Design Alabama: The Public Forum for Design in Alabama, Volume 11, Issue 1, 2001

              Spring 2001
Volume XI, Issue I
$4.00
'. 51 abama
THE PUBLIC FORUM FOR DESIGN IN ALABAMA
.r _.J'..:.·~" ... ,
DesignAlabama Inc.
Board of Directors:
Cathryn Campbell Gerachis, Chair
Goodwyn, Mills and Cawood Inc,
Montgomery
Nancy Mims Hartsfield, Vice Chair
Auburn University
Auburn
Elizabeth Ann Brown, Secretary
Alabama HiSiorical Commission
Montgomery
Charles Callans, Treasurer
Birmingham Realty
Birmingham
Marty Ellis
Business Council of Alabama
Montgomery
80 Grisham
Southpace Properties
Birmingham
Tin Man Lau
Auburn University
Auburn
Kenneth M. Penuel
Southern Company Services Inc.
Birmingham
Kay F. Roney
Wallace Community College
Dothan
Patricia E. Sherman
Patricia E. Sherman, Architect
Gadsden
Rip Weaver
Mt. Laurei
Birmingham
Karen H. Seale, Executive Director
Philip A. Morris. Director Emeritus
Desi nAlabama
Volume XI, Issue I
Cover: Interior of FitzMartin's oifices in the Martin
Biscuit building. Pholograph by Gabriel Benzur
Letterifrmn the IJJirector
Driving down any rural highway in Alabama, one is This pubiication is made possible through funding by
bound to pass a crumbling farmhouse, long deserted and the to!lowing conlribulors
choked with weeds, It is often hard to view this depressing site
as anything more than the tumble-down wreck it appears, yet
it may be an important part of our state's rich heritage, When
describing such places in the 1966 act that created the
Alabama Historic Commission, legislators declared these places
to be "of special value ... as a constant reminder of the
circumstances under which our state was born and
nurtured." This idea has cultivated a strong interest in
preservation across the state.
In this issue, we will explore some of the different ways
Alabama is saving her past through documentation,
restoration and revitalization. Included is an article about
recording our past through historic surveys, a profile of a
designer devoted to the preservation of Southern architecture
and a photo essay on Birmingham 5 renovation efforts with its
houses of worship. Our feature focuses on the revitalization of
older buildings through adaptive-reuse.
Though our main topic for this issue is the past,
DesignAlabama's board and staff look eagerly toward bright
plans for the future. With your support, we can continue to
produce great publications like our Journal, participate in
design projects for Alabama's communities and provide
educational opp011unitiesfor tomorrow's designers.
Karen H. Seale
Editor: Karen Seale
Managing Edilor: Tomie Dugas
Art Director: Nancy Hartsiield
Associale Art Direclor: Ross Heck
Assistant Art Directors: Kel!y Bryanl, Tomie Dugas,
Julie Spivey, Wei Wang
Contributing Writers: Tomie Dugas, Philip Morris,
Linda Nelson, John Scnnorrenberg, Karen Seale, George Thompson
Alabama State COI1ncil on the Arts
National Endowment for the Arts
Employment Consultants Inc.
A special thanks to Philip Morris for his ongO!;'7g
assistance and advice with this publication.
Submission Informalion
DesignAlabama encourages submissions from
its readers. Articles about work trom all design
disciplines are requested, as well as copy retated to
historic preservation. Please submit copy along wiih
visuals (photos, slides, drawings, etc.) to
DesignAlabama Inc., P.O. 80x241263,
Montgomery, AL 36124.
Items for Project News and Details of
Inlerest should include a paragraph summary
detailing the nalure of the project, the design firm,
principals and associates involved and any olher
delails 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 and fax number of the
client and an individual whom we may contact for
further information. Direct inquiries 10 Karen Seaie at
(334) 396-5341 or mail 10: designalabama@att.nel.
Past journal issues are available for $6.00
including postage and handling. Conlact Karen Seale
at the above numbers for availability information
and to order.
© 2001 DesignNabama Inc.
ISSN# 1091)·0918
This issue 01 DesignAlabama was designed and
produced on Macintosh Computers utilizing QuarkXPress
4.0. Proofs were printed on a HP 4000N and final output
on a Compllgraphic 9400.
Recording the past to
enlighten the future.
p.7
OesignAlabama is a publicaiion of DesignAlabama Inc.
Reader comments and submission of articles and ideas for
future issues are encouraged,
CONTENTS
Melding historic motifs in a
contemporary design.
p.14
FEATURES
"OLD BUILDINGS-NEW LIfE"
Recycling Via Adaptive-Reuse.
Appreciating the work of a Montgomery
classic architect.
p.16
9
MARTIN BISCUIT: FROM BISCUITS TO BRAINSTORMING 10 ............•.. ........ ...................... .
WIREGRASS MUSEUM OF ART: FROM UTILITY TO FINE ART 12
KING & WARREN: FROM GOODS TO LAW 14
ARTICLE
ASPIRATION
BIRMINGHAM'S HISTORIC HOUSES OF WORSHIP.
DEPARTMENTS
ProjectANews
Work of statewide significance.
Historicai'i'Perspectives
Historic county surveys
Designer~Profi Ie
Architect John Parker Shaffer.
Community.Profile
Slocomb: Small Town Design Initiative.
Details+Of Interest
Noteworthy observations.
20
4
7
16
19
25
Scanning the spires of Birmingahm's
religious architecture.
p20
ProjectANews
Project News
is a regular
feature of
OesignAlabama and
provides
an opportunity
to keep
up-to-date on
design projects
that have an impact on
our communities.
The new Brookwood Vi!!age mal! will provide an
exterior-oriented shopping experience.
.. ··························A··r··c··h··j··t-·e··c··t-·u··'··e·········· .. ···· .. ··· .. ··· ..
From mall to main street: Brookwood
Village is changing again. In Project
News, Fall/Winter 1999 (pAl, we
presented major renovations to upgrade
the Birmingham mall newly purchased by
Colonial Properties. Streetworks, a N.Y.
design and consulting group brought in to
review the remodel, advised changing concepts. Instead of a
glitzy upgrade, the typology of the building was reworked to
reinvent Brookwood Village. Mark Coyle, project manager for
HKW Associates, the Birmingham architectural firm working
with Streetworks on the new design, said the move from an
internal shopping mall to exterior-oriented shopping will put the
emphasis on street-front retail space and surrounding restau­rants.
The Village will contain more than 230,000 square feet of
retail and 35,000 of restaurant space. Construction documents
show an appealing glass-encased entrance and upscale shops
and restaurants fronting the property for maximum curb appeal.
The owner's goal is to create a scenic view that will draw cus­tomers
to the attractive atmosphere and will also allow easy
access for walkers and bikers, a goal that synchronizes with the
new six-mile trail under construction in Homewood. The project
should be complete in fall 2001.
A
The new $50 million Federal Courthouse in Montgomery is
nearing completion. Designed by Barganier Davis Sims of
Montgomery, the 315,000-square-foot building is classical in
nature with a modernist attitude. Its siting at the intersection of
two historic city grids provides an anchor to both which did not
previously exist.
The design solution had to integrate efficiency and compatibility.
The latter was particularly important because of the directive to
connect the new structure with the old Federal Courthouse and
to place it within a triangle to avoid the historically significant
Greyhound Bus station located behind the existing courthouse.
The style and height restrictions of the old Classical Revival
building were also considerations. The resulting crescent­shaped
structure defines a public plaza which serves as a major
urban space leading into the courthouse's public entrance. The
aesthetic characteristics of the new building, in its abstraction,
detail and low rise mass, pay deference to the old courthouse
and materially merge with it by the use of limestone, granite
and marble.
To achieve a high degree of efficiency and allow courtrooms with
tall ceilings and windows, the architect employed an innovative
solution in which the District Judge's chambers are located in an
interstitial level above the lobby serving these courtrooms, yet
each judge maintains quick, easy and direct access from
chamber to courtroom by means of shared and secured elevators
and stairs. The courthouse was built with future expansion in
mind as several options are available in minimal renovation time.
The new Federal Courthouse nearing comp/eNon.
DesignAlabama 4
A high school is emerging from the landscape at Spain Park in
Hoover. The $45 million project designed by Crawford,
McWilliams Hatcher Architects Inc. of Birmingham
follows traditional turn-of-the-century style with a brick exterior
and metal roof. The 361 ,879-square-foot complex includes a
three-story building and outdoor and indoor sports facilities.
Completion is set for May 1, 2001.
Spain Park High School A
HKW Associates has been awarded design work for the reno­vation
of Vulcan Park in Birmingham. The firm was chosen out
of 12 architectural firms that submitted proposals and will work
with Boston-based Amaze Design Inc., master planners for the
project. HKW will design a visitor education center and a facility
that would be rented for weddings, receptions and other events.
Nimrod Long & Associates Inc. of Birmingham are land­scape
architects. The foundation has raised more than $7.6 million
of the $11 million plus to renovate the park and statue by 2004.
A
A siuling new space should soon create sparks in downtown
Athens. Lawrence Lee Vowels, Architect, PC, has
designed 2,000 square feet of office space within an existing
structure to house ad agency Mindvolt, "The Creative Current."
The firm's logo, a 2-D head with a duplex outlet inside, suggests
being "plugged in" to what is new and fresh. The space, too, will
reflect a shocking, electric environment. Designs show entry
portals to the work stations are stylized high voltage towers and
lighting is composed of cable lights in the vein of transmission
lines. Drawer and cabinet pulls are spark plugs cut in half.
Challenged to design a cutting-edge space within the young
agency's budget, Vowell is using corrugated metal, wafer board,
plywood, stained concrete and translucent panels. The ceiling
plane is a multilevel composition of plywood, pegboard and
acrylic panels. The panels play against one another forming a
floating sculpture and help spark a creative work environment.
