Design Alabama: The Public Forum for Design in Alabama, Volume 11, Issue 2, 2001

              Fall 2001
Volume XI, Issue II
$4.00
THE PUBLIC FORUM FOR DESIGN IN ALABAMA
DesignAlabama Inc.
Board of Directors:
Cathryn Campbell Gerachis, Chair
Good'/I}'n. Mills and Cawood Inc.
Montgomery
Nancy Mims Hartsfield, Vice Chair
Auburn University
Auburn
Elizabeth Ann Brown, Secretary
Alabama Historical Commission
Montgomery
Charles Callans, Treasurer
Birmingham Realty
Birmingham
Arnelle Adcock
Centra! Alabama Electric Cooperative
Praitville
Joseph R. Donofro
Donofro & Associates Architects Inc.
Dothan
Marty Ellis
Business Council of Alabama
Montgomery
80 Grisham
Southpace Properties
Birmingham
Tin Man tau
Auburn University
Auburn
Robert Martin
Southern Progress Corp.
Birmingham
Kenneth M. Penuel
Southern Company Services Inc.
Birmingham
Kay F. Roney
Wafface Community College
Doihan
Patricia E. Sherman
Patricia E. Sherman, Architect
Gadsden
Karen H. Seale, Executive Director
Philip A. Morris, Director Emeritus
Desi nAlabama
Volume XI, Issue II
Cover: Scenes of new urbanism at work
and play in Alabama's suburbs.
Letter from the Director
A return to the traditional neighborhood structure found
prior to World War II, new urbanism promotes the creation
and restoration of diverse, compact, mixed-use communities
that contain housing, work places, shops, entertainment,
schools, parks and civic facilities within easy walking
distance. In this issue we will examine the impact of this
movement, as well as established principles of urban design,
on Alabama's suburban communities and its influence on
the renewal of small town centers and university campuses.
As we look at this new approach to the quality of life in
our communities. it seems fitting that we also remember a
designer whose work addressed many of these same
concerns. Both founder and director of the Auburn
University Center for Architecture and Urban Studies,
Franklin Setzer significantly influenced the direction of
publiC design policy throughout the state. As executive
director for DesignAlabama, he helped smaller communities
develop successful strategies for revitalization. Frank also
played an active role in The Tuesday Group, an
organization dedicated to the availability of quality
affordable housing, along with many other projects for the
Birmingham area
To honor the many contributions he has made to our
organization and the communities of Alabama, this issue is
dedicated to the memory of Franklin Setzer, December 1948 -
May 2001.
Karen H Seale
Editor: Karen Seale
Managing Editor: Tomie Dugas
Art Director: Nancy Hartsfield
Associate Art Director: Ross Heck
Assistant Art Directors: Kelly Bryant, Tomie Dugas,
Samantha Lawrie, Wei Wang
Contributing Writers: Jessica Armsirong, Tomie Dugas,
Philip Morris, Karen Seale
This publication is made possible through funding by
the fol/owing contributors:
Alabama State Council on the Arts
National Endowment for the Arts
Employment Consultants Inc.
A special thanks to Philip Morris for his ongoing
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 submit copy along with.
visuals (photos, slides, drawings, etc.) to
DesignAlabama Inc., P.O. Box 241263,
Montgomery, AL 36124.
Items for Project News and Details 01
Interest should inciude 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 and fax number of the
client and an individual whom we may contact for
further information. Direct inquiries to Karen Seale at
(334) 396-5341 or mail to: designalabama@attnel.
Past journal issues are available for $6.00
including postage and handling. Contact Karen Seale
at the above numbers for availability information
and to order.
© 2001 DesignAlabama Inc.
ISSN# 1090·0918
This issue of OesignAlabama was designed and
produced on MaCintosh Computers utilizing QuarkXPress
4.0. Proofs were printed on a HP 4000N and iinai output
on a Compugraphic 9400.
Creating a village on the
Auburn University carnpus
p7
DesignAiabama is a publication of DesignAlabama Inc.
Reader comments and submission oj articles and ideas lor
Applying urban concepts to
suburban developrnent.
p9
FEATURES
"SubURBAN MOVES"
CONTENTS
&
Uncovering the historic heart of
Main Street cornrnunities.
p.23
NEW URBANISM IN THE SUBURBS, 9 ...............................•..•......•..............•..•...•.........•........••................•....................•........•.........................•.............................• -
MOUNTAIN BROOK 10
FAIRHOPE
HOMEWOOD
HOOVER
GORHAM'S BLUFF/MOORESVILLE
PHENIX CITY
12
14
16
18
20
----- - - ---------- - ---------- ------ ----- -- ---- - -------------
VESTAVIA HILLS 21
tulure issues are encouraged. MT LAUREL 22
ARTICLE
MAIN STREET MATTERS
BUILDING A SENSE OF COMMUNITY.
DEPARTMENTS
ProjectANews
Work of statewide significance.
DesignllMakes A Difference
Auburn Conceptual Plan.
Designer~Profi ie
Web Designer Wei Wang,
.....................•........•..
Historical'iPerspectives
Renovating Historic Schools.
Details+Of interest
Noteworthy observations, _ ..... __ ... . u.~___ _,, ___ . ___ .~ ____ . _____ ._____ _ ____________________________ _
23
4
7
26
28
29
TOllmer's C!l1'nll\l'
Designing Web sites the
Wei Wang way.
p.26
ProjectA.News
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.
Top to Botlom
Dothan Fire Sla/ions North Elevation.
Dothan Fire Sia/ions East Elevation.
Original Feed and Seed.
Train Depot Renovated iar
Administration
OesignAlabama 4
Brookwood Middle Schoof.
............................A .. ' .. c·h+·t .. e. . c. . t .. u .. r. . e. ........................... ·
KPS Group of Birmingham is providing
design services to Temple Emanu-El in the
renovation of their existing facilities. The
project encompasses renovation and
preservation of the 1913 sanctuary in
Birmingham, design of a new education
facility replacing the existing one and life
safety code compliance for renovated areas. The new education
building includes administrative offices, banquet facilities,
library, computer room, music rehearsal room and art room.
