was the choice for this project, according to Wendt, due to its problem-solving design methodologies for production along with its history of collaboration with industry and the support resources available from the School of Architecture and Department of Building Science. _ Thomas DeLoach, IDSA, is currently serving as interim head of the Department of Industrial Design in Auburn's College of ArChitecture, Design and Construction. A graduate of the IND program he has a consulting JiJdustnal design office located in MenriJanville, Ala., specializing in product design and development, electronic products and corporate identity TRO HONORED FOR HEALTH CARE FACILITY The Cullman Regional Medical Cenler Replacement Hospital, designed by Birmingham architectural firm The Ritchie Organization (TRO) and featured in our Spring/Summer 1995 issue of the joumal, was one of five winners in the New England Healthcare Facilities Design Awards Competition, cosponsored by the Boston Society of Architects/AlA and the New England Healthcare Assembly. Eligible entries included hospitals, ambulatory-care faCilities, medical office buildings, long-term care facilities and biomedical and specialty facilities. The TAO design was cited for value per construction dollar, efficiency, innovation and function. The awards were presented at the New England Heaithcare Assembly Awards Banquet on March 19. "DRAW YOUR DREAM HOIJSE" Competition As part of "Accent on Architecture Week," the AlA Birmingham awarded three grand prize winners of the "Draw Your Dream House" contest at the annual design award banquet. Winners were Annie Lai of Rocky Ridge Elementary School in Hoover, 1 st place; Graham Overton of Shades Cahaba Elementary School in Homewood, 2nd place for his "A Whale of a House" project; and Rachel Ellis of Rocky Ridge Elementary. 3rd place. There were 282 projects submitted for consideration trom 12 area schools. The judges were Terri Troncale of the Birmingham News, Patrick Davis of The Ritchie Organization, Carl Exford of Gresham, Smith and Partners and Neil Davis and John Holmes of Davis Architects. CHATTAHOOCHEE TRACE HERITAGE EDUCATION WORKSHOP School systems throughout the Challahoochee Valley of Alabama and Georgia were represented at the Chattahoochee Trace Heritage Education Workshop held February 20, at the Columbus Museum in Columbus, Ga. More than 50 teachers, principals, historic preservationists and interested individuals participated in the Chattahoochee Trace Heritage Education Program prepared for the Historic Chattahoochee Commission by Maurie Van Buren, president of Historic Preservation Consulting in Atlanta. Van Buren is a nationally recognized expert in architectural heritage education, the author of the reference book "House Styles at a Glance" and a columnist for Home magazine. At the workshop, teachers learned various ways to motivate students to identity and interpret the social history of loca! homes. The unit is limited to reSidences as the form of architecture with which all students have direct experience. Historic homes are a good teaching tool because they are a physical expression of past lifestyles. Houses express the age in which they were built; reflecting technology, fashion, materials and climate. The unit is composed of four slide lessons entitled Pioneer Homes, White Columns, The Victorian Era and Twentieth Century Homes. It incorporates social studies concepts and has been designed to supplement state and national history textbooks. Students in grades 4-12 interpret local buildings in terms of social history, architectural style, construction techniques, architectural history and landscaping. At present" more than 25 Chattahoochee Valley schools are using the Chattahoochee Trace Heritage Education Unit. The Historic Chattahoochee Commission plans to introduce this unit into every school system within the is-county region it serves in Alabama and Georgia. For more information, contact the Historic Chattahoochee Commission at (334) 687-9755. A w A Cullman Region tv'iedicai Center Annielai with winning design ,, A N R 0 0 F W. " D 0 "S ,, ,, ~ . ,, VISUAL SUlWEY FOP-I"\ if L.J """_"",,,~,,,,,, __ ,,,_,,,,,,,_. _.=fo'~",_",""""",," «.}, ......" ". . ""'".""'" ~;_. . ,.,...,."."""=~oJ'-"" <S'. U<.=. ...~ , "'" "'''''''' o:t.=, SKETCH TME BVU ... PING: One at the visuai survey forms on wrdch studerts circle features that most closeiy resemble those on the building io be identified s Student workshop drawing. Details+of Interest Details of Interest is a regular feature of iJesignAlabama and highlights a wide variety of events and resources. In this issue, a retrospective of 1995 and early 1996 is presented. • ~ .. ,.~~.,,,,,., """~l "''''.-..: ~Q"'.' ,,,.,; ?,e","" "'"~~ ~~ -:..,< ~.1 25 Volume VI, No. II WORKSHOP SERIES The Alabama Planning Institute, an organization that provides training and professional development programs in the broad area of local planning and development, has announced a series of workshops covering three different topics related to community planning issues. They will take place at a variety of locations around the state. The remaining workshops include: • Powers, Duties and Responsibilities of Planning Commissions and Boards of Adjustment June 13 Jefferson County Satellite Courthouse August 13 Gulf Shores/Quality Inn Beachside • Comprehensive Planning: A Guide to Preparing, Updating and Implementing Your Plan July 25 Cullman Ramada Inn August 22 Birmingham Botanical Gardens For more information on the programs or to register, please contact the Alabama Planning Institute at (800) 825-5862, ext. 5. FOR HISTORIC PROPERTIES Communities seeking to save endangered properties in their neighborhoods might want to take a look at Mobile. A successful technique used there since 1992 is known as the Mobile Revolving Fund for Historic Properties. The Revolving Fund's usual strategy is to purchase properties threatened with demolition and perform exterior restoration to the buildings. The properties then are sold to individuals or organizations who will complete the rehabilitation. Upon sale of the building, money is returned to the fund for use on another project The Revolving Fund has completed five projects and is currently rehabilitating two shotgun houses in Mobile's HistoriC Oakleigh Garden District. For more information about the program, contact Mark McDonald, director of the Mobile Historic Development Commission, at (334) 434-7966. NOMINATIONS SOUGHT FOR PLACES IN PERIL 1996 To highlight significant threatened landmarks throughout the state, the Alabama Historical Commission and the Alabama Preservation Alliance are soliCiting nominations for Places in Peril 1996, the annual listing of Alabama's most endangered historic places This listing continues an effort begun two years ago to create awareness of the plight of many historical Sites throughout the state. Two olthe Savannah Sf. houses renovated as part oiihe Mobile Candidates can be any significant historical place actively Revolving fund lor Historic Properties program threatened by abandonment, proposed development or mitigation Included are sites in the following categories: agriculture, archaeology, architecture, art objects, cemeteries and funerary art, historic districts, landmarks linked to historic persons or events, rnilitary sites and structures, landscapes, streetscapes and transportation and maritime sites. A nomination can be made by contacting the Alabama Historical Commission at (334) 242-3184. Clarification: In the fall 1995 Issue of DesignAlabama on page 7, Steven Lee Johnson was misidentified as a landscape architeci. While serving as a member of the DesignScottsboro team, he was a landscape architecture intern with Grover & Hamson in Birmingham DesignAlabama 26 Dr. Valerie Steele HISTORIC PROPERTIES AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE The HistoriC Endangered Landmarks Program (HELP) of the Alabama Historical Commission will be providing periodic mailings offering historically significant properties available for purchase throughout the state. To receive HELP mailings, send your name, address and daytime phone number to the Alabama Historicai Commission, P.O. Box 300900, Montgomery, AL 36130-0900; cali (334) 242-3184, or fax the information to (334) 240-3477. DESIGNER PRESENT LECTURES Two prominent members of the fashion world were in Alabama recently delivering lectures: Dr. Valerie Steele spoke in Auburn and Charles Kleibacker in Birmingham. Steele, one of America's most unique fashion historians presented the 1996 Grisham-Trentham lecture at Auburn University on May 15. She spoke on "Fetish or Fashion? Why Has Fetish Fashion Gone Mainstream?" Educated at Yale University, the cultural historian is the author of five books on fashion and teaches at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York. Kleibacker spoke on "Dress: As History, Engineering and Art" for the annual Robert Hiden Lecture at the Birmingham Museum of Art on May 23. A veteran in the fashion industry, the Cullman native has worked with some of fashion's biggest names in New York and PariS and is a nationallyrecognized lecturer. His own designs have been worn by such Charles Kleibacker celebrities as Mrs. Nelson Rockefeller and then-First Lady Pat Terry Slaughter Nixon. Kleibacker's presentation showcased his personal collection of couture designs by such fashion greats as Adrian, Dior, Valentina and Ben Zuckerman. AlGA INTERACTIVE LUNCH SERIES CONTINUES The American Institute of Graphic Arts (AlGA), Birmingham Chapter continues its 1996 Interactive Lunch Series. Held the second Tuesday of every month from 11 :30 a.m.- 1245 p.m. at Rossi's on Hwy. 280 in Birmingham, the series features a wide variety of topics and speakers. Upcoming programs include: "Pre-Press Scanning Techniques" by Bill Trotter from EBSCO Media, June 13; "Font Managemenr by Micky Henson of Commercial Printing, July 11; "Direct-to-Press Printing" by Chris Cochran with Digital Pre-Press Services, August 8; "Photo CD's ... Is What You See What You Got?" by Ron Bishop of Pomeroy Computer Resources, September 12; and "Pre-Flighting Your Mac Documents" by Randy Jammerson with EBSCO Media, October 10. The Interactive Lunch Series, an ongoing program of the Birmingham AlGA, is an excellent way for designers, as weli as interested persons, to learn about new techniques and trends in the field of graphic design. Recently the AlGA launched a special summer series dubbed "Home-boy Heroes" spotlighting the success stories of some of Birmingham's best home-grown creativity. Terry Slaughter, co-founder, president and creative director of SlaughterHanson Advertising inaugurated the series with a "show and tell" presentation on May 23. Next up on the schedule is Spencer Till of Lewis AdvertiSing. His presentation will take place on June 26 at the Pickwick Hotel at 2012 Magnolia Ave. in Birmingham The evening will begin with cocktails and hors d'oeuvres at 630 p.m., and the guest speaker will "tell all" at 730 p.rn. The event is free to members, $8 for non-mernbers and $5 for students at the door. For more information, contact Barry Graham, chapter president, at (205) 324-0307. POSTERS TO PROMOTE VOTING Alabarnians soon will be getting an extra reminder to register to vote with the help of posters created by Auburn art students. The posters were designed by junior and senior graphic design students in conjunction with Auburn's Center for Governmental Services (CGS), which is working with the Alabama Secretary of State to prornote voter registration. Ed Packard, a CGS research associate who is on assignment with the state Secretary of State's office, said the idea to develop a voter outreach campaign was an outgrowth of the "Motor Voter" law passed by Congress in 1993. The winning designs will be posted in public offices statewide. Recent graduates Terry Manier and Trey Fortner created the designs chosen. ARCHITECTURE ON THE INTERNET The Internet now provides a wide range of Web sites and inforrnation resources related to architecture. Here are a few that we have identified: • The American Institute of Architects (AlA) Online Trey Fortner's winning poster. Provides the interested public with information about arch i- Terry Manier's winning poster tects, architecture and the AlA and provides architects a coordinated access point to information resources on the Internet. Accessed at http://WWW.aia.org/. • AEC InfoCenter·s Architectural Resource Library Provides an index of building product manufacturers and an interactive Question board which allows the user to respond to Questions and requests for inforrnation received by the Architecture, Engineering and Construction InfoCenter. Accessed at http://WWW.aecinfo.com/. • Architecture and Building: Net Resources A comprehensive, up-to-date directory of Internet resources related to architecture maintained by Jean Brown, architecture studies librarian at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Accessed at http://www.unlv.edu/library/ARCH/index.html. • Ikon Systems Provides access to 3-D modeling, photographic rendering and anirnation software and hardware, as well as technical support and a gallery space to display your work on the World Wide Web. Accessed at http://WWW.ikonsys.com. BIRMINGHAM'S LEGION FIELD: PREPARING FOR OLYMPIC SOCCER On February 17, the American Institute of Architects (AlA), Birmingham Chapter and Allied Partners Soccer Sitescape Planning Committee hosted a design charrette to develop site entrances to Birrningharn's Legion Field for the Olyrnpic soccer events. The sitescape consists of gateways, monuments and graphic displays to enhance the pageantry of the Olympic soccer events. Professor Clark Lunde!! expiains drawing principles. AU student Stacee Hatcher investigates 3-D drawing with Paramount High School studenis. Sketches oj proposed entrances to Birmingham·s Legion Field. Design participants included AlA mernbers, associate mernbers, intern architects, students and allied construction professionals. The design criteria was to produce a design that would be econornical, have maximum visual impact and be easy to erect and recyclable. Jury members included Olympic soccer committee members, city officials and design professionals. The jury selected some of the best concepts from the charrette to be developed further and later constructed as Olympic soccer gateways. Sorne of the selected design elements included: • Soccer ball superirnposed over a global image created by students frorn Architecture Explorer Post #583 • Design for a bazaar at the public entrance to Legion Field • Floral and plant design at the VIP entrance • Large-scale gateway