Schematics for Midvo!t's offices,
Two II-story ottice buildings now under
construction in downtown Birmingham
are notable for t,~eir attention to urban
design. To begin with, each will mend
the urban fabric by filling in existing
parking lots. But ilJey go beyond this
essential contribution:
For Concord Center, going up at Third Avenue North and 21st
Street (now Richard Arrington Jr Boulevard) next to the
downtown YMCA, Birmingham architects Williams­Blackstock,
PC, worked hard to integrate parking tor both
the 150,000-square-foot building and the YMCA into a tight
150-x-200-foot site without deadening the street frontage. A
ramp aligned with a former alley leads to one level
underground for Y visitors (the YMCA sold developers
Brookmont Realty Group the site with a parking replaoement
provision); two levels for office tenants will enter and exit off
Third Avenue North. The tower comes to the sidewalk, but a
recessed, 25-foot-high arcade wrapping the west and part of
the south exposure creates a pedestrian amenity. The lobby
orients toward the corner with retail extending along Third
Avenue. To respect historic S!. Paul's Cathedral (see p. 24),
the tower holds the corner and the two-story parking deck
steps down to the scale of the church's two-story rectory. At the
top, two pyramidal roof elements are intended to recall roof
forms of the Victorian-style Jefferson County Courthouse that
once occupied the site.
Concord Center.
For One Federal Place, located on the square block formerly
occupied by the Federal Reserve Bank, Sloss Real Estate
Group and the Barry Co. of Atlanta have developed plans for a
300,OOO-square-foot tower and attached parking deck, pius
Icwer buiidings to be in scale with the original nvo-story
Federal Reserve building and its annex. The tower, deck and
iower structures filling out the 19th Street end of the site are
designed by architects !'liSTS!) of ,~tlanta to echo the classical
design of the original building. The lower element with a main
entrance facing the white marble National Landmark U.S. Post
Office (now a federal office building) across Fifth Avenue
North, wii! be clad in iiame-finish gray granite while the tower
will have the same granite polished as part of a green-tinted
glass curtain wall. Landscape architects Nimrod Long 8.
Associates are designing the focal amenity: a small plaza
with adjacent restaurant/retail space taking in the view of the
monumental white marble colonnade of the landmark post
office. Birmingham architect Christopher Engel has been
commissioned to design the restoration/renovation of the
original building and its annex.
KPS Group of Birmingham recently completed a master plan
for streetscape improvements to Chestnut Street in downtown
Gadsden. Developed for the City of Gadsden in cooperation with
Downtown Gadsden Inc., this master plan creates a vision both
unique and complementary of the recent redevelopment of Broad
Stree!.lt features the "Chestnut Street Promenade," a simple yet
elegant pattern of street trees, lights and ornamental furnishings
that unifies the corridor and links city hall, the commercial
district and the post office. Gateways, pocket parks and other
open spaces are proposed along the corridor as stopping points
and gathering spaces. A set of guidelines for streetscape improve­ments
will direct long-term development.
Chestnut Street.
The Urban Design Plan and Design Guidelines for 21st Street,
prepared for the City of Birmingham by KI'S Group, builds on the
strengths of one of downtown's most important transportation
arteries, recognizing the architectural and civic character of the five
districts through which it passes. These range from the Five Points
area at the south end to the Railroad character in the middle to the
Cultural/Arts and Convention uses on the north. The plan also
features nodes, gateways and overlooks that link the corridor to the
urban fabric of downtown Birmingham. The Design Guidelines
have been adopted for use in reviewing proposed development
along 21st Street and guide the design and construction of street­scape
improvements within the public right-of-way. The plan for
21 st Street features a rhythm of street trees, lights and paving
patterns along the 16-block corridor. This repetition of elements
unifies the street, while the materials themseives change to reflect
the archltectural and civic flavor oi each district.
21st Street.
Last spring Auburn University industrial
design students designed four prototype
walkers which promote better posture in
the elderly and injured. Working in
conjunction w'lth Cleveland State
University's Advanced Manufacturing
Center (AMC), AU professor Brenda
Peters' class developed design concapts for walkers that do
not require bending over the device while walking. The students
took their drawings to a local
assisted-living facility to
discuss their research with
the residents and receive
feedback. ilndrew Cross, an
AU industrial design graduate
who is senior machine
designer at AMC, has
fabricated a model based on
the students' input (shown above). It will be tested through the
center's health sciences program for manufacture by the
Cleveland, Ohio, facility.
Graphic design students at Troy State
University in Troy recently proposed a
new look for Alabama Living magazine
in collaboration with the publication's
marketing and design team. The student
designers created a new masthead,
cover and contents page utilizing
student-generated photographs with suggestions for font
exploration and color scheme studies for the rural electric
publication. This partnership was initiated through TSU's new
Center for lIesign Technology and Industry, «db>, a
cutling-edge, hybrid graphic design/business technology
program. Ed Noreiga, formerly of the Parsons School of Design
in New York City, is director of the program involving students
and faculty with various backgrounds in graphic design,
information systems, journalism and computer science.
Bolstered by a $150,000 dig'ltal design lab equipped with state­of-
the-art technology, the program is soliciting industry­sponsored
projects and developing partnerships with industry
representatives while giving students high-tech design
experience Currently, internships have been established with
Mantech International, an educational technology company in
Da!eville, and an e-commerce relationship is emerging with the
ad agency EnginenoMsemedia.com of Troy.
TSU student layouts by
(jop to bottom): Tangela
Lockett, Emily Larson and
Open Minds Design Group
which includes Todd
Shiflabeer, Michefa
Hutcheson. Laura Petersot!
and Barry Dinkins.
5 Volume XI. No, I
Montgomery architect Bobby McAlpine
of McAlpine Tankersley designed the
English-inspired wood-and-stone bridge
being constructed in Wynton M. Blount
Cultural Park. He also is responsible for
the Shakespeare Garden's pavilion and
attendant structures completed in June
1999. McAlpine employed WetStart International of London,
England, to thatch the pavilion roof using Turkish reeds and
English combed wheat. The bridge is part of the new roadway
system and front entrance to the expanded park designed by
Edwina vonGal and Co. of New York.
English bridge al Blount Cuilural Park ...
Gadsden's historic downtown theater will soon be enhanced by
the new Pitman Theater Courtyard. This downtown vest pocket
park, designed by KPS Group of Birmingham, links the theater
to the adjacent Gadsden Senior Center on Broad Street. A new
lirnestone veneer wall with water-wall niche serves as the
backdrop and focal point to the elegant courtyard. Cafe tables
and chairs, benches and a new pavilion are nestled beneath a
bosque of Zelkova trees. New ornamental iron gates, limestone
walls and paving patterns incorporate detailing from adjacent
historic buildings. The courtyard serves as a gathering space for
the center and theater, and is flexible to accommodate individual
visitors and lunch-time crowds. Completion is set for fall 2001.
Pilman Theater Courtyard ...
Work has begun on the design by Nimrod Long &
Associates of Birmingham for a new greenway along the
Cahaba River in Trussville. The greenway will link neighborhoods,
schools, ball fields, parks and downtown. Improvements being
planned for the Trussville business district will make the area
more pedestrian-friendly and greatly enhance the streetscape.
DesignAlabama 6
Nimrod Long & Associates also has been selected by
Vestavia Hills to develop a master plan that will direct the future
development of a citywide trails system. The master plan will
indicate a series of walkways and recreational trails that will link
schools, neighborhoods, shopping and recreational facilities.
...... . . ,. n t ftl j·o· r· "O'e- s j .. g·fl· ........
Legends Conference Center overlooks
the 17th fairway of the Robert Trent
Jones Capitol Hill Course in Prattville.
J. Michael Lee of Dothan was
architect for the project and Nancy
Hosey, ASID, and Marie Sutter,
ASID, of Hosey Design Group Inc. in Opelika provided
interior design services. The center includes a full-service area
with state-of-the-art technology to host business meetings and
six small conference rooms. The concept was to create a
comfortable environment by combining turn-of-the-century
charm with 21 st century technology capabilities. Arts and Crafts
style furnishings lend lodge appeal. The Oak Tavern & Grill, de­signed
like an English gentlemen's club, is nearby.
The Daklavem & Grill. ...
The Whitley Hotel, a historic turn-of the-century building in
downtown Montgomery has been completely renovated upstairs
to house administrative offices and classrooms for Troy State
University. The first floor, however, retains the appearance of the
original lobby. Interior designer Stephanie Booth Walker
used some of the original color schemes, restored ceiling
molding and employed soft lighting via wall sconces to create
the effect. A wall between the hotel and store next door was
opened to create the school's bookstore. Original wood floors in
the store were retained. Architects were Sherlock, Smith &
Adams of Montgomery.
The renovated Whitley Hotel at Troy State.
Montgomery Academy's Pedestrian Bridge.
This former gas station in Mobile has an artsy new future as The
Ashland Gallery. During the renovation, interior designer Janel
Fowler tried to keep as many original finishes as possible,
including stained concrete floors and brick interior walls.
Exposed metal roof joists painted black are used as a framework
for the lighting. Continuing with the industrial theme, corrugated
metal wraps the counter fronts and linoleum lines the tops.
Arranging separate areas for the owner's gallery, framing
operation and gift shop within the existing space was the most
challenging problem.
Leli: Garage c. 1920s
Bottom: Interior after
renovation as The
Ashland Gallery.
.............................. E .. n .. g·+n·-e .. e .. r·+n .. g .............................. ·
Qore Property Sciences of Birmingham
provided speciality engineering services to
the Boeing Aerospace Prime Contractor in
building the Delta IV Rocket booster manu­facturing
facility in Decatur. Completed in
early 2000, the fast-track project produced
the largest manufacturing plant in the largest
industrial construction site in the eastern United States. The site
covers 510 acres and houses the 2,000,000-square-foot
manufacturing plant and more than 500,000 square feet in six
other support structures. In the planning stage, Oore assisted in
identitying options that would take advantage of existing
topography, drainage and soil conditions. During the 24-month
time frame, the firm provided services in geotechnical
exploration, earthwork and construction testing. Brian Cook
was project manager; Ralph Atwater, PE, principal; and John
Snyder, project engineer.