Improvements to the chapel and social room will also take place
New construction and renovation totals 62,500 square feet and
includes parking for 130 cars. The $12 million project is
scheduled for completion summer of 2002.
Temple Emanu-Ei.
Donofro and Associates of Dothan has designed a new
central fire station complex and administration building for the
City of Dothan. The project comprised renovation of an 8,000-
square-foot 1930s vintage train depot and a 112,000-square­foot
1920s feed and seed warehouse. Architect Joe Donofro
convinced the city to renovate the feed and seed building in lieu
of razing it and constructing a new facility. The station is
designed to house three 18-man shifts and four full apparatus
bays. The design reflects the first masonry single-bay firehouse
in downtown Dothan with the shallow arch bay openings Steel
trusses and columns were exposed throughout the building and
painted red. The exterior galvanized metal skin speaks to the
railroad warehouse and the feed and seed that once occupied the
property Besides the architectural contribution the complex
makes to the municipal building inventory, it also provides a major
economic impact on the low income east side of the core area.
A
Goodwyn, Mills and Cawood Inc. of Montgomery has
designed the new 11 O,OOO-square-foot Brookwood Middle School
now under construction in Brookwood. The school combines 800
students from Brookwood and Vance and will serve as the nucleus
of a much larger 4,000-acre master-planned development located
along a five-mile stretch of highway connecting the Mercedes-Benz
plant and the new Capstone community. The facility will include a
state-of-the-art media center, gymnasium, cafetorium, elective
classrooms, science and computer labs, all organized around a
central spine and common area.
The 50,000 square-foot AB Shopping Center corporate head­quarters
in Shelby County designed by Williams-Blackstock
Architects, PC, of Birmingham was sited to take full advantage of
the woodland views. Large two-story arched windows punctuate
the building exterior, and exposed structural steel beams aliow light :
to penetrate deep into the open office areas. The exterior skin is '
brick with weeping mortar joints and limestone accents.
AS Shopping Center Corporate Headquarters.
The building plan arranges a single level of large open office
spaces with tail ceilings surrounded on three sides by private
offices and a mezzanine with a radius cantilevered steel balcony
overlooking the open office area. A multi-conference room that
spans the building entrance is centrally located on the
mezzanine with dramatic views from glassed-in conference
rooms overlooking the lobby and open offices. The primary
circulation path is accentuated with a geometriC, clear-sealed,
stained concrete floor pattern, which leads from the sky-lighted
atrium lobby to the wire-enclosed cab and exposed steel shaft
elevator to the mezzanine conference spaces. The building
interior finishes feature exposed structural steel, rough plaster
walls and clear-finished MDF wall panels. Open office
workstations use standard painters' scaffolding on wheels with
clear finished birch worktops to continue the contemporary
theme and rearrange easily.
The Colonial Bank Building, also designed by Williams­Blackstock
Architects, PC, of Birmingham, is a five-story,
125,000-square-foot, $12 million corporate office building
located on one of the most viSible sites in Birmingham. An
intricately detailed curved glass iagade provides a dramatic
presentation to highways 280 and 31. The deep green glass
complements the limestone-colored, pre-cast concrete base on
the building, which is richly articulated and steps down at the
glass curve of the building and provides a strong series of
punched window openings with floor-to-ceiling glass
punctuating the other fagades. At the top floor of the building,
floor-to-ceiling glass forms a continuous horizontal band that
crowns and accentuates the curve in the building with a
parabolic curve in the glass parapet. To keep the roof sight lines
clean from the highway, a clever solution was developed to place
the cooling tower under the building with a horizontal intake and
exhaust, which also saved costs. The structural system is a
concrete pan joist system with the exception of the roof where
steel framing was employed to not only produce economy, but to
also create a curtain wall system that removes all columns from
the exterior fagades and provides a sweeping panoramic view
at the top floor along the curved fagade.
Colonial Bank Building. A
Montgomery's Barganier Davis Sims Architects
Associated has designed a three-story addition to the local
Alabama Public Television (APT) station, as well as renovating
the existing facility with a new entry and updated lobby. The
13,000-square-foot addition is grounded in the geometry of a
cube deconstructed to reveal a layering of texture and material.
A new entry that derives from a similar language creates a
dynamic threshold leading to the hub of the new facility. The
lobby design was driven by an existing column grid resulting in
a space rich in form and function. Three metal-clad panels
accommodate the columns set in front of a curved wall separating
the lobby from open office space. Flat screen monitors front the
panels and display each of the channels broadcast by APT, as well as
a high definition signal.
APT Station with Addition ...
Even farmers' markets benefit from design. The Saturday market
that unfolds in Birmingham's Pepper Place was designed to
allow circular pedestrian traffic flow with farmers and their trucks
at the interior and freestanding vendors at the perimeter. The
layout, by architect Chris Engel of Workshop7 LLC of
Birmingham, is based on maximizing visibility, providing access
from multiple entrance points and creating a pedestrian street
sized appropriately for the event. Because the market is
assembled and disassembled each Saturday, it is necessary to
utilize the farmers' trucks as workspace and storage for extra
produce/merchandise. Part of the market's success comes from
its mix of vendors, the visitor's ability to browse shops in the
Pepper Place area, share breakfast with friends, view cooking
demonstrations by top chefs and enjoy a variety of live music.
Pepper Piace Farmers· Markel A
TurnerBatson Architects provided the architectural and interior
designs for the recently completed addition to Southside Baptist
Church in Greenville. The 12,500-square-foot addition features a
sanctuary to seat 650 people, lobby with exposed wood structure,
multi-purpose room, brides' room and covered walkway to the
existing facility. The project team, based in Birmingham, included
Richard FOD, AlA, principal architect. Joanne Riddle, MIA,
project designer, and Karen Taylor, designer of interiors.
&.
Construction has commenced on a $15.2 million expansion to
First Baptist Church in Montgomery designed by Borden
McKean & Payne Architects. The Montgomery firm's designs
for the addition include a new 1 ,300-seat sanctuary, 500-seat
fellowship hal" choir suite, media center and adult education
space. David Payne, AlA, was partner-in-charge and associates
Dave Ford and Dondi Williamson were project architects.