sculptures for three of the four entrances Sitescapes will be constructed at each of the four rnajor entrances to Legion Field prior to the two weeks in July 1996 when an estimated 35,000 to 45,000 people will visit the site to attend Olympic soccer garnes The project will be funded by sponsorships frorn local corporations and donations of tirne and rnaterials from Birmingham's building cornrnunity. AUBURN INDUSTRIAL DESIGN STUDENTS: NATIONAL RECOGNITION AND RURAL VISION Auburn's Industrial Design Program recently concluded its second annual VisionQuest Design Project with Brother International. VisionQuest 1995 challenged the students to develop individual design proposals for telecommunications and rnobile office products for beyond the year 2000. Twelve seniors under the direction of professors Laura Prange and TinMan Lau, constructed pre-prototypes of their ideas along with packaging proposals, advertising/marketing plans and user interface details. The students met with representatives of the Research and Development Departrnent from Brother International throughout the quarter. A final presentation was conducted at the Brother International Manufacturing facility in Bartlett, Tenn. In addition, Brother International selected five of the students' proposals to display at the 1996 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in January. The company also awarded those students a trip to Las Vegas to view their products on display. The students selected for the trip included Cindy Aiken, Brian Carey, Will Creech, Jason Matheson and Jason Smithey Also in January, three faculty/staff rnernbers and four graduate students in Auburn's Industrial Design Departrnent participated in the Rural Design Arts Interdisciplinary Curriculum Program (RDAICP). The program involved the students of Paramount High School in Boligee, located in Greene County. It was organized by Ventures in Education (VIE), a national nonprofit group that seeks to implement proven academic strategies in school systems currently functioning well below federal and state standards. At present VIE is working with 84 schools in seven states, the Navajo Nation and the District of Columbia-representing approxirnately 87,000 students and 5,600 teachers. The RDAICP, one ot VIE's many academic programs, operates on the beiief that a challenging and innovative design arts interdisciplinary curriculum which engages students will result in an increase in student problem-solving skills, comrnunication skills, academic scores and knowledge base. Led by professor Brenda Peters, the Auburn team taught groups of eleventh graders the basics of orthographiC and perspective drawing techniques as part of the RDAICP's efforts to integrate the design arts with math, science, social studies and language arts. PartiCipating were professors Peters and Clark lundell, Tom Deloach, and graduate students lee Comer, David Hart, Stacee Hatcher and Chris Schwab. + 27 Volume VI, No. II Vo lume VI, Issue II PUBLIC DESIGN AWARENESS AND EDUCATION DESIGN ALABAMA IS WORKING TO CREATE AWARENESS ANO APPRECIATION FOR THE DESIGN DISCIPLINES THAT INFLUENCE OUR ENVIRONMENT. WE BELIEVE THAT THE QUALITY OF LIFE AND ECONOMIC GROWTH OF THIS STATE CAN BE ENHANCED THROUGH ATTENTION TO AND INVESTMENT IN GOOD DESIGN . "':~":$I... ..... . / ........ ~~~ ....... >. '" ..... . .... .., .......... ::::::::.:)~:> .. Architecture Architects practice the art and science of creating, preserving and remodeling buildings. Ideally they work to articulate an image of the client who owns the building, what happens there and what it means to the community. Once the aesthetic and functional aspects of a design are conceived, engineers and other professionals are consulted to make the building work according to the laws of physics, safety and access codes, and necessities such as electricity and plumbing. Architects are required to have a working knowledge of all these building elements. Landscape Architecture Landscape architects specialize in exterior environments. Theyapply creative and technical skills to overall site plans, landscape grading and drainage, irrigation, planting and construction details. Their task is to preserve and enhance the environment and define space between and around buildings, including entrances and functional or decorative areas. Planning streetscapes, gardens, parks or gateways are also examples of jobs for the landscape architect. Membership Information Interior Design Urban Design Interior designers Urban designers and organize spaces inside planners are concerned buildings, making them with the functional and functional and pleasing visual relationships to the senses. The between components of designer's presentation the physical environment to the client usually in the broadest sense. includes floor plans, Among other things, their color charts, photo- work results in unified graphs of furnishi~gs, samples of materials for plans and proposals for upholstery, draper. 'es industrial parks, and wall covering and subdivisions, downtown renewal proj and of the interior is t1, concern of the desi ne policies to from the first presentation t e social, eco to the installation of the an'd physical needs of last accessory. cOJlJllJ!J.nities, and the develop the strategies to make these plans work. This involves identitying urban problems and opportunities, analyzing and implementing options and evaluating results. Membership in DesignAlabama demonslrales your support for slatewide design awareness in building quality of life in your community and in Alabama. You will be kept up to date on progressive developments taking place throughout the state, have opportunities to learn more about the design disciplines and partiCipate in the exploration of community design issues. All categories include subscription to the journal, annual report on DesignAlabama activity and invitations to the annual meeting and special events. PLEASE COMPLETE THE FORM BELOW AND RETURN IT WITH YOUR CHECK TO: DesignAlabama, 204 North 20th St., Suite 201, Birmingham, AL 35203 Name Address Phone Number Please indicate the appropriate category: _ _ Individual ($25/year) __ Student ($10/year) Please providea copy 01 sludenllO __ Non-profit Organization (No Charge) Siale Fax Number l ip For information regarding corporate sponsorship of DesignAlabama, please call (800) 849-9543. Industrial Design Graphic Design Industrial designers are Graphic designers create responsible for function effective visual and aesthetics in the communications. manufactured products "GraphiC" refers people use every day. to the art that Toothbrushes, toasters, communicates and cars, computer terminals "design" to the aesthetic and telephones are arrangement of the examples of items elements, including type, industrial designers illustration and/or make usable and desirable message in relation to a or human beings. Colors, targeted audience. tex1r es, smells and Through concept and sourtds are some of the art direction, designers ej ts they consider, produce an appropriate and in addition, any advertisement, TV anical or electrical commercial, magazine cemponents of a product format, brochure or any must work properly, number of other visual efficiently and safely. communication projects. ci ...J a: W 11)< 0" 8:f !:::~CNC( u.(/)-I-~ a0:0a~. :ial:"~ Qz .<ri. Dw:.Sa:: o=> _ z '" Fashion Design Fashion designers are style arbiters of dress who interpret the mood of a generation, intuit popular taste and understand merchandising and business principles. They affempt to resolve the contradiction between art and industry in order to construct a collection of clothing and accessories with a unique • sense of style and taste, enabling people to create a personal statement about themselves in the way they dress.
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Title | Design Alabama: The Public Forum for Design in Alabama, Volume 6, Issue 2, 1996 |
Description | This is the Volume VI, Issue II, 1996 issue of Design Alabama: The Public Forum for Design in Alabama, a newsletter dedicated to all types of design in Alabama. This issue features articles on the theme "Streets for People". The newsletter also describes different types of design projects in architecture, landscape architecture, urban design, engineering, interior design, industrial design, graphic design, and fashion design, plus historic buildings and sites. |
Article List | 1. Revisiting the Program; 2. Historical Perspectives: The Chattahoochee Indian Heritage Center: "Rekindling the Fire"; 3. Rebecca Hatcher: Interior Designer; 4. Streets for People: City of Birmingham, Andalusia, Irondale, Moundville, Mountain Brook; 5. "In the Works"; 6. Making Big Plans for Pedestrians and Bicycles; 7. Symposium Overview: Core/Fringe/Hinterland: Relationships and Responses to Growth and Change in the Metropolitan Region; 8. Energy Efficient Design |
Creators | Design Alabama, Inc.; Alabama State Council on the Arts; Auburn University |
Date | 1996-03 |
Decade | 1990s |
Editor | Dugas, Tomie D. |
Art Director | Hartsfield, Nancy |
Writers | DeLoach, Thomas; Hamrick, Kathy; Morris, Philip; Quenelle, Laura; Setzer, Franklin |
LC Subject Headings |
City planning -- Alabama Landscape architecture -- Alabama Urban renewal -- Alabama Historic buildings -- Alabama Historic sites -- Alabama Interior decoration -- Alabama |
TGM Subject Headings |
Social life Residential streets Visitors' centers Interior design Indian reservations Bicycles & tricycles Pedestrians City & town life City planning Streets Recreation Trails & paths Historic buildings Urban renewal Interiors Cities & towns |
EOA Categories |
Geography & Environment -- Human Environment -- Native American Sites Peoples -- Urban Life Geography & Environment -- Human Environment -- Cities and Towns Sports & Recreation Geography & Environment -- Human Environment -- Transportation Routes Arts & Literature -- Architecture History -- Historic Sites |
Type | Text; image |
Format | |
File Name | 1996 Spring-Summer DA |
Source | Design Alabama, Inc. |
Digital Publisher | Auburn University |
Language | eng |
Rights | This image is the property of the Auburn University Libraries and is intended for non-commercial use. Users of the image are asked to acknowledge the Auburn University Libraries. |
Submitted By | Carter, Jacqueline |
Transcript |
Spring/Summer 1996
Volume VI, Issue II
$4.00
THE PUBLIC FORUM FOR DESIGN IN ALABAMA
S T R E E T S
ORePEOPL
DesignAlabama Inc.
Board of Directors:
Rip Weaver, Chairman
Sherlock Smith Adams
Birmingham
Lloyd Philpo't, Treasurer
Ph/lpo 't Des/gn
Decatur
Faye DeMassimo
Federal Highway Administration
Montgomery
Nancy Mims Hartsfield
Auburn University
Graphic Design
Auburn
Henry Hughes
Shades Valley Forestry
Birmingham
Sam W. Kates
W/regrass Museum of Art
Dolhan
Mark C. McDonald
Mobile Historic Development Commission
Mobile
Kenneth M. Penuel
Southern Company Services
Birmingham
Charles W. Raine
Des/gn-Build Services
University of Alabama al Birmingham
Birmingham
Sheri Schumacher
Auburn University
Interior Design
Aubum
Franklin Setzer, Executive Director
Laura Quenelle, Administrative Director
Philip A. Morris, Director Emeritus
Southern Progress Corp.
Birmingham
This issue of DesignAlabama was designed and produced
on Macintosh Computers utilizing QuarkXPress 3.3. Proofs
were printed on a LaserWriter Select 360 and final output on
an Agfa SeiectSet 7000.
Desi nAlabama
Volume VI, Issue II
Cover: People and cars co-exist peacefully along University
Boulevard on the UAB campus. Photograph by Philip Morris.
From the Director:
I realized, while attending a conference in Providence
this past November, that DesignAlabama is held in
extraordinarily high regard nationally, Our publications,
such as this issue of the journal, are touted as excellent
examples of effective public communication by the
National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and the National
Assembly of State Arts Agencies, among others; and the
Alabama Community Design Program (ACDP) is viewed
by the American Institute of Architects (AM) and the NEA
as an exemplary model for the productive "grassroots"
involvement of design professionals in environmental
design issues and concerns of communities.
DesignAlabama does what it does very well. Everyone
including the board, staff, members and others who
participate in our programs-both past and presentshould
be proud.
The board and staff are anxious to continue the quality
and to make improvements so that the organization's
efforts will be even more effective. We are in the process of
reviewing current programs and examining potential new
initiatives that will broaden DesignAlabama's role as
advocate for quality design in the state.
The tasks of maintaining and enhanCing quality on
one hand, while creating productive new initiatives on the
other, seem daunting at times-especially in light of the
changing fiscal environment that we face; but
DesignAlabama will continue its success-with your
continued support,
1- ~CI
I~' -:x~.
Franklin Setzer
Managing Editor: Tomie D. Dugas
Art Director: Nancy Hartsfield
Associate Art Director: Ross Heck
Electronic Illustrations: John Morgan
Contributing Writers: Thomas Deloach, Kathy Hamrick,
Philip Morris, laura Quenelle, Franklin SeiZer.
This publication is made possible through funding by
the Alabama State Council on the Arts.
A special thanks to Philip Morris, editor-In-chief of
Southern Progress Corp.~ tor his on-going assistance
and advice with this publication.
Submission Information
DesignAlabama encourages submissions from
its readers. Articles about work from all design
disciplines are requested. as well as copy related to
historic preservation. Please submil copy along with
visuals (photos, slides, drawings, etc). to:
DesignAlabama Inc.
204 North 20th St, Ste. 201
Birmingham, Al 35203
Items for Project News and Details of
Interest should include a paragraph summary
detailing the nature of the project, the design firm,
principals and associates involved and any other
details that may be of interest such as unusual or
special design features, completion date,
approximate cost, square footage, etc. Also include
the name, address and phone number of the client
and an individual wilh Ihe firm that we may contact
lor further information. The deadline for the
fall/winter issue is August 1. Direct inquiries to
laura Quenelle at (800) 849-9543 or
(205) 254-8545 or by fax: (205) 323-8385.
Back issues are available for $6.00 including
postage and handling. Contact laura Quenelle at the
above numbers to order.
Collinsville land use map marks areas slated
for revitalization. p.19
DesignAlabama is a publication of DesignAlabama Inc.