As part of a $5 million expansion of Montgomery Academy in
the capital city, a new pedestrian bridge spans Vaughn Road.
The striking steel overpass crosswalk by Seay, Seay &
Litchfield of Montgomery links the private school's new
42,000-square-foot upper school with the $1 million athletic
complex slated to open this spring. The span features a slight
arch bookended by bracketed pavilions ....
Historical~Perspectives
Historic County
r
By Linda Nelson
The Persons House near UGhee, photographed in 1991 and
destroyed several years later.
The First Baptist Church of New Bern in Hale
Co. has survived in excefJent condition.
A farmstead with homep/ace and outbuildings in
Russeff Co. probably near Uenee Pines.
A tenant house near Gfennviffe in Russe!l Ca. was
once part of the old Cedar Heights Plantation.
There could be no stronger statement to explain why the Alabama
Historical Commission has set a goal of surveying the historic and
cultural resources of every county in the state than this,' Since the
Historic American Building Survey drew and catalogued 720 Signif­icant
bUildings and structures in Alabama shortly after 1934, more
than half have been destroyed or let to disappear. Mobile has lost 70
percent of its documented structures. We have lost a huge percentage
of our heritage, if not through outright destructiveness then through
ignorance and carelessness.
Part of the problem is that
many decision-makers and offi­cials
in Alabama (not to mention
private citizens and property
owners) are aware neither of what
is worth saving nor why, As a
preservation consultant who does
surveys myself, I can attest to
having heard arguments to the
effect that some old house, some
vernacular rarity, some deteriorat­ing
treasure, some down-at-heels
main street "isn't historic." This
means. of course. that it is not
the Appomattox Courthouse, is
not Franklin. Tenn" or that
George Washington missed it on
his rounds of nightly slumbers
throughout the Republic.
The Historic Commission's
number one goal, in devoting so
many of its resources to the col­lecting
and disseminating of infor­mation
about Alabama's physical
heritage, is to provide to all our
citizens a basis on which to make
good decisions regarding the bal­ance
of past and future. By
"good" I mean decisions that can
preserve the things we need to
see and touch in order to under­stand
and enjoy our heritage, at
the same time that we provide an
orderly framework for change. In
order to make these good deci­sions,
people need to know what
they have, what it means and
how significant it is to their cul­tural
memory. To the extent that
we abandon the idea of a cultural
memory, we are cast adrift on a
sea of speculation and seemingly
pointless change. (If there is a
point, it is usually presented as
the making or displaying of
money.) We may not think, when
we tear down buildings and dig
up landscapes, that we are doing
anything so momentous sounding
as abandoning our cultural her­itage
- but if we do enough of it,
we will succeed in cutting our­selves
off from our roots, and
everybody else's roots as well.
Regarding other people's
roots: Another great reason for
the surveying of cultural resources
is to help us understand one
another. "I know where you're
comin' from" is a fine addition to
the vernacular. One of the best
trends emerging in the historic
preservation field in recent times
has been the spreading percep­tion
of the Significance of every­day
life for ordinary people. This
is in the vein of Fernand
Braudel's work on the history of
everyday life, wherein technology
and social, economic and ecological
forces are what really drive
change, much more than do war
and politiCS that, after all, are
responding to those forces rather
than creating them. Studying his­tory,
we are better off looking at
farmers and miners, factory workers
and servants, as well as at political
leaders and planters and war
heroes. We are interested in such
things as tenant houses, factory
hOUSing, cemeteries, old ships
either afloat or sunken and coun­try
churches both white and
black. We are developing contexts
in which to understand and
appreciate all that they meant to
the people who built them, lived
in them and worked in them.
The Historical Commission has
published exactly what it wants
from survey activity:
Surveys should record the entire spectrum
of prehistoriC and historic properties.
Although preservation has been viewed
by some as elilist, concerned only with
the lifesrfles of the "rich and famous,"
the Commission sees the preservation
picture very differentiy. Historic sites
around our state portray the history of
coal miners, slaves, middle-class mer­chants"
tenant farmers" railroad workers
and a vast array of common folk, as weli
as the comparatively lew antebellum
plantation owners. We are dedicated
to recording the cultural diversity of
our state to include the history of all
Alabamians. (Preserve Alabama, Vol. 1,
A Plan for Action. Montgomery, AHC,
1998, p.13)
7 Volume XI, No.1
These commercial buildings in Jacksonville, Calhoun Co., have found a new fife.
This roadside store near Holy Trinity in Russeff Co. is typical of those found along rural routes in Alabama.
The Bank of Seale in Russell Co. was a "fixer­upper"
when photographed in 1991.
These abandoned buildings from the Muscoda
are mine near Bessemer in Jefferson Co.
are in need of surveying to record the range of
properties including managers'
and worker housing (both white and black) and
mine buildings.
OesignAlabama 8
In accomplishing this goal,
two types of sUlveys are conducted:
standing structure and archeo­logicaL
For the more usual stand­ing
structure surveys, information
is gathered on the age, history,
architectural style, changes to and
condition of buildings and struc­tures.
Everything is photographed,
and all information is recorded on
individual survey sheets that stan­dardize
the observations in the
field and make the inventories
comprehensive.
All 67 Alabama counties have
been or are being, to one extent
or another, surveyed to identify
their cultural resources. These
resources include not only buildings
but also archeological relicts and
sites, landscapes natural and
designed, maritime properties and
cemeteries. This process began in
the 1970s and, as time has marched
on, the depth and quality of the
surveys have improved in descrip­tive
completeness and contextual
explanation. The process usually
involves the services of a preser­vation
consultant who is familiar
both with styles and types of
resources and with the technicalities
of completing and reporting the
survey. Funding is provided, in
most cases, by the Alabama
Historical Commission through
matching grants to towns and cities,
counties or other governmental
and non-profit entities.
In general, a survey is a first step
toward nomination of the most
significant resources to the
National Register of Historic Places,
listing on which is in turn a basis
- though not the only basis - for
other local actions. The Historical
Commission makes the point that
professionally prepared and eval­uated
information about resources
carries more weight with both
public and private individuals and
groups who are juggling conflict­ing
interests of past and future.
The aesthetic delights of doing
a survey are many. You see a lot
of interesting and often beautiful
buildings and sites; you meet a lot
of lovely and informative people;
you thrash around in a lot of
bushes and crawl under a lot of
fences and foundations; you sit
on a lot of rocks and do a lot of
scribbling. You lose your glasses
four or five times a day. You
become adept at locating an over­grown
homeplace from the road
by the size of the trees in what
used to be the yard; you get pretty
good at estimating a construction
date by the angle of the gables
or the height of the roof peak;
you can spot a replaced sash or
a filled porch a mile off. It is also
possible and likely, speaking per­sonally,
to become involved in
the life of the place and to grieve
over its losses and delight in
its survivals.
Most of the towns in the state
with any historic resources at all
have been surveyed at least once
since the 1970s; in the more rural
counties, often the county seat
and one or two other incorporated
towns have some kind of inven­tory
of their bUildings and sites.
Counties that have had or are
having an inclusive countywide
survey done include Autauga,
Baldwin, Bibb, Clarke, Conecuh,
Dallas, Hale, Lawrence, Lee,
Lowndes, Mobile, Perry, Russell,
St. Clair and Wilcox. Other counties
have a number of towns surveyed
but not yet the unincorporated
and more rural areas. Jefferson
County had its historic resources
identified and surveyed by the
Jefferson County Historical
Commission in the 1970s.
Birmingham itself shares with
Mobile, Montgomery, Huntsville
and other of the larger towns and
cities a rich supply of public,
commerCial, industrial and resi­dential
resources that are located
in historic districts. Some of these
are under local regulatory jurisdic­tion
and some are not. Of the
above counties with surveys com­plete
or in process, only Baldwin,
Mobile and St. Clair join Jefferson
and Shelby in having some form
of planning authority.
The great concern for the coun­ties
is the fate of archeological
and historic resources that, if not
destroyed by neglect, may be
swept away by development. We
are in a climate of urban expansion
and industrial recruitment; both
of these phenomena tend to roll
over unprotected resources, and
protection cannot come without
recognition. That is why surveys
are so helpful in formulating
public policy toward endangered
sites and structures and in giving
public agencies some basis on
which to plan and direct the
course of development.
In keeping with the paper's
strong advocacy of a new state
constitution, an editorial in the
Birmingham News of January 15th
of this new year makes a plea for
home rule for the counties. It also
advocates authority to regulate
development and expansion, with
particular reference to the destruc­tion
of agricultural land and the
brainless congestion in the wake
of expansion around Birmingham,
Montgomery, Huntsville, the
Eastern Shore and in the automo­tive
corridors in Tuscaloosa and
St. Clair counties. The public,
encouraged by a national cam­paign
against sprawl, is learning
to object when their environ­ments
are set for spoiling. But
as long as there is money to be
made, there will be political bat­tles
over turf, both literal and
figurative. As awareness grows
of what we stand to lose, both
in terms of landscape and our
wealth of inherited history, we
will get better at looking after it
and balancing its interests with
those of economic development
and a progressive journey into
the new century.~
Linda Nelson is a Birmingham-based
independent consultant in preservation doing
National Register nomination, Tax Act certification
assistance, surveys and other research and writing
projects. She serves on the Jefferson County
Historical Commission and is a member of the
Alabama Preservation Alliance and the
Birmingham Historical Society.