First Baptisi Cfwrch with Ao'di/ion
"··",·",·,,,··,····,,G··r··a·p··!t·..,·G·····D,,e-·s··j·g ·fl··"··"···"··,,,,,,,·
An awareness campaign coordinated for
the Alabama Council of the American
Institute of Architects (AlA) by the
Tapley Finklea Group Inc. (TFG) was
designed to reshape perceptions about
architects among policy-making groups
such as legislators, code officials and
school board reps. After conducting a survey that indicated a lack
of understanding about architect training, certification and
education and of how architects improve the safety of a building
project, the Montgomery firm launched a campaign that integrated
print ads, direct mail and public relations to address the
misconceptions. Implemented to correlate with the start of the 2001
legislative session for the greatest impact on government officials,
black-and-white print ads appeared in various trade publications
and the Montgomery Advertiser.
Two direct mail pieces were specially designed and delivered.
An oversized 12x18-inch poster rolled in scroll form displayed a
design contrasting the "architect blue" of blueprints, against the
bright red of the AlA logo and hot colors of the flames. Dramatic
images and phrases referring to hospital fires and protecting the
safety of young children were selected as powertul yet realistic
motivators to encourage reading. TFG hand-delivered the piece to
legislators during the 2001 session and mailed it to others in a 12-
inch tube. The second piece, a postcard reinforcing the key
message, was mailed at the end of the 2001 legislative session.
Post-campaign survey results showed clear indications of
improvement, and most notably, the awareness campaign drew
attention effectively to tr,e reality that architects with special
training, certification and education bring a unique level of safety
and value to every building project. Noelle M. Hara, was
creative director and Laura A. Heil, graphic designer.
One Side of the A/A's Direct Mail Poster. A.
Lewis Communications of
Mobile has developed a logo and
marketing advertising campaign
for LoDa, the city's Lower Dauphin
Street District. The campaign touting the tag line "Entertainment's
Oldest Address" includes collateral giveaways sporting the new
logo, banners, billboards and radio commercials. Colortul
banners communicate arrivai in the district and add a festive
atmosphere to the shopping, dining and entertainment experience.
Visit wwwmainstreetmobile.orgtoviewthe banner designs and
billboards created for the client Main Street Mobile.
&.
LWT/KBK New Media of Montgomery has designed a new Web
site for Earth Elements, producers of potpourri and other scented
products. To convey the highly visual and textural nature of their
product, art director Laura Rainey empioyed photographs at an
unusually large size so the texture and color would become the
strongest elements. "By giving the photos approximately one­haif
to two-thirds of the compositional space, we created a
striking layout," she notes. "To add some depth, I chose photos
whose right side had a hard edge that could be partially masked,
leading the eye into the copy on the leit side of the page" This
slight overlap further emphasized the products, making them as
dimensional as possible in the 2-D space of the Web.
Established to inform Earth Elements' customers about their
products, as well as showcase the seasonal selection of
scents, the site has a letter from the co-founder, FAQ page,
product locator and catalog.
Earth Efemenls Web Site.
Sherlock, Smith & Adams of
Montgomery was selected by the Redstone
Military Association to design a continuing
care community for Huntsville area !
residents. Phase I of the 82-acre project will:
be the development of one- and two­bedroom
homes in the form of 90
independent living apartments, 40 independent living villas, 45
assisted living apartments and 42 skilled nursing beds. Common
areas will include dining, social gathering, recreation and other
enrichment activities. Main entries will provide a distinct identity
for each resident group. The facility was designed to maximize
views of Huntsville from the ridgeline. Phase I construction
documents are scheduled for completion in February 2002.
Redstone Viffage
The Gadsden Boardwalk Master Plan designed by KPS Group
Inc. of Birmingham focuses on the Coosa Riverfront's image,
pedestrian linkage to downtown, nautical linkage to riverfront
recreation and role as a central civic corridor. The pian simplifies
vehicular and pedestrian circulation and creates a safe, walkable :
environment to the water's edge. A bandstand with sloping iawns :
serves as informal seating for large events such as the annual .
rivertront festival. Pastoral park-like areas along the river's edge
replace existing parking lots with large lawn areas, shade trees
and venues for sculptural art, pavilions and fountains. An elegant:
wooden boardwalk flanked with ornamental lighting serves as
the central spine of the corridor with seating areas for viewing
riverfront activity and boating events.
The plan features a new marina with commercial development
scaled to complement the pedestrian environment and
restaurants, shops and other commercial uses along the
boardwalk. The marina includes boat slips, a ramp and
convenience facilities with second and third story uses to
include office, loft and/or hotel space KPS Group has recently
completed work on the conceptual phase and is developing
schematic plans for the boardwalk, marina and Third Street Park.
Gadsden Boardwalk Master Plan.
5 Volume XI, No. II
·················I··R··tJ..at··s··t··r+·a··I······D··t!-·s·+g-·ft·················
Last spring 15 fourth-year Auburn
University industrial design students
under the direction of Rich Britnell
worked with Dr. Martens AirWair LLC to
generate shoe concepts for both next
year's line and for the year 2010.
• Preliminary research and concept
: sketches were presented to National Product Manager Thorn
: Bridgham from Portland who later reviewed refined concepts
: along with Dr. Martens' Global Design Director Ian White of
. the United Kingdom. Both worked with the design team to
. solidify their concepts, which were presented as 3-D design
: models spring semester. Again this fall Britnell's fourth-year
: design studio will work on more shoe concepts for Dr. Martens
: and will conclude the project in December.
Shoe ProiDlypes by
(Ie!! to {igh!}: Tippi Ciark,
Craig Brownlee. Stacy James
······················ ... ·u··t··e··r·-i-·o··r·····D��·e··s··i:··g··n·····················
North Shelby Library in north Shelby
County requested an attractive building
that would be easily recognizable as a
library to the general public. Williams­Blackstock
Architects, PC, of
Birmingham provided full architectural
services to design this 28,000-square-foot, two-story library
incorporating custom features and an HVAC system that keep
operational costs to a minimum. Designed to be empathetic to
its natural setting, the strong clerestory lobby serves as an
exciting, elegant circulation space and focuses the interior views
on the beautiful wooded hillside. Interior design was performed
in-house along with the selection, procurement and placement
of a complete furnishings and equipment package. The project
received a Bronze Award from the International Interior Design
Association/Alabama Chapter in 2001.