Reader comments and submission of articles and ideas for
future issues are encouraged.
CONTENTS
Irondale community embraces its
whistle-stop makeover. p. 16
The extension of Birmingham Green South Chattahoochee Trace Heritage Education
along 20th Street beckons with character. p. 13 Workshop utilizes a visual survey form. p. 25
FEATURES
"STREETS FOR PEOPLE"
CITY OF BIRMINGHAM:
A 25-YEAR CAMPAIGN TO MAKE STREETS BETTER FOR PEOPLE. 12
------~---~~- -------.. -----.--------~--.-.--.-~-
ANDALUSIA, IRONDALE, MOUNDVILLE
AND MOUNTAIN BROOK:
SMALL COMMUNITIES TAKING BIG STEPS TO CREATE
PEOPLE-FRIENDLY DOWNTOWNS. 15 - .. --- .. -----------.. -- .. ---.----------.-....... ~--------
"IN THE WORKS"
A SURVEY OF UP-AND-COMING
PEDESTRIAN-FRIENDLY PROJECTS ACROSS THE STATE. 19
ARTICLES
MAKING BIG PLANS FOR PEDESTRIANS AND BICYCLES
SEVENTH AVENUE SOUTH DEMONSTRATION PROJECT
INCORPORATES NON-AUTOMOBILE TRANSPORTATION. 20
SYMPOSIUM OVERVIEW
HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE SYMPOSIUM ON THE CITY. 22
DEPARTMENTS
Project.A.News
Work of statewide significance. 4 . .•..•. ----~---... --.-----~-~.----
ACDP.Update
Proposed changes in the program.
---~--.. --~
Historical'iPerspectives
Chattahoochee In-di_an .H_er itage Center. .. _----_._--
Designer@?Profile
Interior Designer Rebecca Hatcher.
Design.Makes A Difference
ResCore project.
--~
Details+Of Interest
Noteworthy observations.
7
8
10
24
25
Project .. News
DesignAlabama 4
Project News
is a regular
feature of
DesignAlabama and
provides
an opportunity
to keep
up-to-date on
design projects
that have an impact on
our communities.
Southeast Cardiac Building, Montgomery
Darden Oaks Communiiy Housing, Opelika
Phelan Park, Birmingham
The Mobile County School
Board recently selected The
Architects Group Inc. for the design
of a new $12 million high school in the
Grand Bay/Alba area. Engineering services
and environmental compliance
support for the project will be provided by BCM/Smith
Environmental. This award is one of several new school
projects included in a new $60 million bond issue recently
announced for Mobile County.
Southeast Cardiac Building Partners in
Montgomery has selected Goodwyn, Mills & Cawood
Inc., also of Montgomery, for the design of their new
72,OOO-square-foot, $9.5 miliion cardiac cath lab/medical
office building. In association with McCauley & Associates
of Birmingham, medical consultants for the project, the
architects have selected a four-coior granite skin system to
complement the exterior design. The facility, which also wil!
include diagnostics, examining rooms and a state-of-the-art
medical record retrieval system, should be ready for occupancy
by mid-1997.
The Alabama Council of Human Relations
recently approached Auburn's College of Architecture,
Design and Construction to assist in the design of a
unique affordable housing complex for the city of Opelika.
The $2.5 million project is being constructed on a site formerly
used as a high school football field in Opelika's
Darden Oaks neighborhood.
Chris Caloti, a visiting associate professor in
Auburn's School of Architecture, was the principle designer
of the project Borden, McKean & Payne, Architects
of Montgomery is the architect of record, providing the construction
documents and overseeing construction of the project.
CaloU's design utilizes 10 two-story rowhouse-type
units per building instead of the typical eight-plex plan (four
units upstairs and four downstairs).
Because of time constraints and federal guidelines for
this type project, students did not participate in the design
process, however, a second project is in the works in which
students will have the opportunity to partiCipate.
Located at the center of a
revitalization and historic district in
Birmingham's Southside, Phelan Park
was once a center for drug dealers and
prostitutes. Now, as part of a combined
effort by the City of Birmingham's
Department of Planning and Engineering, the Five
Points Neighborhood Association and local businesses,
Phelan Park and the surrounding neighborhood have
been given a new life. The project, an example of how public/
private partnerships can improve whole neighborhoods,
was designed by Lois Harrison of Grover & Harrison
PC with extensive community input, managed by Russell
Program Management Inc. and built by A. G. Gaston
Contractors.
The new park's open, organic design centers on a
stone-capped circular siUing-wall surrounding heavy-duty
round picnic tables. A walkway leads from the crown of the
circle to a playground with state-of-the-art equipment donated
by a neighborhood business, HealthSouth Inc. A stone
wall marking the former park boundaries was removed and
pedestrian ways introduced to clearly define the park as a
focal point and gathering place.
The project included significant
improvements to the neighborhood's
sidewalks, landscaping and lighting.
These incorporate, among other
upgrades, almost 13,000 square feet
of new sidewalks, 4,350 square feet of
concrete pavers, 49 new wheelchair ramps, 595 linear feet
of new curbs and gutters, 54 stone-composite light poles,
almost 1,000 new trees and shrubs and 45,875 square feet
of new sod. These improvements, combined with
Dreamland Restaurant's crucial decision to renovate adjacent
commercial space have brought the community back to
its focal pOint: Phelan Park.
As part of Atlanta's preparation for the 1995 Summer
Olympics, the Corporation for Olympic Development
in Atlanta commissioned Birmingham landscape architecture
firm Nimrod Long & Associates Inc. for the reno��vation
of Hardy Ivy Park in downtown Atlanta. The current
plan for the park's renovation and the rerouting of surrounding
streets has been reworked from the firm's winning
design for the 1991 Peachtree Street Competition.
The triangular park will be anchored on the northern
tip by the 1910 statue of Stanley Spencer, Southern
Railroad's first president, by Lincoln Memorial sculptor
Daniel French. Portions of the 33-foot tall facade of Atlanta's
Carnegie Library, which had been stored in a pasture at
Atlanta's Prison Farm since the building was demolished in
1977, will be reassembled to create a pavilion at the southern
end of the park. The park will be regraded so that the
central plaza, containing seating and a food kiosk, is elevated
and visible from the street in an effort to make users feel
safer. The project, which will cost approximately $1 million,
should be finished in time for the Summer Olympics.
Another sign of the preparation for the upcoming
Olympic games is the renovation of Lenox Square Mall in
Atlanta. Birmingham-based landscape architecture firm
Grover & Harrison PC recently completed the interior and
exterior landscaping for the $50 million expansion and renovation
of the mall. The expansion adds a 170,000 squarefoot
second level and 50-60 new stores. Grover & Harrison
redesigned the front entrance of the mall, adding a series of
flags commemorating the countries that have hosted past
Summer Olympic Games.
The interior landscaping's most outstanding features
are the large-scale, European-style topiaries in the shapes of
birds, globes and umbrellas. Topiary is the art of shaping
plants to create living sculpture and dates back to the early
Roman Empire. The topiaries, created by the same artist
who makes the animal topiaries at Disneyland in California,
were intended to complement the European theme in the
design for the renovation of the mall. The interior landscaping
also incorporates black olive trees, weeping ficus trees,
California kentia palms and decorative urns filled with large
flowering plants to create the feeling of an outdoor plaza.
INTERIOR DESIGN
Southern Progress Corp. has
contracted with KPS Group Inc. of
Birmingham, to provide interior design
for a new office building to house its
h h : < h support company Media Services.
• h • h • h • h Based in Birmingham, Southern
Progress is the largest regional publishing company in the
nation, known for such magazines as Southern Living,
Cooking Light, Southern Accents and Progressive Farmer
Hardy Ivy Park, Atlanta
Lenox Square Mall, Atlanta
Southern Progress Media Services, Birmingham
and for its book publishing company, Oxmoor House. Media
Services processes all magazine and book subscriptions
and sales and provides computer and training support, customer
service and record processing.
The building is intended to be highly functional and
flexible. However, it was important to Southern Progress
management that the new offices echo the look and character
of their award-winning headquarters, but with more
attention to maintenance, use and cost issues.
The tone of the interior of the building is transitional
and corporate with great emphasis on expressing the primary
exterior architectural features within. The best example is
the main conference room found on the second floor. Its 24-
foot barrel-vaulted ceiling and square window pattern directly
reflect the design of the building's entry, the exterior's
most outstanding feature. The interior arrangement is flexible
for multiple uses with modular tables.
Included is a "natural light" photo studio, which incorporates
two working kitchens to provide a unique setting in
which to photograph the magazines' cooking sections.
The facility, which encompasses approximately 52,000
square feet, is being constructed in the Oxmoor Valley area of
Birmingham and should be complete in September 1995.
Architectural services also were provided by KPS Group Inc.
URBAN DESIGN"
Fourteen students and two faculty
members in Tuskegee University's
Department of Architecture recently
completed a Proposed Revitalization
Plan for the City of Thomasville. The
Thomasville Chamber of Commerce
requested the study in response to rapid development of the
city's perimeter area and intense citizen interest in restoring
downtown businesses. In the absence of any plans of the
study area, extensive measurements and photographs were
taken to document existing buildings and facilities. Additional
site visits and interviews with downtown business owners and
civic leaders also provided valuable information for concept
development.
The study resulted in a proposal that identifies various
options for physical reVitalization, as well as recommendations
for revised vehicular and pedestrian circulation, marketing
strategies for locai businesses, more effective signage,
landscaping, storm water control, lighting and handicapped
accessibility. The proposals were developed as a
general guide for the preservation and revitalization, as well
as for the future growth of Thomasville's downtown area.
Wetumpka has the distinction of holding the first
future land-use charrette in Alabama. No other Alabama
community has brought its townspeople together to prepare,
in one day, a map showing how and where they want their
community to improve and develop over the coming years.
The citizens of Wetumpka, working with the Central
Alabama Regional Planning and Development
Commission (CARPDC), had not been able to agree on a
future land use plan using conventional methods. Tracy
Pippin, senior planner with the CARPDC, suggested the
idea of a charrette similar to the charrettes organized by
DesignAlabama's Alabama Community Design Program
Darrell Meyer
(ACDP). All parties involved
agreed and asked Darrell
Meyer, AICP, Alumni
Professor of Architecture and
chair of Auburn's graduate
program in community planning,
to facilitate the
Wetumpka
5 Volume VI, No. II
Future Land Use Map of Wetumpka.
charrette. Meyer played a key role in the development of the
ACDP's charrette program and has been an active participant
in past charrettes.
Charles Muncaster
Assisting Meyer on
the project were Charles
Muncaster, an architect
and planner from Mobile;
Scott Finn, chair of
Auburn's architecture program;
and Patrick Sipple,
graduate student in planning
at Auburn. They asked questions
and compiled and
interpreted information from
mission statements submitted
by some 75 people who
attended the day-long event
held at the Fain Center in
Wetumpka on January 13,
J 1996.
j The result was a
Scod Finn computer-generated future
land use map that can help
guide growth and development in Wetumpka.
Phenix City is another city gearing up for the 1996
Olympic Games. The women's fast-pitch softball events will
be held just across the Chattahoochee River in Columbus,
Ga., and Phenix City hopes to capitalize on the $25.7 million
a day expected to flow through the area during the
games. In addition to city-wide beautification projects,
Phenix City has begun construction of a 1,500-seat
amphitheater and four miles of walking and bicycling
trails to be located along the river. The river-front project is
intended to complement similar projects planned for the
other side of the river in Columbus. The project is funded in
part by a $2.9 million grant from the Alabama Department of
Transportation and $850,000 in private donations.
Architects for the project are Hecht. Burdeshaw,
Johnson, Kidd & Clark of Columbus, Ga.; landscape architects
are Gullatte & Associates of Phenix City; and engineers
are Allen-Simpson Inc. also of Phenix City.
The positive effects of this project are already being
felt in Phenix City, increasing the momentum of a local
industrial recruitment program. According to Mayor Sonny
Coulter, the river walk project was one reason that Mead
Coated Board recently decided to move its headquarters to
Phenix City from Atlanta. In fact. Mead's new $6 million
office building will be located adjacent to the amphitheater
and river walk. Several other businesses have also
expressed interest in locating along the river front. Phenix
City residents and public officials hope that the benefits of
the project will be felt long after the Olympics.
DesignAlabama 6
Polaroid Graphics
Coming Home Aubuml
Coming Home Auburn!
Phenix City Amphitheater
.' 1:. ~•.""-'~ ' 0 ....
-~ ...
"~).
Polaroid Graphics Imaging
has awarded a design and production
contract to SCI Systems Inc. headquartered
in Huntsville, for a high resolution
color printer used in proofing printed
• material on conventional printing stock.
The high resolution printer uses up to eight colors and multidensity
inks to accurately evaluate subtle color graduations
before going to press. Introduced at Europe's DRUPA95, the
printer/stand enclosure design is by industrial designer
Thomas Deloach, IDSA, of Meridianville, Ala. Mechanical
design and production of the printer is by SCI Mechanical
Products Division, Laceys Spring, Ala.