Photography by Linda Nelson
DU I
The introduction and articles were
written by Philip Morris with research
prepared by Karen Seale.
or several decades now, historic
preservation and its handmaiden,
adaptive-reuse, have been a signifi­cant
factor in the revitalization of towns and cities. The early examples, beginning in the
1960s, were often dramatic - grand train stations turned into museums, old markets
transformed into festival marketplaces. But, all along, more ordinary commercial and
industrial buildings, as well as out-dated hotels and office buildings, have been the
mainstay of this movement.
IIhe architectural approach to adaptive-reuse can range from careful restoration to
significant alteration and many degrees between. Very often historic exteriors are pre­served
or taken back to something very close to original condition while interiors take a
different direction, dictated both by new uses and a desire to introduce fresh spatial or
aesthetic effects. But always, the best results come from a fine balancing act between
existing and new.
IIhree projects presented here, from Birmingham, Dothan and Jasper, show archi­tects
and interior designers helping clients find that balance. Each looks for inspiration in
the materials, structure, spatial qualities and even the gritty details of what came down to
them over time. And by preserving pieces of local history, they make a contribution to the
larger culture while pumping new life into each place.
9 Volume XI. No. I
DesignAlabama 10
The secolldjloor space taken by FilzMarlin, (l design­on'ented
marketingfinn, looks 0111 througb hllge
industrial windows across Bim/ingham's Inkedew
Dis/rict and Red Mountaill beJond. High-tech open
office furniture floats wi/bill the loft space with its
roof sIn/clUTe and lIew utililies exposed.
New Life ~h!:~jnstorming
Bdaptive-reuse in Birmingham's Lakeview District southeast of the downtown core gained a big toe­hold
a decade ago when Cathy Sloss Crenshaw took on the abandoned Dr. Pepper bottling plant
and turned it into Pepper Place, filling former industrial spaces with designers, fine furniture gal­leries
and other tenants. Adjacent buildings followed, with emphasis on creating a design district
for both designers' offices and design products. The most recent project by Sloss Real Estate
Group, the Martin Biscuit Co., itself embodies a high level of sophistication in overall design and,
specifically, on interiors for a design-oriented tenant.
The 1928 factory/warehouse building is a two-story brick building with large metal case­ment
windows. Architects HKW Associates of Birmingham developed a design that maintains the
industrial character while accommodating new multiple tenants, giving the newer elements an
"edge" appropriate to both the building and the district. "Steel windows were sanded and new
glass installed, with some beyond repair replaced with salvaged windows," says HKW's Fred Keith.
"Brick walls were cleaned and sealed, but left exposed."
The 1928 {luilding, its or(~il/al {lackside facing a nell'lalldscaped parking arm rms repaired as needed, {Ill! arebilecls HAlf
Associates gave a formerb: &ox-like 1958 addition (for rigbf) lIew willdoms. pilasters alld a raised parapet to extend {be
cbaracfer of tbe earlier slruclure.
Sew office and conference eJ/dosures were placed awayfrom willdou.:~ to keep fbe sense of space al/d ligbt.
alld semi-prim!e offices bare trallslucen! j)(we/s (Polygal) framed with rougb. salraged timber. the spiral
slair leads [0 a mezzanine braillstorming room jilted wi!b beanbag seatillg and write-on walls.
A pbolograph ofEd..f!.ar Jfartin, the oll"llerofMarlin Biscuit Co., expallded 10
mural si;;e alld hand-colored, orerlooks !be employee break area. He was
Fif:dfarfin principal Ralldal Snooks great-gram{(ather.
The layolI! of FilzMarlills u:ork space keeps fbe perimeter walls
alld U'indou:s exposed.
A new two-story lobby was placed across the street from the Dr. Pepper Building to make
a visible link to the larger Pepper Place complex. A new entrance canopy of painted, structural steel
and cables sets up a tough aesthetic carried through the lobby and elsewhere in the building­exposed
ceiling trusses, pipes and valves preserved as ornament, concrete floors. Smooth-finished
planes, including a laminate resembling weathered lead, provide contrast to the exposed brick.
For the featureless block of a 1958 addition, HKW inserted new windows and doors that
complement the pattern and placement of those in the original building Salvaged and new brick
were mixed in construction of new pilasters and a raised parapet, again to offset the drabness of the
later structure. Facing a new landscaped parking area, formerly occupied by a clutter of pre-fabri­cated
metal buildings, the original "Martin Biscuit Co." sign was repainted.
A key tenant, as much for its reputation and type of work as for the space taken (3,364
square feet), is FitzMartin Inc., a design-based business-to-business strategic marketing firm. "We
wanted a space that would make a statement about the creative nature of our work," says Randal
SnOOk, a prinCipal with FitzMartin, formerly located in a suburban office park. "We were one of the
first two tenants to sign up, and we saw the building raw with pipes dangling, asbestos tile on the
floor, old conveyer belts lying around."
HKW's interiors staff, led by Tracy Engel, worked with FitzMartin to preserve the sense of
light and space of the second-story loft while creating a combination of open work areas, offices
and conference rooms. Work spaces were carpeted, but concrete floors were sealed and left
exposed in the reception and main circulation spaces. The subtle and unusual play of materials is
evident in the row of semi-private offices with outside walls framed in rough timber and fitted with
corrugated translucent plastiC panels. Another creative innovation: A steel-plated loading dock door
was mounted on a pivot to make a revolving screen between the reception and office areas.
As it turned out, the location has a direct historic link for FitzMartin. Randal Snook's
great-grandfather owned Martin Biscuit Co, and a photograph of him has been enlarged to mural
scale, hand-colored and mounted on a wall in their work space. He now looks down on a space
transformed from one sort of work to quite another. I!II
A sakaged loading-dock dool" mOllllted 011 a Pil'ot semes as a rot.at­ing
screen befu:een reception and work areas. COl/crete jIoors are
e:\posed except ill offices or workstation areas.
11 Volume XI, No. I
[ II" -01
DesignAlabama 12
FRO M
t:nder phase two of the Wiregrass Museum ofAr! converswn ofDothan'sfonner water and electric plant completed
in 1997, Donofro & Associates placed the main gallery on a 1WU! mezzanine let'el with lighting moullted on the
underside of the original nwssit'€ timber tNtsseS. Utili
FirieArt Photography: Courtesy of the Wiregrass Museum of Art
DomPleted in 1913, the building that housed Dothan's municipal water and electric plant until
the late 1940s was easily viewed as an unusable white elephant in a largely abandoned
downtown, But in the early 1980s, a design charrette held to explore the future of the urban
core said a city art museum should be part of turning the area into a cultural center for the
region, Architect Joe R. Donofro helped convince others that the abandoned building could
house the museum,
By 1997, the Wiregrass Museum of Art and its board had raised $1.25 million and
completed two of the planned four phases, with a third phase starting construction this year.
The first phase occupied the two-story office structure at the front of the block-deep build­ing;
the second slipped two levels of galleries within the loffy space that once held electric
generators, bringing the total to 16,000 square feet. Phase three will convert the rear portion
of the building into two levels of flexible auditorium and classroom space, supplemented by
a small addition housing catering kitchens and storage, The final phase will add a children's
wing and create a new main entrance facing a landscaped parking area,
"The large volume of space in the utility portion of the building converted well to
galleries," says Donofro, of Donofro & Associates of Dothan, "With phase two we placed the
main painting and sculpture gallery and support spaces on a new mezzanine, The ground
level holds the decorative arts gallery, all open to each other and linked with an open stair."
II
This secff071 I!ieu; diagrams (fefl to rigbt) phases one, tu;o alld three alid Sholl'S bOl~· multiple levels are
set U'ifbin tbe original 10 fly rear sections.
The plan sbOil's the maill level oftbe original office stmclure (Iefl)andtheupperlel'f!!s of pbases lu:o and tbree. A
lieu: «jler-hours f!lltl)' will sen.'f! the auditorium/classroom segment.
A two-sIO!)" structure al
tbe from of Ibe block-deep
s!mcfure. tbe/irs! phase, now
bas a rewpri01I and gijl sbop
on the main floor. a cbildren s
gal/ery above and offices all
/be basemen! leN!!.
&lse lIIolding alld trim.
sudJas !bat dcfillill/; tbe
opening to tbe Blumberg
Gallery: teas cuI from
bear! pille beams found
ill the bUilding.
This uielrjrom tbe mezzanine recet/fs (be lofl)' space tbal once housed electric generators. Plasterboard n·a/ls accomlllodate
changing exhibits. but brick pilaslers a/ld a strip of brick tmll Mar lbe ceiling keep tbe original character ill ,;ieu·.
Tbick. freestanding u'tllls prm:ide addi/ional display surfaces ill lbe main gal/ery: Paillled concrete floors
are et'elJlual{rpfmmed to be finished in u'OOd.
Due to its original heavy-duty use, load-bearing brick walls are 20 inches thick on the lower level, 16 inches above, and the wood
trusses above were designed to support not only the roof, but also the weight of major eqUipment moved within the space. There were mois­ture
problems that required waterproofing walls inside and out. To facilitate changing exhibitions and make a more neutral background for
exhibits, large expanses of new plasterboard stud walls, waterproofed behind, were installed, which also help with insulation and acoustics.
Brick pilasters and upper strips of wall were left exposed, keeping the original character in v·lew. Brick is also exposed in other, non-gallery
areas. All of the stained woodwork seen in base molding and on the stairs was cut from heart pine beams found in the building, another link
to its past. And the arch over the original entry has been repeated in new museum entrances.