North Shelby Library.
DesignAlabama 6
Alice Cutright of The Architects Group/lnc. (TAG) of
Mobile worked with architect Dan Borcicky on their Mobile
firm's recently constructed Region's Bank Financial Center in
the western part of that city. She incorporated elements of the
building's exterior with the lobby and work space. Traditional
columns were repeated inside. The reception/customer service
desk was custom-deigned to include sculptural brackets similar
to the exterior bracket detail. To connect the interiors with
Mobile's cultural talent, Cutright commissioned Mobile artist
Eugenia Foster to execute massive oil paintings that related to
Region's history. Cutright received an Alabama ASID Corporate
Interior Design Award for the project
Region's Bank Financial Cenler
............................ ·-E .. R.. g-·i .. ft·e .. e. . r .. i .. n·g. ..................... ·. ..... ..
Alabama sports one of the first facilities in
the nation dedicated solely to electronic
vehicles. A joint effort between
FORMWORKS Architects Inc. of
Birmingham and four engineering firms,
the Alabama Power ElectriC Vehicle Service
Center serves both an educational and
maintenance function. Utilizing the automotive showroom,
conference/classroom and the bicycle room, the utility educates
school groups and the public about electric vehicles. The
showroom at the Birmingham center also features four
maintenance bays for the company's fleet of electric vehicles.
The spaces are no-nonsense, large and open within the 6,500-
square-foot footprint. Structure, building systems and
equipment are all exposed, neatly instai:ed and painted On the
exterior an engineered rigid steel frame structure is covered with
a split-face, center-scored concrete block skin pierced by 12-
by-12-foot storefront windows. A bright red wave-form steel
canopy spans the fagade. Engineers integral to the project were:
Miller Triplett & Miller Inc. (civil), Ritchie &
Montgomery PC (structural), Mackinaw Engineering Inc.
(plumbing and mechanical) and Hyde Engineering (electrical).
Alabama Power Electric Veil/ele SelYice Center.
.... ·l;·-a .. n .. d .. s .. c .. a .. p'·e .... ·A .. r .. c .. h+-t .. e .. c .. t .. u .. r·e ....
A new landscape architecture firm,
KernsPearson of Birmingham and
Asheville, N.C., recently completed a
riverfront master plan for Valley. The
former textile community's mills, no
longer dependent on the river, have
moved to more convenient and modern
facilities thus diminishing the deeply rooted connection between
the river and town. The purpose of the Riverfront Master Plan,
says landscape architect David Pearson, is to establish a
framework for recapturing and reconnecting the town to the river
and to serve as a catalyst for recreational, historical and
environmental opportunities. The project includes more than
six miles of riverfront greenways and 200 acres of new
parkland. Phase I, design development, is scheduled to begin
fall 2001.
Valley Riverironl Sketch and Masler Plan. .&
Spain Park Sports Complex, adjacent to the new high school
campus in Hoover, has been designed by Montgomery's
Goodwyn, Mills and Cawood Inc. The project includes two
high school baseball fields, two adult softball fields, a two-story
restroom/concessions building with press box on the upper
floor, as well as a 200-car parking lot and maintenance building.
The remaining portion of Spain Park is reserved for use as a
passive park with walking trails and pavilions. The $25 million
project is scheduled to be completed by fall 2001 ,A
Spain Park Sports Complex.
Design.Makes A Difference
•
It has been called "The Loveliest Village on the Plains" long
after it grew into a major state university) but a recent study
commissioned by Auburn University has determined that the
concept of a village set amid green space is what the campus
should embody.
''The Image & Character of Auburn University" completed last May represents an unexpected approach
to campus planning. At the suggestion of Trustee John Blackwell, the Auburn University Board of Trnstees engaged
International Design and Entertainment Associates (IDEA) to study perceptions and expectations about the universi­ty.
The study by the Orlando-based finn specializing in image and branding was supported by three committees
working over a year's time.
The concepts adopted by the board of trustees set the ground rules for a campus master plan since
commissioned from Sasaki & Associates of Watertown, Mass. IDEA drew upon this finn'S wide experience
in setting criteria for a new master plan.
Auburn Conce tual Plan
As seen in a bird's eye perspective of the Wop. Spratling campus design, by 1915 a balance between the ideals of Olmsted's approach and the
Renaissance axial approach, espoused by the new classicists, was being developed.
by Philip Morris
"The Image and Character of AubUrn University"
report prepared by International Design and
Entertainment Associates.
7 Volume XI, No. II
Biggin HaJJ 1951. This first expression of the new Jnternational Style on campus was designed by Pearson, Tittle and Narrows and includes on the west exposure a set of once operable vertical
louvers that could be adjusted with changing sun direction.
To quote from the report: "The criteria below include some factors that are functional in nature, but the
overall objective is to set criteria that emphasize the quality of place, the quality of community and the continuing
creation of a campus that is distinctive to its region and culture." •
Criteria for land Use
The plan should reinforce the established land-use patterns of the campus.
The plan should sustain inherent functional and pedagogical values of
the compact academic core that is surrounded by and integrated with
residential, recreational and social functions. The plan should avoid fur­ther
dispersal of academic functions beyond the established core area
generally defined by West Magnolia, South College, West Samford and
South Donahue, except for specialized research facilities and professional
programs not requiring close proximity to the undergraduate instructional
core. The underfying goal of this criterion is to maintain the pedagogical
and community values of proximity among academic functions, as well
as to conserve land and infrastructure resources by inhibiting dispersal.
Criteria lor Campus Open Space
The plan shOuld establish a clear, legible open space order that connecis
the various precincts of the campus in a unified way_ This should be
accomplished by preservation and enhancement of existing signature
spaces such as the residence quads, Ross Square, ihe South College
Street fore lawns and the area that contained the Eagle Aviary. It should
delineate the open space corridors that will connect major pedestrian
open spaces, including weH-defined street corridors such as Meil Street
and West Thach Avenue. The plan should identify opportunities for the
creation of an "icon' open space that establishes a compelling symbolic
identity for Auburn.