GRAPHIC DESIGN,
Graphic designer and University
of Alabama graduate, Bruce Dupree
has recently published two children's
books that document the fun and
excitement of a young fan's first college
football game, "Coming Home
Auburn!" and "Coming Home Alabama!."
In the spring of 1994, Dupree began writing, researching
and collecting "scrap" for the two books. "I probably looked
pretty strange showing up to ballgames with a sketchbook
and a camera," he says, "and after the game was over with,
picking up used cups, press passes, tickets, leaves, programs,
anything that would authenticate the story."
Dupree then decided to publish the books himself and
founded his own publishing company, Red Rover Books. In
designing the books, he organized the text and the more
than 80 drawings on computer. In the summer of 1995, the
books were sent to Commercial Printing in Birmingham for
publication. Distributed by Seacoast Publishing, the books
are available at major bookstore chains, sporting goods
stores and other retail shops. The process of writing, illustrating,
designing, publishing and promoting two children's
books has certainly been a learning experience for Dupree.
He says, "the entire process has been like a terrific continuous
journey with one adventure after another."
FASHION DESIGN
The Textile and Apparel Regional
Electronic Sourcing System (TARESS),
featured in our Spring/Summer 1995
issue, now is available on the Internet.
The database, which links textile and
apparel manufacturers with buyers, was created under the
research umbrella afforded by the National Textile Centera
consortium composed of Auburn, Clemson, Georgia Tech,
and North Carolina State universities. lenda Jo Anderson,
an associate professor in Auburn's Department of Consumer
Affairs, was instrumental in organizing the project. TARESS,
now known as the National Sourcing Database, is part
of the Demand Activated Manufacturing project and is administered
by the Clothing and Textile Technology Corp in
Raleigh, N. C. It can be accessed through the Internet address:
http://avalon.epm.ornl.gov:80/Dama2/.
• • • e lSI In
The Alabama Community Design Program
(ACDP) is one of DesignAlabama's most highly regarded programs.
It has been recognized for its effectiveness by the
American Institute of Architects, the National Endowment for
the Arts, the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies and the
Corporate Design Foundation, among others; and it has been
the subject of articles in several publications, including one in
an upcoming issue of the Design Management Journal.
But, as with anything good, it can be improved. The
DesignAlabama board and staff are currently assessing the
program in order to understand how it can be made more
efficient and effective.
The ACDP program is premised on the principle of
broad-based citizen involvement in decision-making about
community appearance and the design factors which affect it.
Each locally initiated ACDP effort allows citizens to understand
the physical character of their community and the trends which
affect it both positively and negatively. This raised collective
consciousness forms the basis for defining specific policy,
planning and design initiatives to improve the community.
The current program first involves a series of activities
to lay the necessary groundwork in each community; the
ACDP then provides a charrette site team composed of volunteer
professionals from a variety of design disciplines. The
ACDP site team participates with community leaders and residents
to understand the physical attributes of their community,
define problems and opportunities, and develop appropriate
policy, planning and design recommendations.
Since 1989, the ACDP has conducted intensive one- to
five-day design charrettes in five Alabama communitiesClanton
(1989), Florence (1991), Andalusia (1992), Hartselle
(1995) and Scottsboro (1995). The ACDP charrette has been
the forerunner of specific design and public improvement initiatives
in these communities-Florence has instituted a successful
Main Street program and done extensive streetscape
improvements in the downtown; landscape improvements
by Franklin Setzer
ACDP program has served fewer communities than we would
like. Many municipalities have expressed interest, but the
program can serve only one community per year on average
with currently available resources. Further, the intensive, but
one-time-only, nature of past design charrettes is not as
effective as desired. More front-end work prior to the charrette
team visits and more post-charrette follow-up activities
such as technical advice, grant-writing assistance and advo��cacy
with potential funding sources will increase the likelihood
that specific improvement projects will be implemented.
In response to these issues, the ACDP is in the process
of being reinvented in a form that will maintain its strong points
while improving what needs to be improved. Four types of
changes currently are being formulated:
PARTNERSHIPS AND PARTICIPATION:
Increased ACDP effectiveness will require partnerships
with other organizations which share our commitment to
responsive, community-based design. The partnership with the
Auburn Center will provide greater access to both talent and
technical resources. A cooperative agreement involving each of
the 12 regional planning commissions in the state also has
been put in place. Further, we intend to negotiate mutually beneficial
agreements with organizations such as the Alabama
Planning Institute, as well as state agencies, to accomplish
mutual goals in community design and improvement.
The ACDP also will drop its requirement that design
professionals participating in site teams not seek work in the
community for one year following the charrette to broaden the
base of professional talent available to the program.
REVISED OPERATING FORMAT:
Revisions to the ACDP operating format will include
three major components. First, a Three- Year ACDP Operations
Plan will be developed, including yearly goals and objectives,
as well as funding needs and strategies to provide a sound
basis for planning and coordinating activities.
Second, a shift will occur from the single charrette team
have been made to the interstate highway interchanges from 1- site visit to a series of two, three or four visits that take place
65 that serve Clanton; Andalusia is currently implementing an
improvement plan for its courthouse square; and Hartselle
recently received a state grant to fund design services for a
over time in each ACDP community. In this new concept, each
visit will be shorter and more focused on specifically defined
issues than is possible with the single team visit. ACDP activi-downtown
improvement plan. All are either directly or indirect- ties will start with a citizen education program focused on the
Iya result of ACDP involvement. importance of design to the local community; then move to a
With these successes come some concerns as well. The description and assessment of the community's physical envi-ronment
as a basis for establishing community consensus
regarding problems and opportunities. Policies, as well as
strategies for planning and implementation, then will be
addressed. Finally, the details of implementing design proposals
will be fleshed out, and the ACDP will provide staff followup
to assist in securing additional design services, funding
and other technical advice.
Third, an initiative to integrate available technologies
into the program-with emphasis on computer-based imaging
and data management-should improve work quality,
efficiency and make the monitoring of implementation efforts
more manageable.
FINANCIAL PLANNING:
In the current environment of reduced public funding,
the ACDP (like all DesignAlabama programs) is being
examined from a fiscal standpOint. The revised operating format
will certainly have cost implications which must be identified
and addressed. The funding needs currently anticipated
will require the creation of a predictable funding base.
Corporate sponsorships will likely be one component of a
comprehensive funding strategy
PUBUC EDUCATION ABOUT THE ISSUES:
Finally, DesignAlabama intends to place even more
emphasis on public education about community design with
the publication of a Community Design Handbook. The book
will serve as a citizen's primer about community design and its
importance to economic development and quality-of-life
issues in the local community and will provide information
about the program, including the steps required to become an
ACDP community.
• • •
The AGDP program assessment is still ongoing. We Vlelcome any sug-gestions
you might have on ways the AGDP can beffer serve Alabama com-munities.
Please contact DesignAlabama with your ideas by fax at (205) 323-
8385 or mail at 204 North 20th St., Ste. 201, Birmingham, AL 35203.
•••
Franklin Seizer is an associate professor of architecture and director of
the Center for Architecture and Urban Studies for Auburn University. He is
also the new executive director for DesignAlabarna.
7 Volume VI, No. II
Historical~Perspectives
ee
~'Re· · e Fire"
DesignAlabama 8
by Kathy Hamrick
~ family of people flomished
here,inour hbmeland long before
imdl()nger thanou.r nation has
be,en. Highly.~ivilized and gifted,
the Creek Indian culture lost its
identity and heritage under the
advancing AmeriCan dream. The
"flame" of Indian life was Virtually
snuffed out.
The Chattahoochee Indian
Heritage Center at Fort Mitchell is a
gesture to rekindle the fire of the
Creek Indian culture, whose people
were harshly treated and long
ignored in history. A collaboration
of architectme, landscape deSign,
fine art and graphiC design, the
Center is designed to celebrate the
cultme and accomplishments of the
Creek Indians who indwelt the
Chattahoochee River Valley until
their removal.
By incorporating native
American symbolism and contemporary
deSign, the Center will be a tangible
representation of reconciliation
with people who once believed
themselves bitter enemies but are
now people of "kindred fire."
The Indian Heritage Center, to
be constructed within Ft. Mitchell
County Park, will tell the story of
the early inhabitants of the Valley
through its 26-acre environmental
setting incorporating words and
symbols, a monument, plaza,
amphitheater, trails and ball field.
This "museum without walls" seeks
to remove participants from the
contemporary American landscape
and envelop them in the realm of
Creek Indian cultme and the time
before. Guests not only see but
also feel, experience and, hopefully,
identify with the Creek Indian
in his world. The Center functions
to educate intellectually, aesthetically
and spiritually.
Visitors will enter a Pilthway
that winds 250 feet through a
wooded section reminiscent of the
woodland origins of the Creeks.
Participants are introduced to the
cultme and contributions of the
Indians by a series of bronze
plaques describing their lifestyle as
hunters, gatherers, craftsmen and
as people of dignity and sensitivity.
Participants will emerge at the
summit of an earthen platform
onto a plaza patterned after the
square ground, a meeting place
where all-important events of history
and faith were consummated.
The plaza is to be iniaid with concrete
pavers of black, red and buff
in the design pattern of the Stomp
Dance, critical toc the annual Green
Com Ceremony. These colors reflect
the Creek culture and are found
consistently on Creek artifacts.
Four curved concrete "arbors"
seating 30 people each, will deck
the plaza at the cardinal directions
after the architectural arrangement
of the Creek village in a square.
Disks of white, blue, black and red,
positioned on the backs of the
arbors, symbolize birth, youth,
death and warriors, respectively.
The sacred fire sculpture
emanates from the plaza center.
Stainless steel and bronze constructions
intertwine at the base in a spiral,
open skyward and taper to a
20-foot flame weighing 10,000
pounds. The two flames symbolize
the Indian village distinctions of red
(war and politics) and white (peace
and religion) that, united, formed
the Creek Nation.
The sacred fire was the center
of all life among the Creeks. The sun
was the face of their supreme god
and fIre was a small bit of that deity
on earth. The sun and the fIre pro-
)
- j s ;
Left: Brick pattern for the plaza is laid in the
design 01 the Stomp Dance.
Right: Four concrete arbors lace the sacred lire
sculpture that blazes in the center 01 the plaza.
Inset: The site plan shows the picnic and parking
areas to the left, the plaza in the center and the
450·foot·long ball field on the right.
vided light, warmth, sustenance .. .life.
The flame represented purification
and new life, as all flres were rekindled
from the sacred fire. The sacred
fire sculpture has historical authenticity
while expressing aesthetic values
from the past for today's and tomorrow's
generations, uniting all as
American people "of the same fire."
Four horizontal pillars of
Dakota mahogany granite, placed
around the sacred fire and pointing
to the cardinal directions, represent
the four logs of the sacred fire.
Upon each inner end of the granite
logs rest four pillars of yellow
Brazilian granite, forming a square
around the flre. These represent the
ears of corn placed upon the logs.
A 25-foot pole standing west of
the plaza exemplilles the effigy pole
of the Creek ball field, the Creek ideology
concerning the movement of
life toward the setting sun, and ultimately
their removal to the West.
Large bronze plaques will be
set in the ground around the plaza.
These will list 3,500 names of the
Indian household heads of families
living in the Chattahoochee Valley
before removal in 1833.
11lis plaza "square" will serve as
an educational site for symposiums,
plays, cultural reenacttnents, dances
and other programs provided through
the Indian Studies Consortium.
Sixty feet further to the south,
visitors stand on the brink of the
amphitheater which steps down 35
feet vertically and 200 feet horizontally
to a great ball playing field,
where spectacular Indian ball
games will be held. An unbroken
vista over boundless greenlands,
the love and lifeblood of the Creek
Indian, unfolds to the horizon.
An interpretative nature trail
enwraps the entire Center with plant����ings
of herbs and vegetation used by
the Creeks for food, medicine and
ceremony. Another trail will lead
three-quarters of a mile to the Chattahoochee
River. Extensive tree, shrub
and vegetation plantings will restore
the site to period forest conditions.
The Center's parking area,
plaza and sculpture will be lighted
for night use, and power will be
available for special events. A picnic
area will be located below the
parking lot. The site will be handicapped
accessible.
The Fort Mitchell location in
Russell County is steeped in Indian
frontier history. The largest concentrations
of Creeks were here in the
lower Chattahoochee River Valley,
and the fort was an origin for the
Creek Indian Trail of Tears.
The Chattahoochee Indian
Heritage Center, proposed by the
Chattahoochee Indian Heritage
Association and the Historic
Chattahoochee Commission, was
implemented as a design competition.
The Jaxon Co. Inc. with a
design team consisting of Jay Jaxon,
account executive, Kathy Hamrick,
art director, and Mike Hamrick,
architect, were selected for their
design package. Barrett and
McPherson provided civil engineering
services, and Larry Godwin provided
technical assistance and
sculpture fabrication services.