The Wiregrass Museum of Art, located across a plaza from the restored opera house,
has drawn visitors, many of them schoolchildren coming downtown for the first time. And the
investment by the community in this major adaptive-reuse project has helped stimulate reno­vation
of more than 30 additional downtown structures, many for law offices but a number for
restaurants, adding new life to the area and helping Dothan in its quest to turn its traditional
heart into a destination. III
13 Volume XI, No. I
DesignAlabama 14
, New Life
Photography by John O'Hagan
TbI! groulld floor oftbe King & Warren law office bas fI ~pacio/{s reception and circulation area dominated b}'
the massiw wood beam and colllJ/lns tbat extendfrolll-to-back and the new steefjramed stair echoing the
gillS}' sln/cillre. 11M Y mOlif taken from the pair of collllllns and flared beams at the elltry, is IIsed ill fbe
pmw/sjacing the reception desk. in the stair railing alld ill a large subtle palfem in tbe floor:
Dhe unassuming, late 19th century commercial fagade in the heart of downtown Jasper, as is often the case with tradi­tional
urban structures that are part of a tight urban context, does not convey its true size and complexity. Recently
renovated as offices for the King & Warren law firm, the surprises inside include both historic features and a lively
contemporary translation into new use by architects Cohen & Co. of Birmingham.
A ground-floor conference room //lith translucent /ra1lSom
windows looks out {ojasper's downtown. In keeping with the
On the ground floor of the two-story, 16,400-square-foot building, once used for retail sales, is a
spacious lobby and reception area where the exposed structure is the dominant element. "There was
a distinctive structural shape, two columns at the entrance tied to a single central column further
back supporting a huge wooden beam extending the full depth of the building," says project architect
Brian Roberson. "That Y shape was developed into a motif. It forms a pattern on the lobby floor, in
the wood panels fronting the reception desk, in the metal stair railing and elsewhere."
,;goro,~ ae,I"'b. 'pri"kb 'Y,tcm h.,dwa" ~ {,ft ,"po",l. On the ground floor are two smaller conference rooms, a large conference room and, toward the rear,
four attorneys' offices, open workstations for paralegal staff, records and general storage. But the dominant feature is
the large, central open stair leading to the second floor. It is powerfully framed in steel in keeping with the exposed
original columns and beams, but enriched with decorative pattern metal railing and wood treads stained like the floor
that pull it back toward the period of the building.
The surprises continue upstairs. The second floor had rows of offices for doctors, dentists, a chiro­practor
and others. Extending front-to-back down the center was a 4-foot-wide, roofless corridor "like a little mall,"
Roberson says, used for ventilation in the era before air-conditioning. Cohen & Co. decided to make the most of this
historic feature, turning it into an enclosed but light-filled atrium topped by a series of pitched skylights.
A former~r open~air corridor extending the lengtb of the second floor bas been enclosed and skylighted as a linear atriUIJI. Tbis l'ielt' shows olltside offices (right). ba{{way. illside offices and atriulII. a layering lJIirrored
011 tbe opposite side. The 'fjJaltem ill 11)(1 stair rmling is more risible 1)(If(].
The firms two principals bave large front comer offices 01/ tbe
second jIoor overlookingjaspers downtown square.
Contemporary hanging lamps hm:e tl)(l overall shape and milky
coloration of period ones.
Groltl1djloor (top): Secondfloor (bottom). Wber(!1lCr feasible, original office enclosures were retained, even to
the title oftbe jJm;fot/s occupants (m the transoms above doors.
Two partners' offices are located at the front corners of the upper floor. At the rear is a workout room with showers. Grouped in rows
between are eight other offices, secretary workstations, a break room, all ranged around the atrium spine. Remarkably, within the 60-foot-wide
dimension are seven parallel layers: offices, hallway, offices, atrium, offices, hallway, offices. Many of the original office fronts, with lettering
on transoms above the doors identifying former occupants, were preserved within the new arrangement. The preserved spine, lined with pots
of ficus trees, turns the interior offices into windowed ones.
It was this sort of interplay, almost like a game, that made the project intriguing for the architects. "The way the building was, and still
remains, layered provides a sense of discovery as you move through it," Roberson says. "We don't really know how much the occupants and
visitors understand about all the things that are happening, architecturally, but it's nice to think they will always find something they hadn't
noticed and understand that the design is deeper than they may have realized." II
15 Volume XI. No. I
DesignAlabama 16
Among the many projects Shaffer worked on for Old Alabama Town is this arbor, which stands behind the
Lucas Tavern. To prevent rotting, Shaffer chose creosote-treated telephone poles for the arbor's framework.
The designer in his garden.
Designer<?Profile
In the body of work that IS John Shaffer
lies the heart of a romantic;
One refined by classicism
and the quiet inclusion of modesty;
A most forgotten ingredient;
All pure John.
-Bobby McAlpine, architect and friend
John Parker Shaffer
Montgomery architect John Parker Shaffer was known for his love of old things - old architecture, old gardens, old
stones, old junk. What most would consider trash, Shaffer considered a treasure. When the City of Montgomery began
tearing down blocks of historic homes to make way for Interstate-85, Shaffer salvaged pieces of the old houses and their
surrounding landscape to use in the construction of his own home. His wife, Dodgie, laughingly recalls running in front
of the bulldozers. "If a building could not be saved, he made sure it lived on in another form," she says. "John had a
great concern for the historic beauty of Montgomery."
Born in Troy, Ala., Shaffer served in the Army Air Corps during World War II, before returning to Alabama to finish
his education at the Auburn University School of Architecture. Graduating in 1950, Shaffer joined the Montgomery archi­tectural
firm Sherlock, Smith and Adams, and then in 1960 established his own company Primarily a residential architect,
Shaffer·s work often incorporated the character he admired in older architecture. ';.\II of his houses had libraries," his
friend, architectural painter David Braly, remarks on Shaffer's design approach. "He liked small intimate rooms."
Not only was Shaffer enamored with the charm of older architecture, but he also was fascinated with the process of
lending a new building the appearance of age. Bobby McAlpine of McAlpine Tankersley Architects remembers Shaffer's
love for patinas and his daring use of them during the '60s and '70s to create an aged look in an era when that style
was not popular. "John had a vision in his work of things that would grow better with age."
by Karen H. Seale
Mark L. Wright, photography
17 Volume XI. No. I
[clockwise starting with
upper left]
Known as "the world's biggest
jigsaw puzzle," the Thompson
House arrived at its present
site in Old Alabama Town in
thousands of pieces. Shaffer
used old photographs of the
house to reconstruct this
Greek Revival mansion.
Shaffer incorporated pieces of
demolished historic houses
into the design of his own
Montgomery home.
Shaffer's design of Holy Trinity
Episcopal Church in Auburn
is reminiscent of the Tudor
style. Working under a tight
budget, Shaffer used heavy
crossbeams to define both the
exterior and the main chapel.
Shaffer was involved with the
restoration of this sacristy in
Montgomery's historic Church
of the Ascension after it had
been destroyed by fire.
One of the many houses
Shaffer helped to restore at
Old Alabama Town, the 158-
year-old Haigler Plantation
House is a combination of
various architectural styles.
Shaffer's interest in classic architecture of decay, the houses often required many
also involved him in the restoration and hours of research by Shaffer to return them to
redesign of several churches in the area. He their original glory,
worked with Cole and Cole Architects on the One of Shaffer's most demanding projects
rebuilding of the sacristy in Montgomery's for Old Alabama Town was the Thompson
historic Church of the Ascension and with House, a project jokingly referred to as "the
Sherlock, Smith and Adams Architects on the world's biggest jigsaw puzzle." Originating
restoration of the chapel at Huntingdon from Tuskegee, the 1850s Greek Revival man-
College. "He had a keen eye for Tudor archi- sion had been completely dismantled by the
tecture," Robert Vaughn of Sherlock, Smith previous owner and was transported to its
and Adams comments on Shaffer's restoration present location in seven large trucks. "John
of the chapel's woodwork. used old photographs to help reconstruct the
In Auburn, Shaffer chose to use the same mansion," comments Mary Ann Neeley, Land-
Tudor-style architecture in the design of the marks' executive director. "He was a genius
new Holy Trinity Episcopal Church, Drawing when it came to something like that. He could
on the simpliCity of the style, he defined the envision what it should look like because he
main chapel space with starkiy contrasting had a real sense of architectural history." Shaf-woodwork
and exposed crossbeams in a fer also was involved in the siting of the build-design
that copied that of the stained glass ings, their landscaping and their orientation to
window at the back of the chapeL each other.
Shaffer also was instrumental in the devel- An unusual project he undertook was the
opment of Old Alabama Town, a historic build- recreation of an arbor-covered porch behind
and water, So they painted the poles with that,
and it sort of neutralized them. We couldn't
ask for it to be any better," Under the arbor,
Shaffer textured the cement floor to give it the
look of a broom swept yard.
One of Shaffer's last designs for Old Alaba­ma
Town was the courtyard between the
Dorsey Cottage and the Loeb Reception Cen­ter.
He had planned an area with a well sur­rounded
by pleached crepe myrtles. "I\. process
which laces the branches of the plants to form
a canopy," explains Neeley. In his honor, the
Landmarks Foundation has named this the
John Shaffer Memorial Garden.