Criteria lor "Pedeslrianization"
It is imperative that Auburn recaptures the basic idea of "pedestrlanization"
on the campus by creating safe and attractive collegial open spaces,
reducing conflicts with parked and moving vehicles and introducing
venues into the heart of the campus that generate pedestrian interaction.
The term "recapture" is a deliberate reference to historical images of an
Auburn campus that was once oriented to clear, strong pedestrian open
spaces. Planning for the enhancement of the pedestrian environment is
not only an aesthetic and cultural goal, but also a functional response to
the growing need for closer ties among academic disciplines.
Criteria for Campus "Architectural Fabric"
The plan should identify opportunities for building infill and replacements,
wherein architecture strengthens and frames the pedestrian open spaces
discussed above. The best examples of such "framing" are the dormitory
quads north of Roosevelt. The prospect of incremental removal and
replacement of Saunders, Allison and Parker is a good example of the
opportunity to redefine buildings as a unified background to the open
space fabric, The plan should set design guidelines for materials, mass­ing
and bullding fa9ade lines that restore the sense of scale and unity
embodied in earlier buildings. The plan has to acknowledge that future
architecture (laboratories, sports and recreation facilities, student com­mons,
etc.) VIii! likely be larger in scale and mass than traditional buildings
and, therefore, will need to have good articulation of fa9ades, abundant
'1ransparency" at ground floor levels and entry plazas that invite gathering.
DesignAlabama 8
Criteria for Circulation and Parking
The plan must find ways of harnessing the automobile on campus so
as to make the pedestrian experience safer, more attractive and more
coherent and to utilize limited land resources in the academic core more
effectively. The plan should examine selective street closures and a real·
location of the parking supply to serve various user groups while reducing
the amount of parking that breaks up the integrity of the academic Core.
Criteria for Community Functions: "The Campus as a Village"
The distinct cuttural conslruct of Auburn University as a "town" or ''Village''
is a powerful and unique factor that must be preserved and enhanced in
setting criteria for planning the campus. The scale and character of future
Social and public facilities should reinforce the viilage-like atmosphere.
Even the inevitable large-scale laboratory buildings should be positioned
in such a way as to frame spaces where social interaction, gathering and
community activities can take place. The plan should accommodate an
abundant array of places and functions that will foster the sense of com­munity
and collegiality. Those functions should include outdoor gathering
places at pedestrian crossroads locations, public spaces reiated to common
facilities such as the student center and the library and courtyards, mails
and plazas that invite informal encounter.
Criteria lor the Environment
The plan should strengthen the relationship between the formal built
environment of the core area and the natural systems (stream corridors,
wooded areas and fields, etc.) that define the outlying areas south and
west of the core. Stream corridors should be protected by the preserva­tion
of the wooded banks flanking the streams. Reforestation programs
should be identified where they can effectively link various parts of the
campus and "soften" the visual impacts of large-scale parking and build­ing
masses at the edge of the academic core.
Thach Hall 19S1. Classified as Contemporary Georgian by Sam
Brewster, former director of buildings and grounds, VanKeuren, Davis'
Simplified bold design rendered in brick features a symmetricallrant
lagade with a stone base and pedimented entry pavilion.
Ross Hall 1930. The Neoclassical building with Georgian overtones
occupies the central position on Ross Square, a formal garden, Ilanked
by Samlord Hall (east) and Fay Union (west). Designed by Warren,
Knight and Davis, its symmetrical fagades are dominated by a Doric
porticO (south), a balustraded stairway (north) and a crowning cupola.
Samford Hall circa 1880. The earliest campus development followed
an organizational and architectural style popular lor mid~19th century
institutions. The original campus was oriented toward a commons,
Samford Park, and directly addressed the town at its central cross­roads.
Buildings designers employed picturesque Victorian Romanesque
styles, popular lor instifutional and municipal buildings of the period.
"City" and "Suburb" are usually read as
opposites, as in "City vs. Suburbs. II In this repre­sentation
the city is dense, urban and diverse, the
suburb low-density, non-urban and homogeneous.
As applied to Alabama's urban places, these distinc­tions
have always blurred. Except for downtowns,
there are almost no urban districts in the classic
Eastern Seaboard city sense, and even downtowns
have generally not been places where people live.
In Mobile, Montgomery, Birmingham and Huntsville,
close-in neighborhoods are really early suburbs
and mostly at the density of a garden district.
URBAN~
by Philip Morris
Even as downtowns now work to encourage residential lofts and 24-hour life, so the suburbs,
which have always had their own individuality, are attracting offices and so-called townhouses, along
with the shopping centers long a part of the mix. But the problem with so much of suburban develop­ment
from the 1950s onward is that it became a helter-skelter spread of residential subdivisions and
commercial strips. More recently, the cumulative sprawl has gotten so bad that the suburbs are often
overwhelmed with traffic and congestion - once considered big city problems.
Maybe it's because of the traffic. Maybe the new popularity of walking
for health and recreation is behind it, but there are signs of a change in the
suburbs. The new urbanism movement (OA Fall/Winter 1998) has put forward
the model of a mixed-use, walking-precinct town as an alternative to auto­dependent,
separated single-use zoning. Some federal transportation funds
are now earmarked for bicycle and walking, not just for recreation. but as an
alternative way to get around. And maybe, too, suburbs are just growing up,
wanting to be more truly urban on their own terms.
This emerging trend is the subject of "SubURBAN MOVES." The
survey ranges from a well-planned pre-World War II suburb now discovering
its implicit urbanism, to a high-growth suburb taking a new look at develop­ment
standards, to a town of 12,500 that wants to grow as a town and not just
random subdivisions. Some of the changes are subtle and gradual, so the full
effect may be years coming. Others are dramatic, like the transformation of a
1970s mall with a new "Main Street" front.
Just as the places differ, the specific moves are quite diverse. But
these ideas about how to make the suburbs more interesting and livable have
relevance just about anywhere. This should be an exciting movement to see
unfold across the state.
Philip Morris is an architectural writer and contributing editor to Southern Accents and Coastal Living magazines.