The first phase of ball field
construction, amphitheater construction,
culverts and site grading has
been completed with the assistance
of the US. Army engineers from Ft.
Benning. The bid for the second
phase of plaza construction, parking
lot and roadway construction, electrical
service and lighting, water service,
stonework and walkways was
awarded to Cline Construction Co.
of Columbus and will be completed
in July of 1996, in time for the
Summer Olympics. Assistance is
being provided at the second phase
by the Russell County Commission.
Fundraising for future phases of
construction to include the sacred
fire sculpture, interpretive trails,
additional signage and improvements
is ongoing. Tax-deductible
contributions may be mailed to: The
Chattahoochee Indian Heritage
----
Center, P.O. Box 33, Eufaula, AL
36072-0033. For more information
contact Doug Purcell, executive
director of the Historic
Chattahoochee Commission,
(334) 687-9755. ~
Kathy Hamrick, in with'conjunction:
with her husband, Mike, an architect, and
jay jaxon, president of jaxon Co .• has pro-duced
sculpture for a number of jimts and
organizations from throughout the SoUtheast
including BellSouth, ColeriianCo.'(AsSOCiated
Press, Rock Tenn, Montgotniny Bilst1iess
Council for the Arts and Charbroil. She is a
freelance art director and nwther of six.
9 Volume VI, No. II
Designer~Profi Ie
DeslgnAlabama is proud to announce
the addition of a new department
to our journal. The Designer Profile
is our way of introducing our readers
to innovative and noteworthy designers
across the state .
•
Rebecca Hatcher
'1 reached a )JI)int ldwre
I needed i(; gicl! f)(!d~
to the C(mnnuJlfzv
much to /lie."
The owners 01 the new Hot & Hot Fish Club,
located on Birmingham's Southside,
asked Hatcher to help create a unique,
hand·crafted look lor the interior olthe
restaurantto complement their unique
and creative approach to lood. The use 01
custom·designed chairs, tables, bars
and chandeliers crafted by local artisans
gives this restaurant its
one·ol·a·kind look.
Laura Quenelle serves as the adminis·
trative director of DesignAlabama.
She holtis a B.F A. in Historic
Presemation from the Savannah
College of Art & Design.
DesignAlabama 10
Interior Designer
by Laura Queneile
Interior designer Rebecca
Hatcher has demonstrated both exem·
plary talent in the field of interior
design and a substantial commitment
to the community. She is an outstand·
ing designer and an outstanding citi·
zen as welL
Hatcher founded the interior
design firm, Hatcher Design Associates
as a one·person firm in 1979. The
business now employs nine full·time
designers, assisted by a three-person
support staff.
The firm's success is well documented.
Hatcher Design specializes in
interior design for medical facilities.
Hatcher prefers these projects because
of the creative challenges posed by
heavy use of the facilities and the limitations
imposed by standardized materials
such projects require. The firm
also has worked with many local commercial
clients, but roughly 50 percent
of its clientele are associated with hospitals
or other medical facilities.
Hatcher's list of professional affiliations
is long and varied. She was
past secretary of the American Society
of Interior DeSigners and past treasurer
of the Institute of Business DeSigners.
She serves on the Vestavia Hills
Landscape and Architecture Review
Committee board and is a member of
the state Chapter of the Newcomen
Society, a national organization that
honors outstanding entrepreneurs.
Hatcher also is velY involved
with her alma mater, Auburn
University. She currently serves as the
chair of the adviSOry board for
Auburn's Interior Design Program and
as a member of the campus-wide
Research Advisory Council, which
reviews and approves the university's
research projects.
Hatcher'S involvement with civic
and charitable organizations is equally
as extensive. However, she insists that
she has not always been so involved,
noting, "I reached a point where I
needed to give back to the community
that had given so much to me." That
realization has led her to involvement
in a wide variety of activities.
Since 1993, Hatcher has been a
member of Leadership Birmingham,
an organization that proffers educational
programs on a variety of issues
for a membership comprised of business,
community and religiOUS leaders
in the Birmingham area. Leadership
Birmingham provides its members a
chance to learn from and interact
with leaders from all walks of society,
and Hatcher feels that she has benefited
greatly from her involvement in
the group.
Hatcher also is active with Girls
Inc. of Central Alabama, a non-profit
group which seeks to build girls'
capacity for responsible and confident
adulthood, economic independence
and personal fultlllment through educational
and training programs at three
centers in the Birmingham area and an
outreach program. Hatcher not only
selves on the group's board of directors
and donates her time to the
group's programs, but also has COntributed
in-kind design services to the
organization, as well as to other
groups like the Ronald McDonald
House and A Baby's Place, a home for
babies born with the AIDS virus.
Hatcher served on the 1994-95
board of directors for the Kiwanis Club
of Birmingham and currently serves on
the YMCA Metropolitan board of directors.
She also works with the United
Way of Central Alabama, helping them
to determine the eligibility of organizations
they SUPPOlt.
Involved with several local
women's groups, Hatcher participates
in The Women's Network, The
Women's Forum and The Breakfast
Club, all groups that provide forums
Dne 01 Hatcher's most recent clients,
Biohorizons is a young biomedical engineering
lirm based in Birmingham. The interior 01 their
oftice building needed to convey the relaxed,
Iriendly personalily 01 the company and still
speak to the highly technical aspect olthe
products they create. Hatcher's use 01 bright
finishes, natural woods and comlortable lur·
nishings serves to create an atmosphere that
is warm, casual and professional.
for discussion and interaction among
professional women in the
Birmingham area.
Hatcher and her husband, archltect
Everett Hatcher, moved to the
Binningham area in the mid-70s. They
currendy reside in the Vesta,ia Hills
community with their three children,
ages six, 12 and 15.
Hatcher identifies herself as a big
basketball fan. She played on her high
school team and played forward for the
Auburn Lady Tigers basketball team in
college. Today she enjoys coaching and
helping wid1 her children's teams.
Born in a small town in south
Georgia, Hatcher depiCts her family life
as very strong and credits her parents
for instilling her with a strong work
ethic. Her father was a doctor, and her
mother, an early x-ray technician, was
highly active in their community.
Hatcher acknowledges that these early
influences also might have inspired her
own efforts to"help improve the lives
of individuals and the community as a
whole and to make Birmingham a better
place to live."
Whatever the motivation, Rebecca
Hatcher srunes as a deSigner who realizes
the importance of suppotting the
community. May her example inspire
others in the design fields to excel as
designers and as active and productive
members of society. '"
A 25-Year Campaign To Make Streets Better for People
As part of an urban design initiative to create a
new mixed-use neighborhood in Midtown between
downtown and the UAR campns, the City of
Birmingham is installing phased streets cape
improvements like these bordering Southside
Station apartments and a new city parking deck
The aggregate concrete light post matches those
installed on the UAR campus_ Landscape arcbitects:
Grover & Harrison
DesignAlabama 12
.~
~
E
Birmingham Green, completed in 1973, was the
city's first effort (within memory) to introduce
pedestrian amenities along a public street.
Extendingfrom the railroad overpass north seven
blocks to what was then called Woodrow Wilson
(now Linn) Park, the brick sidewalks, benches,
lighting, trees and ornamental plantings were an
immediate success. Though it did not save downtown
retail as hoped, the project turned the street
into a place, created a climate for investment in
major new office buildings and set the city on a
course it continues to this day.
Birmingham Green was a public/private
joint venture with property owners paying
a portion of the cost, but the City of
Binningham went on to establish public
streetscape improvements as an essential function
of civic government. In 1989, when the
Birmingham Historical Society published
"Designs on Birmingham," a sUlVey of landscape
history, it noted that the City of Birmingham had
completed 46 such projects from Birmingham
Green to the present at a total investment of
$28.6 million. Since then, the work has continued
with such major projects as the Cultural District
landscaping along Eighth Avenue North and 1-
20/59, the Civil Rights District, Five Points West
and the extension of Birmingham Green south to
Five Points South. Funding has come from various
sources including city bond issues, federal
revenue sharing and street warrant funds (the
pOltion of state fuel taxes returned to the city
and earmarked for street improvements).
If this sounds like a lot of money, keep
in mind the years over which the work has been
programmed. Assume the total today reaches
parts add up to something greater. Consider a
north-to-south tour starting at BirminghamJefferson
Civic Center, along the Commemorative
Garden Waik, through Linn Park, down
Birmingham Green (updated in the early '90s),
then along Birmingham Green recently extended
south through Midtown, past DAB to Five Points
South, then along Highland Avenue. Every step
of the way (or block driven) has been transformed
by public streetscape.
Vutually all projects have been designed
under contract to Birmingham landscape architecture
firms, with selected others executed by
archltects. At the same time, the city's aggressive
urban design initiative has assured a certain level
of compatibility and fit with larger plans. (Note:
the unfortunate suburban-style design for 19th
Street and adjoining avenues deSigned by architect
Pedro Costa preceeded the establishment of
the Urban Design Department).
il: $50 million. Averaged over 25 years that amounts
Affected citizens' participation in project
designs also has been assured through the use of
the city's active neighborhood organizations,
Commercial Revitalization District representatives
and various committees of Operation New
Birmingham (ONE) involved in city center issues.
>-
~ to $2 million per year, a reasonable amount in a
o
If city this size. What has made public streetscape
so transforming of Birmingham's urban core and
many neighborhoods is that Birmingham did not
stop with a few token projects, but developed it,
step-by-step, into a comprehensive program
linked to commercial and neighborhood revitalization
efforts.
These projects enhance the urban experience
for both people on foot and in cars.
Though implemented in dozens of phases, the
The first head of urban design, Michael
Dobbins, FAlA, did discover that even landscape
architects, whom he expected to be sensitive
to the larger urban environment, often
had to be coaxed to see beyond the limits of a
specific project. "We have had to remain
proactive in making sure that continuity is
there," says his successor, MIT-educated architect
William Gilchrist, director of planning and
engineering for the City of Birmingham.
The extension of Birmingham Green South along 20th installed street light standards based on the classical col-
Street creates a continuous pedestrianj'riendly spiue umn produce a strong civic character. Gresham, Smith &
from Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center to Five Points Partuers were landscape architects on the lO-block-long
South. Along with patterued sidewalks, street trees, project and Nimrod Long & Associates for this segment
benches, bus shelters and trash receptacles, the uewly- adjoining the Kirklin Clinic.
There have been many interesting paver band wbicb is usually repeated for corner
lessons learned and standards set over the years. bulb-outs or special empbasis zones. Ibis
Some examples; approacb assures a degree of continuity Fom
• A dominant canopy tree is repeated tbe place to place but allows for distinctive variation.
lengtb of a street and spaced closely enougb (usu- -Selection of ligbt standards can bave a
ally 25-35feet on center) to produce tbe desired powelful impact on tbe arcbitecture of tbe street.
unifying arcbitectural effect. In some instances, A traditional metal standard based on tbe classi-smaller
trees or treejorm bollies are used for portions
of a street witb wires ouerbead. To avoid possible
loss of all tree cover to a bligbt, tbe dominant
tree will be varied by street. Ibis also brings distinction
to a street, like Second Avenue NOl1b lined
tuitb ginko trees. It lDa'! iVimrod Long's J1u')ter
street tree planfor downtown (implementation
begun in 1984) tbat set tbis pattern.
cal column but witb an arched pendant arm
used along Birmingham streets tbrougb the
1950s bas been designated for use along
Bim/ingbam Green Soutb, Cicic Center
Boulevard tbrougb tbe expanded BirmingbamJefferson
Cicic Center (B.!CC) and otber city center
streets. Repeated at closer distance than usual
today, tbese bl£lckjinisbed columns bridge
between pedestrian and automobile scale and
establisb ciuic presence. Similar!)', tbe smaller
globe-toppedflXture used in Linn Park was carried
under tbe elevated 1-20/59 expressway along
21st Street Nortb as pal1 of a streetscape project to
.~ link the BJCC to tbe expanded Birmingbam
g" Museum ofA lt and destinations beyond. The fix;-
:c
~ tures boost ligbt lece1s but, just as i1l1p01tant!y,
~ bring buman scale to an otbem,i,e bostile setting.