Modest concerning his work, Shaffer never
solicited awards or public recognition for his
deSigns. Nevertheless, his appreciation of time­less
architecture and devotion to its preserva­tion
has made a lasting impact on central
Alabama and its architectural community "John
Shaffer was an architect, romanticist, tradition­alist,
a gentleman of great personal and profes-ing
preservation project of the Montgomery the Lucas tavern. To prevent rotting, Shaffer sional integrity, witty, urbane and
Landmarks Foundation. As a volunteer archi- chose creosote-treated telephone poles for the charming ... our friend," Neely writes in a
tect on the project for more than 20 years, arbor construction and then covered them recent article, "He was Landmarks' architect for
Shaffer helped select, move and restore more with muscadine vines. Neely remembers her over 20 years, and during that period of time
than 25 historic buildings at the site in down- initial concerns over the use of the poles. "I he left his mark upon the landscape and upon
town Montgomery including the Haigler told him the vines won't grow because the us all." G'
House, now the home of DesignAlabama. creosote will kill them, But he said, no, we
Arriving at their destination in various degrees would bathe the poles in a solution of cement
DesignAlabama 18
.. -~- .-.,.,~
Community. Profile
I n t at v e
Old Agricultural processing Facility SLOCOMB
Sma}l towns in Alabama and across the nation are jaced
with uncedainjutures - threatened by increasing changes in
the economy, population, transportation, merchandising and
commuI1.ication. Slocomb is oljesuch town that recognized
thethreatsandhastakerrthejirststep towards preparingjor
abetterjuture. Likeolher small towns, Slocomb has many
assets on which to build. To help plan its juture, Slocomb
engaged the Auburn Univt;rsitYCenterjor Architecture and
Urban Studie~in.a Small Town Design Initiative, a
program assisting communities with recognizing their assets
and planning options.
Museum Square
® Festival Square
® Festival Park
@ Senior Center
® Library
®.Mus'eum
® City Hall
® Arboretum
® Museum Park
@ Welcome Center
Axonometric of Proposed Downtown
The process begaIl in the summer of 1997 with
visits between communii:)' leaders Bob Howard of
Initiative: Slocomb offers the following five potential downtown
c·,· the Alabama Power Co.'s Community
projects that combine these strategies with a recognized need to reinforce down­town
as Slocomb's commercial center and enhance the civic life of the town.
location Diagram Development office and Franklin Setzer, director
of the Auburn University Center for Architecture
Funding for Initiative:
Slocomb was obtained from
the National Endowment for the Arts
under the allspices of DesignAlabama
and from the Alabama State Council
on the Arts. The necessary match
for the NEA grant funds was
provided by the City of Slocomb,
the Downtown Merchant's
Association and through
in-kind services
contributed by the faculty.
staff and students
in the Auburn Center
who worked on the project.
Photo by Kelly Black and
drawings by the
Auburn Design Team.
George Thompson began work
with the Small Town Design
Initiatives in January of this
year as a consultant to the
Auburn Center lor Architecture
and Urban Studies. He came
to the center wilh a variely of
experience and backgrounds.
including degrees in physics,
Japanese language and
architecture. Most recently
he worked as an
intern architect for
ArcnitectureWorks
and Urban Studies. These meetings resulted in
Alabama Power initiating an Economic
Development Assessment. Its report encouraged
the leaders of Slocomb to further study the town's
potential, resulting in Initiative: Slocomb.
The program's team assessed existing condi­tions,
scheduled public meetings and explored
potential for growth in Slocomb. The resulting
report, presented to the Town of Slocomb last fall,
identified three strategic initiatives: 1) Capture and
Support Growth by embracing the prospect of
residential growth and maintaining a capacity to
accommodate such growth within the corporate
limits, 2) Capitalize on Civic Events by pro­viding
a permanent venue and facilities for the
production and promotion oflocal festivals and
3) Enhance Quality-of-Life, Image and
Design Character by improving the quality
of the entrances along major highways into the
town, revitalizing the downtown consistent with
its historical design character, enhancing in-town
neighborhoods, providing high-quality public
services and facilities and creating well-designed
civic spaces.
Commercial Revitalization through restoring downtown buildings to
their original character and through street improvements and landscaping
along Commerce Street which would help attract business back into the
heart of Slocomb.
Creating new Civic Spaces and Civic Buildings (a senior center,
library, city hall and museum) at the southern end of Commerce Street
would better terminate the street and create a greater civic presence and
image. The consolidation of these services and activities also would allow
more people to engage the town on foot rather than in the car.
Creating in-town park space like a Festival Park and a Tree Nursery /
Arboretum would provide a venue for civic and festival activities celebrat­ing
the local agricultural and historic heritage.
Creating a Museum Park that takes advantage of several older abandoned
agri-industrial buildings adjacent to the commercial center would establish a
venue to highlight Slocomb's agricultural heritage for residents and visitors alike.
Slocomb has many assets on which its future can be built, including the
potential to focus the city's future on its downtown. the potential for cultural
tourism and the potential for capturing new residential growth in the
Wiregrass region. Initiative: Slocomb identifies the community's assets
and translates them into opportunities for the town's future.
For further information on Initiative: Slocomb or other design initiatives
in Alabama, please contact George Thompson at the Auburn Center for
Architecture and Urban Studies, 204 North 20th St., Suite 200,
Birmingham,AL 35203.You may also reach him at 205.323.3592, or
regionalstudies@mindspring.com .•
Proposed East Side of Commerce Street
19 Volume XI. No.1
introduction by Philip Morris
OesignAlabama 20
photography by Richard Payne
THE LEADERSHIP OF THE BIRMINGHAM HISTORICAL SOCIETY (BHS) MORE
THAN A DECADE AGO DECIDED TO FOCUS ON EDUCATION AND ON PROMOTING
HISTORIC FABRIC AS IMPORTANT TO THE METROPOLITAN AREA'S FUTURE.
ANNUAL PUBLICATIONS INTENDED TO ADVANCE THESE GOALS HAVE INCLUDED
LANDSCAPE HISTORY (Designs on Birmingham), ADAPTIVE-REUSE OF HISTORIC
STRUCTURES (Cinderella Stories) AND INDUSTRIAL LANDMARKS (Birmingham
Bound: an Atlas of the South's Premier Industria! Region) .
• •
Published late last fall is Aspiration: Birmingham's
Historic Houses of Worship. This publication
focuses on the architecture of churches and
synagogues located downtown or in older
neighborhoods, most built before World
War II. Description is provided by Dr. John
Schnorrenberg, a University of Alabama
at Birmingham art history professor who
has led BHS's annual Palm Sunday tours
of religious architecture for 16 years.
Photography, which is lavishly used in this very graphic book,
was produced by Richard Payne, FAIA, of Houston whose work
includes most of architect Philip Johnson's buildings over the past
20 years. Payne suggested black-and-white photography ro empha­size
the architecture, bur he decided on color to present stained
glass. BHS asked that Payne incl ude context where appropriate so
the importance of the structures to their urban settings would be
apparent, evident in several of those shown.
Here are samples of five presentations. They also represent con­tinuing
efforts in historic preservation:
~ The Cathedral Church of the Advent will soon renovate
its cloistered garden and add a col urn barium designed by
Birmingham architect John Carraway.
The Cathedral of St. Paul, Birmingham
below left; South Highland Presbyterian Church (detail).
~ Highlands United Methodist Church is completing
sympathetic new additions to its Five Points South
landmark designed by ArchitectureWorks.
~ After years of debate amongst its members, First United
Methodist Church has decided to clean its historically
pollured fa,ade, changing from black to a subtle rose color -
not the Pepto-Bismol pink some had feared.
~ Sourh Highland Presbyterian Church completed major
additions to the upslope side of its Highland Avenue campus
designed by Davis Architects and honored by a Birmingham
Historical Society Award a few years ago.
~ The Cathedral of St. Paul has completed full restoration of
its windows by the Conrad Schmidt Studios in New Berlin,
Wis., completing a decade-long effort in preservation.
21 Volume XI, No.1
CATHEDRAL CHURCH
OF THE ADVENT
(EPIS co PAL)
20TH STREET AT SIXTH
AVENUE NORTH
built: 1 8 87- 1 893, 1 895
architect: CHARLES WHEELOCK & SON
DesignAlabama 22
When the Church of the Advent was finished in 1893, the houses
of prosperous Bitmingham, still a young city, surrounded it. The
towets of the Cathedral of St. Paul, First Presbyterian and First
Methodist stood above the rooftops, and the people of Advent
found the money to complete their tower in 1895, in spite of the
financial depression of the early 1890s.
Today the church has become a cathedral and a skyscraper rises
beside it and another across the street. Seen from the
AmSouth/Harbert plaza across Birmingham Green, above, this
wide, bold, sturdy, densely rusticated building is the economically
necessary simplification of the late Victorian Gothic design for the
church published in the Birmingham Age Herald on October 13,
1889. This design has two towers, immense traceried windows, tall
finials on the corners of the towers and on every burtress and gables
over every arch. The church as built simplifies, condenses and
focuses the published design to a freely eclectic, grandly wide­spreading,
Neo-Romanesque mass. Only the pointed arches of the
porch and windows and the finials on the tower still suggest
the Gothic sryle. The foundations laid in 1887 determine the width
of the broad plan.
Charles Wheelock (1833-1910), the architect of Advent and
a member of the church, had come to Birmingham to practice
architecture in 1881. His son, Harry B. Wheelock (1866-1940),
had just become his partner in 1887. The design of the fa,ade plays
with arched vertical openings, horiwntal bands and variously
roughened surfaces. Horiwntal bands of masonry tie the arches of
the windows together at the base of their springing. These
horizontals are repeated above the triple arch of the porch, twice
across the pointed windows and below and above the topmost row
of windows. The rustication of the masonry changes too. In the
lower parts of the front wall, the blocks are of irregular size, their
projection restrained and their joints not deeply marked. The
central gable changes above the topmost horiwntal to become a
geometric pattern of projecting bosses. The tower stage of 1895
changes again, the blocks become larger, the rustication bolder, the
joints deeper. Wheelock)s imagination at the Advent suggests some
of the variation of forms and surfaces in the Alabama Moon
sculprure by Clyde Lynds in the AmSouth/Harbert plaza and in
the AmSouth/Harbert tower itself
HIGHLANDS UNITED
METHODIST CHURCH
20TH STREET SOUTH AT FIVE POINTS CIRCLE
built: 1 907 - 1 909, 1 92 1, 1 949 - 1 952
architect: P. THORNTON MARYE, ATLANTA
The fa,ade of Highlands United Methodist Church still dominates the Five
Points Circle of the early suburban town of Highland. It is an early example of
Spanish Colonial Revival architecture, built before the Panama-California
Exhibition which popularized the style. The striking use of architectural terra­cotta
in the broken pediments, urns and ultimately in the details of the tower
(not finished until 1921, under the design supervision of the architect Bern
Price) shows the deft hand ofP. Thornton Marye (1872-1935). Marye designed
the Birmingham Terminal Station before he designed the church. The station
was grander, more sober and serious. Highlands is joyfully exuberant.