9 Volume XI, No. II
71)e Ci{r o/Mountain Brook has encoumged new injil/
daelopment in its three villages. These images shall.! English
Village ·'bifore" in 1997 (left) and '·after," (right) II.Jith
mixed·use buildings designed by Sprott long & Associates
defining the edge 0/ new sideu'C/lks and a sInall plaza at
the corner. The six-stol), condominium tower behind is
r.·.· '\ . .
*~ \
actual(J' in Birmingham.
~GjJEI]Mountain Brook
bURBAND [J
OesignA!abama 10
A bucolic 1920s suburb may not sound like a frontier for urban
initiatives, but within the past few years the City of Mountain
Brook, located just over the Red Mountain ridge from the heart of
Birmingham, has done the following:
• Linked its three commercial villages with trails and sidewalks
• Invested in major streetscape improvements for the villages
• Adopted urban design guidelines to protect and extend these
pedestrian-scaled places
• Revised its local business district zoning to mandate new buildings
at the sidewalk line rather than set back suburban style
• Changed its sign ordinance to include provisions for smaller signs
compatible with the scale of the villages
• Created a Villages Design Review Committee to oversee
enforcement of the guidelines and ordinances
• Commissioned a nationally known downtown development
consultant to explore ways to strengthen and enhance the villages.
These various actions have been taken to enhance both the economic performance
of the villages and the quality of life for residents. City Manager Sam Gaston notes that sales
taxes increased 9 percent after streetscape improvements (though this rate has since leveled Off).
He also notes that merchants and property owners were involved from the start in planning and
implementing the project, funded by a 25-cent increase in the local sales tax.
As for community life, the sidewalks and trails have transformed the city with residents
out walking or jogging (with or without their dogs), parents with young children in strollers,
youngsters on bicycles, all animating the place. "When we come out of city council meetings at
9 or 9:30 at night, you see families on the sidewalk or around the fountain," says council mem­ber
Alice Williams who has been an ardent supporter of these changes and who serves as coun­cilliaison
on the Villages Design Review Committee.
Shawn on one of the new benches installed
as part of recent streetscape improvements
in Crestline Village are: (seated left to right)
Craig Rogers, architect and chair 0/ the
Villages Design Review Committee, Alice
Williams, city council liaison with the
committee, and Darrell '}fryer, planner and
urban designer with KPS Group. Standing
behind is Cify Manager Sam Gaston.
Design guidelinlls for the lJillages dere/oped
by KtS Group call for tbe wid!/) and jJmpor­lions
ojs/orifron! ba}'s to be used in all
remodeling and new building.
The key guideline for
building/street relations
is jar buildings to bold to the
sideu,wtk line to keep pedes·
Irian scale and visibility.
Parking lots
should not disrupt the
street frontage.
Mountain Brook (pop. 20.000) is often viewed as excep­tional
and, thus, not a model for others. But both its original lay­out
and recent attention to pedestrian amenities have caught the
eye of other suburbs in the area. (See following features). Laid
out as a motoring suburb and an escape from the city, the 1926
plan for Mountain Brook Estates included a sidewalk-fronted
Mountain Brook Village with cars
and people gently mixed around a
distinctive landscaped circle. In this,
landscape architect Warren Manning
of Boston created a plan for developer
Robert Jemison Jr. representative of
the best early suburban planning where the auto was served but
so was the pedestrian.
By the time it was incorporated as the City of Mountain
Brook in 1946, there were two other commercial villages absorbed
into the city layout: the small-town grid of Crestline Village which
became the town's civic heart with the city hall and library set with­in
the commercial core; and English Village, a small crossroads
center on the margin between Birmingham's Redmont neighbor­hood
and Mountain Brook. Over the years, city leaders kept both
the villages and adjacent neighborhoods distinct and strong by not
widening linking roads or allowing commercial development to
spread along them.
Desirable Cndesirablc
Desirable Undesirable
Over the past several years, Nimrod Long III, a landscape
architect and resident, was instrumental in getting the city to apply
for federal funds to link the villages and ne'lghborhoods with side­walks
and trails. Phase I of 6.4 miles and Phase II with 2.1 miles are
complete, with existing sidewalks and trails mapped and new ones
laid out mostly along major roads or streamside open spaces.
Future phases of what is now called the Walkway System Master
Plan, reaching out into more recent neighborhoods and linking
parks, schools and other destinations, will bring the total to 25 miles.
Another resident, planner Darrell Meyer, who joined KPS
Group in Birmingham after retiring as longtime head of the planning
program at Auburn University, was retained by the city to develop
guidelines for the villages in 1996. These deal not with architect­ural
style but with the massing, scale and placement of buildings in
relation to sidewalks, plus the location of parking, all intended to
reinforce the intimate urban character of the villages. "As in most
towns, Mountain Brook's zoning ordinances were suburban-based,
so the required setbacks wouldn't allow the villages to be built the
way they were. We changed this so building to the sidewalk is stan­dard
for the local business district zoning that applies to the vil­lages."
Meyer also wrote the new sign ordinance reducing overall
sign size in keeping with the villages' scale.
In 1997 a Villages Design Review Committee was estab­lished
to oversee the application of the guidelines Any proposed
changes to the exterior of buildings, including signs and awnings,
come to the committee for review and approval before permits are
issued. Architect Craig Rogers is current chairman. It was this
committee that recommended to the city planning commission and
council changes to the zoning and sign ordinances after they dis­covered
the need.
Tbe (lil!ages now bmJe build-to rather than suburban setback lines, and an addition to
[he historic Steeple Arts buifding in Crestline Village designed b)' architect Randy Marks
extends the frontage of e:'dsting shops,
11 Volume XI, No. II
DesignAlabama 12
To keep its new library accessible by foot or bicycle in the heart of Crestline Village,
the existing library was torn down and temporarily moved to a shopping malt so the
new, more urban one designed by llKW Associates could occupy the same location.