~
0. oMore recent r"lfinements initiated by tbe
·Sidewalk improvements may vmyfrom
street-to-street or by district, but standardfeatures
baue been incOlporated ouer tbe yea/so
Birmigba/11 Green sidewalks were brickedfrom
curb to building line witb plamers buffering trat-
Though design Of specifiC sidewalk segmenIs
may be tailored to setting, the City of
mayor's office and tbe planning department
include two kinds of grapbics.· wayfinding and
fie. Tock!.y, most new sidewalk, consist Cif a contin- Birmingham's urban design staff over the years
uous paced surface (usually scored concrete) beld estabUshed two basic treatments for urban sideabout
24 incbes off tbe curb. I1?e space between walks. Where there is curbside parking (left), the
walk and curb gets concrete pacers on compacted strip between the concrete sidewalk and curb is
gravel 01; if tbere is no curbSide parking, grass. In fitted with removable pavers aUowing flexibility
this strip go street trees, signs, parking meters and in placement of trees, parking meters and signs.
other objects. Cbanges here are faCilitated, and Where there is 1W parking, a grass strip fills the
tbe sidewalk gains color and/or texture from tbe edge. Trees here are zelkovas.
place-marking. First pbases of tbe wayfinding system
include strategically-placed kiosks witb maps
indicating major destinations and signs to public
parking facilities. The district, or place-marking,
grapbics attacbed to existing poles at intersections
now include tbe FOUl1b Avenue N011b District,
tbe Cultural DL,trict and tbe Loft District.
13 Volume VI, No. II
Light standards are often fitted with graphics To create human scale on 21st Street North Streetscape was coupled with an urban design
demarcating various districts or, as here in extending under the elevated 1-20/59, the plan for the Birmingham Civil Rights District.
the Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center area, pedestrian-scale light fixtures and railings Grover & Harrison picked up brick colors
prOViding way;/inding information. were included in a streetscape renovation from the historic Sixteenth Street Baptist
designed by KPS Group. Increased light level Church (background) and new Civil Rights
greatly enhances the passage, but the fixtures Institute for paving patterns.
themselves are the key factor.
The City of Birmingham's experience says Virginia Williams, chief assistant to Mayor
with making streets inviting to people has proved Richard Arrington Jr. "The FOUlth Avenue NOlth
satisfying both to those adminstering the program group has put their logo on everything they do."
and those benefiting. "It is interesting to me how Looking back over the program as part of a larg-really
proud people are of their district signs," er urban design initiative, she adds, "We have
UAB Gets With It
One of the dynamic aspects of Birmingham's city center is the University of Alabama at
Birmingham (UAB) campus, happily not located out on the urban fringe like so-called urban
campuses at University of North Carolina at Charlotte and Auburn University at Montgomery
Since the early 1980s, UAB has made the most of this with a sophisticated campus planning
process. Attention to the character of streets, sidewalks and open spaces has come only in the
past five years, but changes for the better have been dramatic.
Sidewalks in the UAB Medical Center blocks, the tenniS courts. Landscaped gateways also have been placed
most densely developed part of the campus, were the first to at key approaches to the campus. And, in a dramatic trans-be
upgraded with brick headers, edging and corner landings. formation, the parking lot that once demeaned historic
Benches, pedestrian-scaled light fixtures and excellent direc- Hillman Hospital on 20ih Street, where the medical center
tional graphics have humanized this zone. University
Boulevard, a four-lane divided arterial extending east-west
through the gO-plus-block campus, has been comprehenSively
treated with sidewalks, trees, light fixtures, parking lot
screening and median planting. At University and 18th
Street, a small but urbane park occupies a site that once held
a.slgnAlabama 14
began, is now a beautiful green square.
The City of Birmingham has contributed finanCially
to certain of these projects. Between them, UAB and
the city have forged a palpable bond with attractive sidewalks
and public spaces. At.
conSistently tried to tie things together, and the
streetscape, lighting and graphics have been
effeaive tools. It's when you look at blocks we
haven't gotten to yet that you realize the transformation.
In 20 years it's just a different place." At.
Within the past six years, UAB has devoted great attention
to streetscape and landscape improvements. Here the
gateway to the medical center on 19th Street has been
defined with gateway treatment that includes benches
much used by visitors and staff during lunch breaks.
A formerly undistinguished University Boulevard through
" the UAB campus has been transformed with a compre"
E
ji hensive streets cape landscape plan prepared by
g & Gresham, Smith & Partners. In addition to new sidewalks,
£; trees and pedestrian-scale light standards, parking lots t*f. have been effectively screened and softened.
The city of Andalusia, founded in 1843 as the new county seat for Covington County, was once a thriving
commercial center. In the ear61 twentieth century the community boomed as two major railroads
extended lines to the city to service the county's thriving lumber industry
Like thousands of other cities in America,
Andalusia began to decline after World War II.
Officials responded to this decline in a number
of ways. In 1946, a new street was cut through
the heart of its old courthouse square and new
parking installed on both sides. This action,
though well-intentioned, greatly diminished the
character of the downtown area. Changes in
retail practices and the development of outlying
strip shopping centers further eroded the downtown
retail core. Since the 1960s, several attempts
have been made to revitalize the dovmtown.
Most projects, however, were never funded or
involved only the renovation of a few histoIic
buildings.
In 1992, Andalusia was the subject of a
design chalTette organized by DesignAlabama's
Alabama Conm1unity Design Program (ACDP).
The team worked with tl1e city's public officials
and citizens to generate design proposals tl1at
addressed specific design problems faCing the
community.
Proposals generated by the team's widely
publicized visit served as an in1portant catalyst
for city action. In 1994, the City retained the
Binningham landscape architecture and planning
firm, Cecil Jones & Associates Inc., and the local
engineering finn, Carter, Darnell & Grubbs Inc.,
to prepare the Downtown Andalusia
Revitalization Pian. This study, together with an
area-wide transportation study prepared by Post,
Buckley, Schuh & Jernigan Inc., examined existing
conditions, presented conceptual proposals
and recommendations for future development
and outlined an implementation strategy for
ad1ieving the proposed revitalization.
The study reiterated the ACDP's recommendation
that restoration of Andalusia's courthouse
square would anchor the revitalization of
downtown and create an attractive focal point for
the city. The plan also offered strategies for preserving
historic resources; providing additional
John Tisdale, chairman of Andalusia's Downtown
Redevelopment Authority (left) with Dale Fritz, landscape
architect with Cecil Jones & Associates of Birmingham·
An overhead view before work began.
parking, in1proving pedestrian and vehicular circulation
and upgrading public infrastructure in a
105-acre area of the city center.
After review by the Downtown
Redevelopment Authority, city officials and citizens,
Andalusia was ready to move forward with
the first phase of the project-the counhouse
square. 111e City retained Caner, Darnell and
Grubbs Inc. to prepare the final plan with the
assistance of Cecil Jones & Associates Inc., led by
landscape architect Dale FIitz.
The plan for the square consists of a
nine-square gIid surrounded on all four sides by
public parking. The three sections on each side
of the grid are separated by sidewalks. The corner
sections are anchored by raised planting
areas landscaped with overcup oaks. 111ese areas
are contained by brick seating walls, eliminating
the need for benches. 111e central sections of the
square spanning east to west contain open lawn
areas. This maintains the visual axis across the
square as it is approached on the main thoroughfare
which runs east to ,vest through the dmvntown
area. Sidewalks and streets hordering the
square and those in the first block of sun'ounding
streets were replaced. Additional parking was
added, and wheelchair ramps and decorative
light fixtures installed.
The majority of funding for the 51.8 million
project was provided by the City of
Andalusia, with additional support from a variety
John Harris, of Masonry Specialty Co in Montgomery,
lays embossed bricks sold by the Downtown
Redevelopment Authority to raise money for the project.
A view of the square during construction.
of sources. The City received a S600,000 Federal
Community Development Block Grant (CDBG),
as well as a $20,000 Alabama Department of
Economic and Community Affairs planning grant
to fund the creation of the Downtown Andalusia
Revitalization Pian.
111e Downtown Redevelopment
AUu'1ority, incorporated at the reconm1endation
of the ACDP, provided 580,000 toward the cost
of brick pavers and seating walls in the square.
Chaired by John Tisdale, the Redevelopment
Authority played a key role in generating public
support and funding for the project It provided
a portion of the matching funds for the planning
grant and helped secure the CDBG, as well as a
$100,000 grant from the Alabama Department of
Transportation under the Intennodal Surface
Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA) to fund
street and sidewalk improvemenls directiy south
of courthouse square along South Cotton Street.
According to the plan, full implementation
will cost approximately 57 million. At present.
the City is in the process of securing funding
for the remaining phases of tl1e plan.
At the time of printing, the courthouse
square was nearing completion. According to
Mayor Paul Armstrong, the benefits of the project
are already being felt with property values
and private investment in ti1e area on the rise.
"It's been tough," the mayor says, "but we can
see the light at the end of the tcmnel." ~
The final plan for the square shows the courthouse
directly to the north of the square At the center is the
nine-square grid with corner plantings.
15 Volume VI, No. II
The historic commercial district of Irondale, located only a few miles east of downtown Birmingham, was
once considered a "slum and blight area" by the Irondale City Council based on the poor condition of its
public improvements. It now has been given new life thanks to the interest generated by a successful
novel and movie and the efforts of the City of Irondale and the Jefferson County Office of Planning and
Community Development.
Fannie Flagg's book "Flied Green
Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe" was set in
Irondale's old commercial district. The district languished
until it became the subject of renewed
interest and tourist activity because of Flagg's
book and the subsequent, successful movie,
In 1993, under the leadership of Mayor
David Krider, the City of Irondale initiated the
Whistle Stop Revitalization Project in an effort to
clean up and beautify the downtown district. The
City enlisted the help of the Jefferson County
Planning Depanment in prepaling the Urban
Renewal and Redeue/opment Plan jar tbe Wbistle
Stop Study Area, which represents the first project
of this kind to be undertaken by the planning
department and can serve as a model for fi.lture
commercial revitalization activities of similar type.
Conditions in the area posed several challenges.
Over the years) industrial activities had
sprung up which conflicted with the one-block
con1l11ercial district, depleting the area's aesthetic
quality. The pleasant, uniform architectural characrer
of the district had been lost as buildings
were "modernized." And, as in many small
towns, the focus of commercial activity had shifted
to "stlip development" along a large highway
nearby. The railroad that nms directly adjacent to
the historic district also posed a problem by making
access to the district difficult. Other specific
problems present in the area included a lack of
sufficient parking; cracked, uneven or nonexistent
sidewalks; poor lighting; an inadequate ston11
water drainage system; streets in need of resurfacing;
and the presence of two unsightly auto
repair and junkyard operations directly adjacent
to the commercial district.
Construction began in February 1995 and
was completed in June 1995. Improvements
include a new stom1 drainage systen1, resurfaced
roads, nevv sidewalks and crosswalks, decorative
street lighting, directional signage) street furniture,
Mayor David Krider on the donated caboose that houses
the Irondale Chamber of Commerce.
DesignAlabama 16
"Before" view of downtown Irondale.
landscaping and the constluction of a viewing
stand adjacent to the railroad track, modeled after
a typical train boarding platfonn. The City also
was able to acquire the two auto repair shops and
convert the sites to public parking lots.
As centerpiece of the project, the viewing
platform is located partially within the railroad
right-of-way, less than 15 feet from the tracks. It
allows visitors a close-up look at trains entering
and leaving Norfolk-Southern Railroad's Nonis
Train Yard nearby and serves as a safety buffer
keeping people away from the tracks. The tracks
are a major character-defining element in the
area. Rather than trying to hide the rails (an
impossible task), the approach was to embrace
them \vith a vie\,ving platfon11. According to
Mayor Klider, "the railroad tracks, and the fact
that Irondale was [clrmed as a 'whistle stop' community,
were always a focal point of the idea."
Norfolk-Southern played a key role in
making the project a reality by allowing access to
the railroad right-of-way and by donating a train
caboose and flatcar to tl1e City. The caboose has
been refurbished to house the Irondale Chamber
of Commerce and the Whistle Stop Headquarters,
a promotion and tourist center. The flatcar is being
restored for use as a stage for future public events
like tl1e Annual \'V'histle Stop Festival held every
May and a recently initiated series of street dances
and social events to be held in the historic distlict.
Visitors view an oncoming train from the safety of the
viewing platform.
'After" view with platform on the right.
According to Philip Richardson, landscape
architect With the Jefferson County
Planning Department, the redevelopment plan
"respects the commercial district for what it is
and does not attempt to remake it into something
that has no historic precedent and would
not have the support of the city leaders and merchants
in the area."
General contracting services for the project
were provided by Milton Construction Co.
Inc. Paragon Engineering Inc. served as civil
engineers \'vith stnlCtural engineering sef"v'ices
provided by Christy-Cobb Engineering Inc.
Funding and in-kind services totaling lTIOre that
S225,000 were provided by the City of Irondale
for implementation of the project, in addition to
more than $400,000 in Federal Community
Development Block Grant fi.lnds administered by
the Community Development Department of the
Jefferson County Office of Planning and
Community Development.
The Planning Department also worked
vvith the City to develop a set of design gUidelines
and sign regulations for the district \vhich
since have been adopted. Currently, the City is
working with building owners and merchants in
the area to implement a building facade
improvement program to complement the recent
streetscape project. According to Krider, "we're
on the right track in Irondale, and the beautifully
Detail of viewing platform from
the city side.
unique appearance
of our downtown
district demonstrates
that direction." •
Completed in fall 1988, the streetscape projects implemented in the city of Moundville serve
as an excellent example of a small town's successful effort to create "streets for people. JJ
Moundville, located about 15 miles south
of Tuscaloosa, is a rural farming community with
a population of less than 1,500. Its downtown had
fallen into decline over the years. Some older
'Before" view of downtown Moundville.
buildings had deteriorated and vacancy rates were
high. In 1986, the City of Moundville initiated the
Downtown Revitalization Pian in an effort to prevent
further decline and to create a downtown of
which its citizens could be proud.