FIRST UNITED METHODIST
CHURCH OF BIRMINGHAM
19TH STREET AT SIXTH AVENUE NORTH
built: S E PTE M B E R 1 890 - DEC E M B E R 1 89 1
architect: WEARY AND KRAMER, AKRON, OHIO
First United Methodist Church is the third church built by this congregation in
the first 18 years of its life. It is a superb design in the American Romanesque
style invented by the architect H. H. Richardson for Trinity Church, Boston,
finished as recently as 1877. George W. Kramer (1847-1938), the design
partner of Weary and Kramer, published the Birmingham building in his 1897
book, The What, Why, and How of Church Building. The Birmingham church is
more somber and simple than its Boston model, but it echoes the bold sweep
of curving walls and the weighty roughness of the immense stones in the
arches. This is a modern American church building of the sort still new in the
1890s. The whole basement level is devoted to space for church programs, then
a relatively new idea in church building.
23 Volume XI, No.1
DesignA!abama 24
SOUTH HIGHLAND
PRESBYTERIAN
CHURCH
HIGHLAND AVENUE AT
21ST STREET SOUTH
built, 1 89 1 - 1 892
architect: DANIEL ANDREW HELMICH
Daniel Andrew Helmich (1854-1917) was one of
the two Birmingham architects whose practice
survived the national financial panic and depression
of the early 1890s. South Highland Presbyterian
Church, a vigorous late Victorian, hard, heavy,
rough NeD-Gothic structure, is Helmich's greatest
work. The projecting rusticated moldings might
have been conceived by H. H. Richardson. The
space for worship has a Greek cross pian, empha­sized
in the double-hipped roor rising ro a central
ventilator lantern with a fantastic spiral finial.
THE CATHEDRAL OF ST. PAUL
THIRD AVENUE NORTH AT 22ND STREET
built: 1890 - 1893
architect: THE DRUIDING CO., CHICAGO
This Germanic style brick Gothic building was built as the parish church of
the groWIng Catholic population of Bitmingham. It became a cathedral with
the creanon of the Catholic diocese of Birmingham in 1969. Sr. Paul's is a
late and spectacular design by the German-born, Midwestern architect Adolphus
Druiding (1839-1899), a design charaCteristic of his work. The only majot
external change in the appearance of the building is the 1972 teplacement of the
great stained glass window over the entrance door by faceted glass set in concrete.
Druiding's design for St. Paul's is an eclectic combination of such essentially
French Rayonnant elements as the cletesroty windows beneath gables projecting
from the roof of the nave and the spire-crowned twin rowers, 185-feet-tall, which
echo the facade of Cologne Cathedral, just being completed in the 19th century.
The strong lines of white stone against red brick are less subtle than the work at
First Presbyterian, but they are boldly and memotably assertive. ~
Aspiration: Birmingham's Historic Houses of Worship (92 pages) is available for
$29.95 (including postage and handling) from the Birmingham Histotical Society,
One Sloss Quarters, Birmingham, AL 35222, (205) 251-1880. It is also available
at Birmingham area books totes.
Top 10 bottom:
Dauphin fsrand Estuarium
Dawson Baptist Recreation Center
Boan Tower
King & Warren Law OHices
Samforo' University Divinity Sci?OOi
Photos courtesy of the A!abama AiA
Details+of Interest
A w A R o s
resources.
Five architectural firms were recognized for design excellence in
this year's Alabama Council of the American Institute of
Architects awards program. The following distinguished projects
were selected from more than 50 entries by a jury of prominent
Memphis architects.
Davis Architects Inc., Birmingham. Samford University's
Beeson School of Divinity Homewood - The classically
inspired chapel features a dome reminiscent of Palladia's II
Redentore in Venice and details such as elaborate plasterwork,
large sculptures and coffered ceiling medallions.
Cohen & Co. Inc •. Birmingham, Offices of King & Warren LLC,
Attorneys at Lav{, Jasper - The exterior of this late 19th cen­tury
office building was restored with the interior focal point a
new steel-framed staircase in the lobby and prominent Y­shaped
patterns used as a historic motif throughout the con­temporary
design.
Sea Lab Architects, a joint venture of Walcott Adams
Verneuille Architects, Fairhope; E. Eean McNaughton
Architects and Eskew-Filson Architects, both of New
Orleans; and Bios Inc. of Portland, Ore., Estuarium. Dauphin
Island - With a modest budget, the architects produced a
metal-enclosed exhibit gallery showcasing the delta, bay and
gulf ecosystems with large aquarium tanks and their supporting
equipment exposed along with the building's structural elements.
McAlpine Tankersley Architecture. Montgomery, Boan
Tower. Orange Beach - Architects for this whimsical 39-foot
lighthouse-like tower used elaborate formwork to create the con­crete
structure with Arabic details and a terra-cotta capped roof.
Iliattina Fisher Aycock Architects. Birmingham, Dawson
lviemoria! Baptist Church Family Recreation Center. Homewood
- A grid of glass and steel connects box-shaped brick forms
and allows light tc Wi the second floor gymnasium which
floats above locker rooms and ciassrooms to maximize space
on a tight lot
25 Volume XI. No. j
The Alabama chapter of the American Society of Landscape
Architects presented its 2000 awards in October at the
Birmingham Botanical Gardens. Jurors were landscape archi­tects
from the Tennessee chapter of the ASLA
MERIT AWARDS:
Nimrod Long & Associates Inc., Birmingham - The Jones'
Residence, Shoal Creek: Design of classic courtyard is reminis­cent
of an English garden with walks, walls, steps, lighting, fenc­ing,
driveway, guest parking and plantings.
Goodwyn, Mills & Cawood Inc., Montgomery - Lowder
CourPjard, Montgomery: Design of courtyard to replace tennis
court includes an arbor, pavilion, semicircular exedra, lanterns,
fountain and stone paving.
Nimrod Long & Associates inc., Birmingham - The
American Village, Montevallo: Master plan of overall site and
design and implementation of the New Republic community, the
first of three themed districts.
HONOR AWARDS:
DesignAlabama 26
KPS Group Inc., Birmingham - 21st
Street Urban Plan and Design Guidelines,
Birmingham: Designed plan to unify the
16-block downtown corridor that crosses
five districts while retaining unique char­acteristics
of each one.
Photos courtesy of the Alabama ASlA
Goodwyn, Mills & Cawood Inc., Montgomery - The
Shakespeare Garden, Wynton M. Blount Cultural Park,
Montgomery: Constructed garden and coordinated consultants
for garden venue using various plants and Elizabethan herbs
mentioned in Shakespeare's works.
Lewis Communications won an Addy award and recognition
from Main Street Mobile for marketing campaign ads developed
to bring visitors to the Nicholas and Alexandra exhibit down­town.
The Mobile ad agency, which had previously deSigned
"Downtown Tonight," an award-winning TV commercial cam­paign,
again offered its services pro bono to attract tourists. Ira
Patrick and his creative staff developed "Downtown Mobile, a
Change from the Familiar" after "playing tourists" for a day in the
city. The team designed three ads representing daytime retailers,
downtown tourist attractions and entertainment venues. The cam­paign
brought additional traffiC into the downtown and recognition
from Main Street Mobile as a gesture of thanks. Lewis Com­munications
also garnered a 1999-2000 Addy for "Campaign­series
of three, newspapers campaign in black and white" from
the Advertising Federation of Greater Mobile District 7.
Architect Alex Krumdieck and wife, Jeannie Krumdieck, an
interior designer, are recipients of one of the 2001 Southern
Home Awards for the transformation of their Birmingham ranch
into an Arts and Crafts-style bungalow. The home is featured in
the February 2001 issue of Southern Living magazine The couple
reworked their 1957 one-story brick box ranch home into a two­and-
a-half story bungalow more site appropriate for the sur­rounding
Forest Park historic neighborhood. Besides redesigning
the interior spaces, the Krumdiecks added a new living room to
the front of the house and created a new kitchen by enclosing a
back patio on the ground floor. The upstairs addition features liv­ing
space for their children, and an office is tucked into the
gable's peak. Both inside and out, the homeowners inserted
appropriate design elements including windows typical of early
1900s bungalows.
~ I
"
Samuel Mockbee, an Auburn University architecture profes­sor,
has been awarded a prestigious MacArthur Fellowship
which confers $500,000 in support over five years. He also was
a finalist for the Award for Environmental Design given by the
Smithsonian's Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum and was
honored at a White House reception. Mockbee is co-founder of
Auburn's Rural Studio, a program that combines hands-on
teaching with a commitment to public service. He and his stu­dents
construct creative, low-cost, functional housing that has
transformed lives in impoverished Hale County, Ala. Since 1993,
Rural Studio students have built five new houses and numerous
community projects including a farmer's market, children's cen­ter,
chapel, bus stop and community center.
DESIGN CAMP
AU's Design Workshop for 2001 will run from June 24-29. This
week-long program for young people interested in a design
career introduces basic design fundamentals and progresses to
more advanced industrial design concepts. The workshop is
conducted by faculty, staff and students of the Department of
Industrial Design. Included in the $495 cost is a five-night stay
on campus, all meals, instruction and organized social activities.