Local architects have welcomed the guidelines. For an
addition to the landmark Steeple Arts building in Crestline Village,
Randolph Marks used the build-to-sidewalk provision to extend
the existing storefront line while creating an attractive enclosure
for a courtyard between the addition and the historic church
structure. Rob Walker of SRW & Associates, who has designed a
new two-story infill structure for English Village (retail below,
Though it Jronts U.S. 280, the Tlelf) Mountain Brook plaza 280 retail block
~J' architects DesignFonn Picks up the ebamcter oj nearby )Jountain Brook
Village, putting a pillage toehold on this major highU'(J)'-
SRW designed this new injifl buildingjor aformer service station site in Engfish Village to repeat the scale
and storefront Thytbm of the existillg 1920s buildings lIext door. The plan sbows the neu' buifdingJootprint
in context with parking to the side alld behind.
One trait of true urban planning is putting pieces together
so they add up to something greater than the parts. The decision to tear
down the existing too-small Mountain Brook Library in the heart
of Crestline Village and build back a three-times-Iarger facility on the
same site - one made after much discussion of options - is another
sign of "SubURBAN MOVES." Keeping it within walking distance of
Crestline Elementary School and the close-knit neighborhoods nearby,
as well as strengthening this village as the civic heart of the community,
was a major consideration. The new, tighter building guidelines facili­tated
the replacement of a suburban-building-with-Iawn with an urban­building-
with-plaza in a design by HKW Associates.
offices above), says, "We are already attuned to what the design Most recently, the City of Mountain Brook in cooperation with
guidelines are intended to do, so we welcome them." To replace a its new chamber of commerce, has hired Doyle Hyett of Hyett-Palma, a
setback structure once used as a service station, SRW's design nationally known downtown development specialist, to study all three
continues the commercial bays of adjacent 1920s buildings and villages in relation to each other and competing business/retail nearby.
cladding with a similar clinker-brick texture. To meet the developer's A city-wide master plan update in cooperation with Jefferson County
budget, the slate roofs will not be repeated, but copper was speci- planning staff is also underway.
fied because it will weather to a similar tone. Another new building,
Mountain Brook Plaza 280, while it fronts U.S. 280 and is not While it does have its exceptional qualities, Mountain Brook's
contiguous to Mounlain Brook Village, picks up the urban charac- increased attention to the character of development, development of
ter of the nearby village with storefront bays, brick detailing and a public amenities and the use of more sophisticated planning and
distinguishing tower at the juncture of its L-plan. DesignForm, the design review to manage change are tools many towns, cities or
architecture firm on the project, is led by Rogers who chairs the suburbs might emulate. _
review committee, so those involved were familiar with the guide-lines
even though they do not apply to this highway setting.
•
��
•
Fairhope Development Framework
LEGEND
DOWNTOWN
VILLAGE CENTER
DOWNTOWN
IMPACT AREA
GREENO ROAD
VILLAGE CENTER
GREENO ROAD
IMPACT AREA
NEIGHBORHOOD
VilLAGE CENTER
NEIGHBORHOOD
CENTER IMPACT AREA
Tbe det:elopment JramelCod~ /Jictured 011 the I'igbf i//ustJ'{ltes Fairhope's j)roposed/rtlltl'e dere/ojnnell! j)(!!fem.
DottnfoU:1l represents a regional village eel/tel' and tbe ~:rmbolic center ojFaidJojX!. Greeno Road represents
all au/omobife-based retail centel: a/I/Jollgb if is anticipated /bat landscape treatments li'Il! be used 10 effie­tive(
r tie Ibis center info tbe amra// dere/ojJlI1fmt/ram/Juwk. the remaining eellters shO/nz flIlls/rate possible
/OCfttiol1s/or smaller scale neig!Jborbood commercia! 01' il1s/ifuliollaf activilies.
SOTE: [be cellteJ~~ indicated do JlO! represent (m exact projJOsed location. Rather, {hey sbOlt' IbeajJjJroximale
sendee areas/or such ceJ1lel:~, Tbe ci(r.h01l'el:er. s/Jou{d 1101 ajJjJrol'8 Ileigbborhood cenlel:~ tbat are ajJproxi-
~.-,., '".",,"-,,~ "1"~'''J~nl.1 FaitH
!~'II~I~URBANP1D····. ~. ' 'IJlU,lqw I I [~ ~-'
Once a place apart, Fairhope (pop. 12,500) on Mobile's Eastern Shore has become
part of a larger suburban growth zone. To get a handle on how it expands, the City
of Fairhope early this year adopted a new master plan that mandates village-scale
development rather than typical suburban sprawl.
''This process went on for a year and had wide community involvement," says
Mayor Tim Kant, elected last October after years of heading the city's admired civic land­scape
program A national search led to the firm of Gould Evans Goodman from Kansas City
They were selected because they had strong architecture and landscape architecture
experience rather than more typical planning in just two dimensions. To engage the com­munity,
clear alternatives between market-driven and community-shaped growth were
developed, and the community overwhelmingly chose the latter. The Alabama Chapter of
the American Planning Association gave the Fairhope plan its 2000 Outstanding Planning
Program award.
Fairhope city planner Christopher Baker says the same firm is now helping the city
develop regulations that will put the plan into effect. "We knew the plan would be a learning
process for our residents, so we dedicated a great deal of effort on that front. Now we are
doing the same with the developers and landowners." Compared to many cities, Fairhope
already has regulations in place to manage how it grows. Its big-box ordinance, for example,
restricts the size and location of large-scale retail buildings. If located in the Greeno Road
area where they already exist, freestanding stores can be up to 18,000 square feet. Anywhere
else in town the size is limited to 8,000 square feet.
The 'Idea is to keep Fairhope's small town character. Following is the Fairhope
Land-use Plan.
13 Volume XI, No. II
To facilitate community discussion, a series of three alternative land-use strategies
were prepared. They were presented to both the steering committee and at a town
hall meeting for review, discussion and direction.
Land-use Plan [ Alternatives]
In a final town hall meeting, a group consensus was formed regarding the most
appropriate land-use pattern for Fairhope. (See Alternative C.) ." ..
In the first alternative. it was envisioned that the future of Fairhope
would be determined solely through typical market and development
forces. In this scenario. Fairhope would develop with strip commer­cial
centers along primary arterials. Residential subdivisions would
fill-in sporadically between these corridors. and parks, schools,
churches and other institutions would locate expediently - wherever
cost effective.
A key advantage to this option is that it represents the mainstream
of American development practices; thus, it is relatively easy to
implement. It does not, however, adequately address the vision,
goals or objectives of the plan as developed in the community
participation process.