After City Council approval of the revitalization
plan, the City set out to secure a
$300,000 Community Development Block
Grant to fund streetscape projects in the
downtown area and along a residential street
that leads into downtown and created the
Downtown Revitalization Committee to oversee
implementation of the projects. The committee
commissioned Harrison Engineering
Inc. of Tuscaloosa to prepare the final plan
and to conduct a survey to help city officials
better understand the needs and concerns of
the area's merchants and residents. The survey
revealed that its citizens overwhelmingly wanted
to maintain Moundville's small-town character
and identity. They liked the convenience
of their traditional downtown and wanted to
preserve and revitalize this area as the focal
point of the community.
Downtown Moundville consists of a
large three-way intersection surrounded by
commercial and office buildings. Traffic problems
in the area had been identified by the
survey as a major concern. A one-way street
running through the heart of downtown had
Robert Lake, past mayor of Moundville, and Larry Taylor,
chairman of the Downtown Revitalization Committee.
the right-of way through the intersection making
pedestrian movement through the area
dangerous and confusing. The plan called for
two-way traffic to return to this street and new
"After" view with new landscaping.
stop signs at each corner to slow traffic
through the intersection. It addressed the lack
of parking in downtown, another concern
identified by the survey, by reorganizing available
spaces and adding several new ones on
land donated by local businesses.
All sidewalks in the area were torn out
and replaced with consistent concrete pavers
scored to look like brick. The sidewalks were
separated from the street by a two-foot strip
landscaped with trees and other vegetation.
UnSightly power poles were replaced with
fewer, more attractive concrete poles and
moved back from the streets. thanks in pan to
assistance from Alabama Power Co.
The most significant aspect of the project
was the installation of a landscaped, open
space adjacent to the main intersection. This
public space acts as an attractive focal point
for the downtown and helped improve pedestrian
movement through the area by forcing
neighboring streets to be narrowed, making
them easier and safer to cross.
Lighting in the area was another major
concern. New lampposts, manufactured at the
local Moundville Foundry, were installed to
provide consistent, attractive lighting, enhancing
the feeling of safety in the area. The aluminum
lampposts were less expensive than
the traditional cast iron.
Improvements along residential Market Street motivated
homeowners to landscape their own property
Moundville's improvements were not
limited to the downtown area. Market Street, a
wide residential street lined with attractive,
historic homes, runs from a major highway
into the downtown area and effectively acts
as a gateway into town. Improvements made
to this street included the addition of new
sidewalks, lamp posts, power poles and landscaping,
creating a consistent, attractive character.
Robelt Lake, now executive director of
I the West Alabama Planning and Development
o
5 Council, was mayor of Moundville when the
5
~ streetscape projects were planned and imple:
g
~ mented. Despite obstacles inherent in such an
extensive project, Lake feels that the benefits
to the town far outweigh any problems that
arose during the process. Even those residents
originally opposed to the project now can see
benefits. "People resist change when they
can't see what it's going to look like" Lake
says, "but once it was completed, everyone
was pleased."
According to Lany Taylor, chairman of
the Downtown Revitalization Committee, the
positive effects of the project have been widespread.
The streetscape project in downtown
has spurred renovation of many of the area's
commercial buildings, and vacancy rates in
the downtown have dropped drastically.
Improvements in the Market Street neighborhood
have inspired area residents to spruce
up their own propeIty with new landscaping
and other renovations.
Most importantly, Moundville citizens
have a new attitude toward their town. "As
important as the physical changes are," Taylor
says, "the most significant change is the residents'
renewed sense of civic pride and community
spirit." ..
Plaza and improved storefronts in downtown showcase
the locally manufactured lampposts.
17 Volume Vi. No. II
In 1926, Robert Jemison Jr, already renowned as a residential developer in Birmingham, set out to create
the area's largest and most generously developed subdivision, Mountain Brook Estates.
The site chosen for the development, just
over Red Mountain trom downtO\vn
Birmingham, was an idyllic natural expanse of
400 acres. It was described in the 1925 Olmsted
Report to the Birmingham Park Board as "wild
and picturesque." Jemison's goal was to create a
conununity with the "chann of the Old English
countryside" while maintaining the natural beauty
of the indigenous landscape.
In Mountain Brook, Jemison succeeded
in creating a unique addition to the Bilmingham
landscape. With its winding roads, scenic vistas,
natural wooded areas and collection of fine
homes, Mountain Brook remains one of the most
desirable communities anywhere.
The development was one of the frrst in
America to include a commercial shopping village.
Mountain Brook Village and the later developments
of English Village and Crestline Village
have evolved over the years with their own
unique character derived from distinctive architecture,
scale and amenities. Although each
exempliHes the principles of quality design and
respect for the natural environment found in the
original plan, the pedestrian qualities have been
lost over the years in the mounting need to
accommodate automobile traffic.
In 1995, the City of Mountain Brook
retained the Birmingham landscape architecture
and planning frlm of Nimrod Long and
Associates, led by Project Manager Joel Eliason,
to design streetscape improvements for its three
historic commercial villages. The goal of the project
is to enhance the existing qualities of each
village with specific improvements such as
pedestrian -walks" attractive lighting fixtures) reorganized
parking and proposals for appropriate
infill developments which will strengthen the villages'
character and commercial appeal.
Steering committees complised of village
merchants and city residents were organized in
each of the three villages to work with deSigners
in creating the final plan. These committees provided
valuable feedback, ensuring that the plan
would meet the needs of the
city's merchants and residents.
The streetscape improvements
are designed to (Teate a
sense of continuity throughout
each village by bUilding on the
existing architecture and scale and
will, in the words of City Manager
Sam Gaston, 'enhance our already
attractive conllTIercial villages."
Quality sidewalks of blick and
concrete will replace dangerous
or inconsistent pavement, and new pedestrian
OesignAlabama 18
"Before" view of English Village
"Before" view ot Crestline.
lights will provide better illumination in each
conununity. Unsafe vehicular intersections will be
reworked, and traffIc Signals upgraded. Parking,
at a premium in these small villages, will be reorganized
for better effiCiency and to increase the
number of spaces.
Specific improvements in Mountain
Brook Village include the addition of a public
plaza to be located within the area's main intersection,
which is large and circular in shape.
Improvements in English Village include widening
sidewalks along the main thoroughfare. In
the process, streets will be nan-owed, making
crosswalks safer and easier to navigate. There are
plans also to install a piece of artwork in a cen��trally-
located public space. Crestline Village's
sidewalks and crosswalks also will be reorganized
to better accommodate pedestrian movement.
The village's busiest intersection will be
reworked and updated with a traffic signal to
ease congestion. The addition of a public plaza
with a 40-foot clock tower adjacent to this intersection
will give the village a strong focal point.
'After" version of English Village with wider sidewalks.
':4l1er" rendering of Crestline with new clock tower
The City of Mountain Brook chose a
unique method of funding the 53.5 million project.
The City Council agreed to raise the city's
sales tax by one percent until funcls for the project
are raised. City Manager Gaston estimates
that it will take approximately five years to raise
the necessary funds. After that point, the sales tax
will return to its original level. With commercial
development in the villages already on the lise,
Gaston describes the project as a "win-win situation
for the community." Contracting services for
the project, which should be completed by fall
1996, will be provided by Stone Building Co. Inc.
In addition to streetscape projects in the
three villages, Mountain Brook also commissioned
Nimrod Long and Associates, led by
Project Manager John Courtney, to design a village
trail system creating 5.4 nmes of new walkways
to connect with 8.4 miles of existing walkways
and trails, much of which was part of the
city's original plan. The completed system, while
enhanCing pedestrian safety, will link all three villages,
as well as recreational, cultural and educa-tional
facilities in the area. The
MOUNTAIN BROOK
VILLAGE project was funded by the
Alabama Department of
Transportation under the
Intermodal SUlface Transportation
EffiCiency Act (ISTEA) grant program.
Scheduled for completion
in August 1996 the total cost is
estimated at $700,000. Milton
Constmction Co. Inc. is the general
contractor with the participation
of the Jefferson County Roads and
Proposed plan tor Mountain Brook Village. Transportation Department, Bridge Division .•
Communities large and small throughout Alabama are initiating programs to
create pedestrian-friendly streets and public spaces. Here are just a few
"Streets for People" projects currently in the works around the state.
Auburn
County: Lee
Population 33,830
Project Name: Auburn Central Area Revitalization Plan
Project Scope: Downtown, nearby residential neighborhoods and
business districts to the north and east
Estimated Cost: Not determined
Project Stage: Presented to City Council; No formal action
Completion Date: Not determined
Contact: Planning Director, City of Auburn
(334) 887-4970
PROJECT DESCRIPTION: The plan proposed by KPS Group of Birmingham
for the central core includes improvements for traffic circulation and bicycle
routes, upgrades of pedestrian connections and provisions for off-street parking.
Improving streetscaping in the city right-of-way, establishing a major
focal point in the city center and instituting architectural covenants will
enhance the village concept.
Collinsville
County: DeKalb
Population 1,429
Project Name: Architectural and Revitalization
Plan for Collinsville
Project Scope: Downtown commercial district
Estimated Cost: $250,000
Project Stage: Planning stage
Completion Date: Not determined
Contact Mohamed Sieiman
Top of Alabama Regional
Council of Governments
(205) 533-3330
PROJECT DESCRIPTION: A wide range of issues facing the downtown are
addressed in this plan. Details include widening of sidewalks and the reorganization
of utility equiprnent, parking facilities and crosswalks. It provides
recommendations for improved street furniture, light fixtures, signage and
landscaping, as well as recommendations for the renovation of many historic
buildings in the area.
County
Population:
Project Name:
Project Scope:
Florence
Lauderdale
36,426
Downtown Area Plan
9 blocks
Estimated Cost Not determined
Project Stage: 3rd phase
Completion Date: Not determined
Contact: Jane Dembner
LOR International Inc.
(410) 792-4360 or
Barry Broach
City of Florence
Planning Department
(205) 760-6340
PROJECT DESCRIPTION: The plan entails recommendations for new landscaping,
street furnitures, light fixture and trash bins.
Sidewalks and crosswalks will be reorganized to increase
pedestrian safety. Florence's Downtown Area Plan is one of
five area plans included in the city's Comprehensive Plan,
which was awarded the 1996 Outstanding Planning Effort
Award by the Alabama Chapter of the American
Planning Association.
Toomers Corner, Auburn
Collinsville Land Use Map
Streetscapes Program, Mobile
Downtown Florence
Courthouse Square, Opelika
-.".
Northport Master Plan
Mobile
County: Mobile
Population: 196,278
Project Name: Downtown Mobile
Streetscapes Program
Project Scope: 34 blocks
Estimated Cost: $2.3 million
Project Stage: Phase 1 completed
Completion Date Not determined
Contact: Elizabeth Sanders
Main Street Mobile
(334) 434-7540
PROJECT DESCRIPTION: The program includes provisions for new sidewalks,
period light fixtures and trash bins and landscaping to be installed in
the Lower Dauphin Street Historic District of Mobile. It also calls for the
replacement of much of the area's aging and deteriorated infrastructure, as
well as the repaving of the downtown's major thoroughfares.
Northport
County: Tuscaloosa
Population: 17,366
Project Name: Northport Renaissance Plan
Project Scope: Entire city
Estimated Cost Not determined
Project Stage Planning stage
Completion Date Not determined
Contact: Waring Blackburn
City Planner, City of Northport
(205) 339-7000
PROJECT DESCRIPTION: The key element of this far-reaching plan is the
creation of a two-mile-Iong flood control levee and river walk along the banks
of the Black Warrior River, which runs through the heart of Northport. The
plan also will include a number of provisions intended to revitalize the city's
historic downtown including, but not limited to, the installation of new landscaping
and other pedestrian improvements.
County:
Population:
o elika
Lee
22,122
Project Name: Opelika Courthouse Square Project
Project Scope 2.3 Acres
Estimated Cost: $550,000
Project Stage: 20% complete
Completion Date: July 1996
Contact: Waller C. Dorsey Jr.
City of Opelika
Engineering Department
(334) 705-5450
PROJECT DESCRIPTION: The project involves the conversion of an
existing public parking lot directly in front of the Lee County Courthouse
into a public square. The square will feature an open plaza with a fountain,
pavilion, landscaped lawn area and reorganized parking. Period light fixtures
will be installed throughout the square.