Scholarships or financial assistance may be available through
schools, art associations or civic organizations. Registration is
due before May 30, 2001. For information contact: Cheryl
Hulsey at 334-844-3105 or visit the department's Web site:
'INIW.auburn.edu/outreach/id
Southern Accents editor and vice president
Mark Mayfield will deliver the 15th annual
Grisham-Trentham Lecture in Auburn
University's College of Human Sciences
on April 25. Mayfield, who is also acting
editor for Southern Progress' new maga­zine
Hot Dots, will speak at 11 a.m. in
AU's Hotel and Dixon Conference Center
auditorium. The title of his lecture, which is open to the public, is
"21st Century Design."
~ Mayfield has been a reporter for The Birmingham News, United
The award-winning Krumdieck home renovation in Birmingham
Press International in Atlanta and Atlanta bureau chief for USA
1 Today. In 1993, the University of Alabama alumnus, was named
J';
o editor-in-chief of Arts & Antiques magazine in New York and two
'"" years later became executive editor of Southern Accents.
~ Published by Southern Progress Corp., the Birmingham-based
j magazine is a subsidiary of Time Inc. and a leading source of
lifestyle information.
The A[abama Preservation A[[iance and the A[abama Historical
Commission present their list of the state's most endangered
historic places for the year 2000:
Schools Statewide - The pace of school demolitions has
increased in recent years Sometimes the old buildings are
abandoned and allowed to deteriorate, The preservation and
re-use of historic schools is the theme of this year's statewide
preservation conference.
Tuscaloosa Fire
Station, T usca[cosa,
c. 1922 - Designed
by D.O. Whi[don, the
two-bay masonry
structure was listed on
the Nationa[ Register
of Historic Places in
1997. Owned by the city, the Number One station is imminently
threatened by demolition by order of the city council.
Civil War Earthen Fortifications, Bridgeport, Jackson
County, other sites tr,roughout Alabama - Three remaining
earthen redoubts in Bridgeport and their entrenchments were
constructed in 1863 by Confederates using slave labor to defend
Bridgeport They lie in an area partially developed by industries.
John Slaton House, Autauga County - The design of this
classicaily detailed one-story Early Neoc[assica[ style c. 1835
house has been artributed to Daniel Pratt. An architectural exam­ple
of statewide importance, the house is deteriorating. The local
heritage association hopes to move and restore it.
Springhill Avenue,
Mobile - Long re­nowned
for the live
oaks and stately
homes that grace this
historic corridor from
the city center to
Spring Hili, rampant demolition and poor planning have elimi­nated
much of its character and historic resources.
Thomaston Colored Institute/Thomaslon Academy.
Thomaston - Constructed in 1910, this private black school
supported by the West Alabama Primitive Baptist Association
was grander than most other black schools in the state. [t has been
abandoned since the 1970s with no current plans for its re-use.
Town of
Mooresville,
Limestone County
- One of Alabama's
most important and
intact 19th century
villages, Mooresville
was incorporated in
1818, a year before
Alabama became a state. It retains numerous period buildings
including residences, two churches, a tavern (shown) and the
oldest post office in the state. The threat is from deveiopment
and sprawl along its periphery. The town's c. 1820 Scott Cottage.
built by a relative of Gen. Winfield Scott, suffers from extreme
neglect and could be lost soon.
Hickory Ground "Ocheopofau," E[more County - The last
capital for the Nationa[ Council of the Creek in the Muskogean
People's homeland was donated under a 20-year easement to the
Poarch Creek Band by the Alabama Historica[ Commission in
1980 as a traditional cu[tural site. Now a contract has been
signed to build a casino and hotel on the site.
Taliasehatcnee, Calhoun County -In 1813 the Red Stick
Creek village was attacked by troops under Gen. Andrew Jackson.
Notables in the battle or later on the scene include Sam Houston,
Sequoyah, Davey Crockett, John Ross and Se[octa Chinnobee.
The site is threatened by sinkholes developing as a result of a near­by
gravel mining operation, as weil as an encroaching subdivision.
Survey Mounds Associated with Ellicott's Line, South
Alabama - Around 200 of these mounds remain to mark the
original boundary between Spanish West Florida and the U.s.
territory as delineated by EI[icott in 1799. Many were obliterated
before their significance was recognized, and those preserved are
not weil Jdentified.
Webb-Bonds House, Greensboro, Hale County- This 1850s
two-story frame Greek Reviva[ with unusual Italianate cornice
brackets reflects the enormous prosperity of Greensboro during
the decade before the Civil War. It suffers from deferred mainte­nance
but is mired in a complicated ownership situation.
Hillman Hospital, Birmingham - Built in three phases from
1902-1928, HiI[man was Birmingham's first hospital for indigent
care. The distinctive structure designed by Charles Wheelock is
used for UAB administrative offices. UAB plans to demolish the
entire complex for an entrance to a new hospital.
Aboriginal Rock Art Sites in North Alabama, Winston,
Lawrence, Colbert, Fayette, Walker, Blount, Morgan, Madison,
Jackson and DeKalb counties - These pictograph and petro­glyph
rock art sites reveal cultural aspects not found in other
archaeological remains. Threats include vandalism and uninten­tional
acceleration of weathering when petroglyphs are chalked
to make them easier to read.
The town of Clayton has received a $25,000 Alabama Trust Fund
grant from the Chattahoochee Historical Commission for the
restoration of exterior and interior walls and the ceiling of the
Octagon House, the only known example of an antebellum octa­gon-
style house in the state. The town also received a grant from
the Historic Chattahoochee Commission tor restoration of the
old safe inside the Clayton Depot/Municipa[ Bui[ding tor secure
storage ot official documents.
Main Street Mobile operates a design assistance program for
property and business owners to seek advice on basic deSign
matiers. The organization works with local design professionals
to provide renderings for storefront repair, sign design, paint
schemes and other related needs. This past year Mobi[e United!
Leadership Mobile received a new sign which incorporated both
logos, and several parking lot companies located in a sidewalk
rehabilitation program had parking lot layouts revised at no
charge through the program.
HOLIDAY PLAYIU.lUSE i".KIl.KLIII:
fUNDRAISER
Last fall 16 architecture and buiiding firms went small scale to
benefit the Montgomery Area United Way. The project was the
brainchild of Mike Jenkins, CEO of Jenkins Brick, who also
served as chairman.The fundraiser tapped architects from
Barganier Oavis Sims: Cole lit Cole Architects:
Goodwyn, Mills lit Cawood Architects: Max Keith Norman
Residential Design: Freddie lynn lit Douglas McNab: Seay,
Seay lit Litchfield Architects; McKee lit Associates and
I'arsons, Wible, Brummal, Alkire Architects inc. to
design a neighborhood of playhouses with 6-x-6-foot foot­prints.
Local home builders constructed the miniature homes
which were displayed at EastdaleMaii during the holiday sea­son.
A $3 donation bought a chance to win a favorite house.
The creative project sparked competition between firms and
produced results ranging from a "toon" house with wa[ls askew
to a cubist adventure playhouse with a triangular entrance and
multiple levels. With services and materials donated, all pro­ceeds
from the very successful Ho[iday Playhouse Parade bene­fited
the local charity clearinghouse .•
"Hannah Carrie's Collage" Vias designed by Gole & Cole Architects and buift by
WaUs Homes of Montgomery
r------------------------------------------------ _____ _______________________________________ ~ ,
: Places in Peril 2001 Nomination Form
: Do you know a special, irreplaceable historic building or site that is highly threatened by demolition or neglect? This is your appor­t
tunity to help save it! This year marks the eighth edition of the highly successful Places in Peril program, a joint effort highlighting
Alabama's most endangered historic sites sponsored by the Alabama PreseNation Alliance and the Alabama Historical
Commission. The final announcement for this year's properties will be made during National PreseNation Week, May 13-19.
Name of Property: ---__________ _
Location: (address, town, county, vicinity, etc.) ______ _
Category: _______________ _
Briefly explain the significance: __________ _
Is the site listed on the National Register of Historic Places?
Is the site threatened? If so, how imminent is the threat?
Name of property owners: (What is their attitude toward the property?)
Name and address of other contacts (local non-profit organizations, etc.)
As needed, please supply graphic support with your nomination­photos,
etc. (Photocopies are adequate, but nominations wii! not be
considered without at least one visual example.) Submit form no later
than April 10, 2001, to: The Alabama Historical CommiSSion, ATTN:
Patrick Mclntyre, 468 South Perry St., Montgomery, AL 36130.
Nomination Categories:
Agricultural Structures & Sites
Archaeology
ArchitectureNernacular
Architecture! High Style
Commercial Structures & Sites
Ethnic Structures & Sites
Funerary Art & Historic Cemeteries
industrial/Manufacturing
Structures & Sites
Institutional Structures & Sites
(Government, Religious,
Educational)
Landscape & Streetscapes
Military Structures & Sites
Objects & Monuments
Places Associated with Historic
Persons & Events
Recreational & Leisure-time
Structures & Sites
Transportation & Maritime
Structures & Sites ,
~--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------~
27 Volume XI. No. I
Desi nAlabama
Volume XI, Issue I
PUBLIC DESIGN AWARENESS AND EDUCATION
DesignAlabama Inc. works to increase awareness and value of the design disciplines
(1!eredity is a
that influence our environment. We believe that the quality of life and
strong factor,
economic growth of this state are enhanced through attention to and
even in architecture.
investment in good design.
Necessity first OLD BUILDINGS. NEW LIFE
mothered invention. U If men could
(Preservationists are
Now invention learn from history)
the only people
has little ones wl3at lessons
history invariably
of her own) it mll$,ht
proves right. )
and they look teach us.!))
- John Kenneth Galbraith Coleridge
just like grandma. )) - Samuel Taylor
- E B. White
~ ~ SKINNER PRINTING Co.
Employment Consultants Ine.
NATIONAL
ENDOWMENT
FOR THE ARTS
This publication was made possible through funding by the contributors listed above.
For additional information about DesignAlabama, please call (334) 396-5341.