19 Volume VI, No. II
I
How do you design or retrofit a city street to make It more
attractive and safer for pedestrians and bicycle riders? by Philip Morris
Seventh Ave. South was selected as a demonstration
project for bicycle/pedestrian retrofit improvements
because it carries less automobile traffic
than nearby thoroughfares and has inherent pedestrian
scale. It connects the UAB campus to nearby
services and the emerging Lakeview District. The
City of Birmingham will resurface and remark the
street to accomodate two lanes of traffic, a turn
lane, curbside parking and bicycle lanes.
Philip Morris is editor-at-large for Southern Living and
Southern Accents. He is Han. AlA. Han. ASL4 and a
member of the board of regents of the American
Architecture Foundation.
DesignAlabama 20
As part of the Birmingham Area Bicycle, Pedestrian and Greenway Plan for
Jefferson and Shelby counties, Greenways Inc. and its team of consultants
produced a report on three demonstration projects: a new greenway for
Shelby County, a rail-trail conversion through parts of Birmingham, ! Fairfield and Midfield and an on-road upgrade for Seventh Avenue South
~ from VAB through the Lakeview District.
~
[ All three have good potential to link neighbor-hoods
and destinations (the greenway plan parallel to
Highway 119 has drawn enthusiastic response from
Shelby County reSidents). But the Seventh Avenue South
project has compelling simplicity, as the Greenways report
notes:
"The on-road demonstration project was chosen
specifically to demonstrate how an existing street corridor
can be "retrofitted" to better accomodate people on foot
and on bicycle. The bicycle improvements recommended
for this project, for example, are designed to fit within the
existing street cross section. This eliminates the need for a
costly road-widening project."
Total length covered is 12 blocks, or 1.2 miles. A
latent demand analysis shows that many people who live
or work in this area take trips under three miles in length,
and many of these could be done on a bicycle in less than
15 minutes. With UAB a major generator at one end, the
large Compass Bank service center and Forest Park at the
other, plus many restaurants and other attractions
between, the.route has potential for increased foot and
bicycle travel.
The present character of Seventh Avenue South
also lends itself to such activity. It carries much less automobile
traffic (approximately 6,700 vehicles per day) than
nearby University Boulevard (Eighth Avenue South) or
Fifth Avenue South. There are existing sidewalks on both
sides, And many older buildings, now often used for
antique stores, shops or restaurants are close to the sidewalk
giving the street edge definition and human scale,
Because Seventh Avenue South connects to 20th
Street and the recent extension of Birmingham Green at
one end and the also recent Lakeview District streetscape
improvments along 29th Street at the other, it becomes
part of a larger system.
+- UAB1 MILE
The demonstration project report breaks design
recommendations into two parts.
For pedestrians, the recommendations include:
-Improved pedestrian crossings at intersections,
either painted or slightly elevated crosswalks
(called "speed tables', to slow vehicles.
-Curb extensions, or "bulb-outs" at
intersections, similar to those used in other
Birmingham streetscape projects, which shorten
the street crOSSing for people on foot and
improve their visibility.
-More continuous street tree planting
(currently sporadic) along the route.
-Improvements to unoccupied or unimproved
storefronts.
Though not directly on the route, the report also
recommends pedestrian improvements at intesections along
University Boulevard one block to the south to make it easier
for pedestrians to cross this busy, high-speed route and
reach the safer, more amenable Seventh Avenue South.
For bicyclists, recommendations include:
-Convert Seventh Avenue South from tour
10-foot wide travel lanes to two 10-foot-wide
travel lanes and a central turd lane, freeing
space for bicycle lanes to either side.
-Resurface the street and then restripe
it to include five-foot-wide bicycle lanes
between the travel lanes and curbside parking
(see section drawings).
-Mark bicycle lanes with decals to clarify
use and avoid confusion with right-turn lanes.
-Install bike route signs that denote
mileage to destinations.
The report stresses that grinding out existing lane
striping and re-striping is not recommended. Indentations left
by the machines that do the grinding create a hazard for bicyclists
and old markings visible on rainy nights can create confusion.
The City of Birmingham has responded favorably to
advancing the project as described.
Pedestrians and Bicycles
Wl.Etm + CHURCH
RCONNE;CTION TO OTHER
PROPOSED SIKEI?EOESTRIAN
FACIUTE$
S.;v UNIVERSITY
Birmingham AreaBicycle,Pedestrian and Greenway Plan
A study to becompletedthls summer will
become a model inAlabamaforhow the needsofpedple
on foot andbicyclecanbegiven\~%irdue in atransporta,
tion plan. The Birmingham Area BicycleiPedeslrian and
GreenwayPlanprovidesa cOmprehensive inventory of .
exisliggconejitions for Jefferson and/Shelbycounties,
. selected routes and standards for planning or retrofitting
properaccomodation for non-auto needs.
Developed under the auspices of Birmingham
Regional Planning Commission (BRPC), the yearclong;
$250,000 study addresses the need for oHoad bicycle
and pedestrian travelways, such as sidewalks and bicycle
tributionsfrom the City of Birmingham,Jefferson County,
Shelby County and BRPC have made the study possible.
The nationally-known.Greenways Inc.based in
Raleigh, N C, has developed .theslud/alongwith consultationlromBirminghalTJ~
based Cecil Jones and
Associates, the Bicycle Federation of America, the Railsto-
Trails Conservancy from Washington,D.C.,and Grover
& Harrison, Birmingham landscape architects.
Coordinating the project for BRPC is transportation planner
Bill Foisy.
Withinputfrom an advisory committee and
interested citizens, the team developed maps and other
lanes, as well as off-road corridors, such as greenways documentation rating various routes for current and
and raiHrails (abandoned railroad rights-of-way trans- potential use. A rating system was used to establish the
formed into trails). Federal air quality funds and local con- most promising routes along existing roads or elsewhere,
Before 7th Avenue-Typical Section Drawing
ON-ROAO FACILITY DEMONSTRATION PROJEC,
7TK AVE. SOUTH
£X/$,7N$ COII'OITtONS
~ Birmi':;~':;:; Rogional 'f-,-,-~
Planning Commission
and these were voted on both by committee members and
by the public at workshops.
Out of these, three demonstration projects were
selected. Upon completion, the comprehensive study is
expected to stimulate development of both local and
regional routes for pedestrians and cyclists. These routes
are identified as having transportation potential related to
work, shopping or other types of trips and, as such, will be
included in the area's long-range transportation plan for
potential funding. Also, as existing major highways are
expanded or resurfaced and new routes built, pedestrian
and bicycle ways can be incorporated .•
I .... ~ ...... ~ .......... ~.~ .......... ~ ....... ~ .. I
lb 8' parking 10' Iravel 10' Iravel 10' Iravel 10' Iravel 8' parking dJ
lane lane lane lane lane lane
After
(~l ~ ~ .,.~ I ... .. . ......
{ii .. :,!,:,)
lb dJ ' , Ii
8' parking .5' bike 10' Iravel 10' cenler 10' Iravel 5' bike 8' parking
lane lane lane Iravell.ne lane lane lane
21 Volume VI, No. II
Dean David Mohney works on the fairground charrette with Eduardo Maiz
from Florida A&M and Kendra Halliwell of the U. of Arkansas.
Corridor charrette students:Jesse Fraiser, U. of Tennessee, Kristi Lemmon,
u. of Kentucky; and Andy Rutledge, Auburn University.
Symposium Overview:
()({Core/Fringe/Hinterland· Relationships and
Responses to Growth and Change in the
l?VIf.f1 etropo ll't an Reg'lo n )) by Frmlklin Setzer
Event highlights includ-ed
the keynote address
try Professor Peter G.
Rowe, dean of Harvard
University s Graduate
School of Design, and a
day-long design char-rette
involvingfaculty
and students from six
schools of architecture
in the southern region.
OesignAlabama 22
F ebruary 22-24, 1996, marked an
important three days for commu-nity
leaders, planning and design pro-fessionals,
students and others interested
in the past, present and future of
our cities, as Auburn University's
School of Architecture hosted the sec-ond
annual winter Symposium on the
City in Birmingham. The event, entitled
"Core/Fringe/Hinterland: Relationships
and Responses to Grovvth and Change
in the Metropolitan Region,1t \-vas spon-sored
by the Alabama Gas Corp. and
Southern Natural Gas.
The symposium offered a
full plate of events including design
charrettes, lectures and case study
presentations by nationally noted
educators and practitioners and lively
discussion for the nearly 200 people
who participated. Event highlights
included the keynote address by
Professor Peter G. Rmve, dean of
Harvard Universit~/s Graduate School
of DeSign, and a day-long deSign
charrette involving faculty' and students
from six schools of architecture
in the southern region.
The first day was devoted to
the 12-hour design charrette which set
the tone for the remaining symposium
activities. Participating schools included
Auburn, Tuskegee University, the
University of Arkansas, the University of
Kentucky. Florida A & M university and
tile University of Tennessee's Urban
Design Center in Chananooga.
The 44 student and faculty
panicipants were organized into four
teams, v,lith representatives from every
school included on each team. Two
charrette teams focused on issues of a
ne\vly-urbanizing hinterland and prepared
development concepts for a 14-
square-mile area of rural Jones Valley
in Jefferson County known as the
Eastern Valley Road corridor located
bet\'veen Bessemer and Vance, home
of the new Mercedes-Benz plant. The
schemes embodied both innovative
and prdgmatic design responses to
accommodate ne\v residential, Corn-mercial
and industrial gro\vth within a
concept to preserve and enhance
much of the natural character and
amenity of the valley landscape. The
other ttvo charrette teams examined
questions of inner city revitalization
and prepared schemes for the redevelop-ment
of the 120-acre State Fair Grounds
in Bilmingham's \Vest End. Both fairground
schemes addressed oppOltunities
to capture the historical and cultural signi£
kance of the site while providing for
the specific needs of sun'ounding neighborhoods
including service facilities and
recreational amenities.
The four conceptual proposals
from the charrette were presented on
Friday morning at the Birmingham
Museum of Art (BMA) auditorium. The
presentations were followed by a lively
discussion of the many issues involved
in such projects.
Friday afternoon was devoted
to the educator's roundtable, a series of
presentations and discussions dealing
with the education of designers about
the city. Case studies of student work
at Auburn (by Professor Paul Zorr) and
Arkansas (by Professor John Forney
and Professor Scott Wing) were presented.
The discussion which followed,
led by Dean Roy Knight (F.;\MU) and
Philip Morris discusses the media
and design.
Professor Stroud Watson
CUT/Chattanooga Urban Design
Center), focused on two points about
design education, First, the body of
knowledge about urbanism that is
important and relevant includes historical,
economic and cultural aspects
that are often peripheral to many
other types of design problems but
are central to design at the urban
scale. Second, the critical role that values
play in successful design at this
scale includes an attitude of stewardship
regarding the larger natural landscape
and a hUmility that respects the
larger urban process rather than a
preoccupation with the design object.
Peter Rowels keynote
address, given in the main sanctuary
of the Episcopal Cathedral Church of
the Advent, provided a wide-ranging
exposition on contemporary American
urban form. Following a brief histoty
of our urban evolution, Rowe focused
on the changes in urban settlement
patterns wrought by the automobile,
the interstate highway system and the
Federal Housing Administration,
which encouraged home ownership in
the post-World War II period. He illustrated
the difference between the idealized
pattern of regional subcenters that
was sought versus the real patterns
that have actually emerged. Rowe took
the design professions to task for our
tendency to merely react to presentday
dilemmas rather than to address
the underlying causes. He stated that
while the contemporary American city
seemingly embodies principles of
mobility and access, the reality is much
different. Today, American urbanismcore,
fringe and hinterland taken
together-really represents the lack of
these essential qualities, and the result
is the absence of equity for alL
Saturday started with a presentation
by Carroll William Westfall,
professor of architectural history at the
University of Virginia. Westfall's talk,
entitled IIRenewing the American City,1I
was both a lucid indictment of contemporary
American urbanism and an
optimistic view of what the future
might hold. Westfall described
Colonial Williamsburg as an example
of a uniquely American urban pattern
involving three balanced components:
land, town and city. Westfall then contrasted
contemporary urban patterns
to Williamsburg. Today, land is valued
only for its ability to generate wealth
for the few. "Civicll values of equality
and justice-represented in the core
of the city-are devalued and often
abandoned in favor of the pursuit of
wealth through the mindless development
of the fringe and hinterland.
Westfall observed that the current pattern
is institutionalized by laws which
mandate the construction of " ... things
which we do not like and forbids the
construction of what we do like. It is in
this last observation that he fmds hope,
however. More and more, he observed,
we are beginning to understand
America!s urban heritage and its unique
attributes. He is optimistic that we will
continue to rediscover the civic values
of equity and justice for all citizens.
The remainder of Saturday
moming was devoted to a panel discussion
led by Philip MOrriS, executive editor
of Southern Living magazine, and
Vernon Mays of Alexandria, Va., who is
an author, design critic and the editor of
Inform magazine. The discussion dealt
with the media and public education
about urban issues. Key points included
the fact that the rules under which both
the electronic and daily print media
operate seldom allow the in- |
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