DesignAlabama 14
I!lll "''''''''''''~''''
?UIILiC
Alternative A projected Fairhope build-out if there were
no signijiCClllt changes to existing land-lise policies and
if dereiopment decisions u-ere designed to be dejimmtia/
to the wishes of the dew/opmen! communil)'.
• / Keighhorhood
.\. ........•
~ Stlip Commercial
)'
•
In a marke!·dn"ven approach, commercial development
occurs in a "sln'p" configuration along corridors and
at the intersection of arterial roadways. Residential
subdivisions are typically inwardly focused Parks,
churches and schools are located in an expedient man­ner,
primaril;! in areas with fou:er land costs. Btiflers
betu'een residential and commercial uses are essential.
The second alternative attempted to direct market forces to a greater
extent than envisioned in Alternative A. In this scenario, the city
would use zoning policies and infrastructure development strategies
to direct the timing of new development.
While the strip-oriented commercial corridors would still exist to some
extent, they would be phased in a more orderly manner. A compre­hensive
trails and bicycle path system, interlinked with parks, would
be developed as a part of the city's physical framework.
The result of this development pattern would be better sequencing
and predictability of infrastructure, but it would not fully address the
city's image and character as expressed and identified as a priority
in community meetings.
Altemative B proposed a Fairhope build-out based On
modified traditional/and-use policies that represent
a selJ'II'·pattemed community, where cost is not the
primary loeational determinant.
Trails
While a "strip" commercial configuration exists, the cit)'
would utilize zoning poliCies to limit the size and COl1-
figuration. A proactive approach would be necessary to
coordinate parks and institutions. A trails system would
link parks into an Ol'eratl open space network.
[Preferred Plan]
.\'eigbborbood Cbaracf(!J'
~
/
(
MIXED
USE
-7<:::.-~f":NTER
'"
Off-Set Mixed-Use Center
jhxed-llse center may occur across
em il1!e;:~eclioi1 OJ' 1rUbin ol/e or more
il/tersec/ion quadl'flJ1!s as illustrated.
After considering the three alternative land-use scenarios, the community participants
and Steering Committee worked to develop a preferred scenario to act as a framework
for future development in Fairhope.
MixeD
USE
Streets Bisecting Mixed-Use Center
i! clustered. mixed-use eel/fer cOllsisling
q( commercial OJ' institutional uses
ancbors eael; rillage. A planned parks
and trails system finks tbe til/ages.
Village Center Character
In a third altemative. Fairhope was envisioned as developing in a series of wa!kable
villages. Each viliage would be centered around a mixed-use cluster consisting of
parks and open space, a trail/bikeway connection, institutions, retail and residential.
Although the exact nature of each village center would be market driven, a premium
would be placed on the clustering, coordination and land-use integration of these
and other uses.
In this scenario, three levels of retail are envisioned for Fairhope: Downtown as a
regional center, Greeno Road as a community retail center and smaller neighbor­hood
village centers that are not competitive in scale and use with either downtown
or Greeno Road.
This altemative was overwhelmingly favored by community participants in the plan­ning
process, although there was a recognition that this was the most difficult of
the three alternatives to implement
LEGEND
RESIDENTIAL
PARK I OPEN SPACE
PUBLIC
Alternafire C presents a build-out scenario u"bere JUJU' grou:tIJ has been
directed il1[o riflage pal/ems designed to j)FOI!ide my/ous /ereL~ oj support
fo loca! or regiol1al residents.
;\'01£: Tbe {ocatiolls oj cOlJlmerciaflq/jice, park/open space and public
falld-uses are approXimate. Tbey lfere presented at comlnuni(r meetings
for dL~Cl(ssiOIl pur/Joses on(/:
The Fairhope Framework creates a hierarchy oi vi!lage centers that wili be located
throughout the city to meet different local and regional needs. Each of the village
centers will be designed to include or be linked to:
• Compact, wa!kable neighborhoods with approximately a
one-mile walking radius
• Public space, such as a square or an important intersection
• Pedestrian/bicycle trails and open spaces linking all villages,
including downtown and the waterfront
• A commercial and/or institutional core that responds to
market-driven realities. II
15 Volume XI, No, II
The City of Homewood (pop. 25,000) has its own "downtown," a streetcar-era shopping district that includes
city hall and related uses, the core of which was given streetscape improvements several years ago. More recently,
Homewood has extended civic landscape improvements along its Greensprings Highway/Columbiana Road
corridor. But the most dramatic move from disconnected-suburban to linked-urban pattern is happening in the
valley parallel to Shades Creek.
Tbe first 2.5 mile part oj a
pedestrian/bicycle trail along Shades
Creek connects rna/or destinations,
ineluding Homewood Higb where
a bridge :.pans the creek
DesignAlabama 16
After years in design and processing, the first phase After the Shades Creek trail was master planned,
of a planned six-mile pedestrian and cycling trail has opened. a major change in the plans for renovation of Brookwood
The 12-foot-wide, asphalt-surfaced trail parallels the creek and Village regional mall was announced by Colonial
extends 2.5 miles from the west end of Brookwood Village to Properties, the mall's new Birmingham-based owners.
Columbiana Road. Designed by Homewood resident Jane Rather than upgrade the mall in its existing configuration
Reed Ross of Ross Kelly Landscape Architects, PC, the trail (two-stories with anchor department stores at either end),
serves both recreation and transportation. It opens up creek­side
open space that has long given Shades Creek Parkway/
Lakeshore Drive a true parkway character but was never
accessible on foot or bicycle. And it links a regional mall,
Homewood High School, Samford University, the new
University Park development, several neighborhoods and other
office buildings. Phases II and III will extend the trail west for a
total of six miles, connecting with Wildwood shopping center,
John Carroll High School and other sites, terminating in West
Homewood Park.
the decision was made to open it up with a Main Street-like
frontage and new restaurants overlooking Shades Creek.
The concept was developed by StreetWorks, a retail
consultant from New York, with HKW Associates, the
architects, and Nimrod Long & Associates, the landscape
architects, both of Birmingham.
This major change from suburban to urban type
makes the "village" in the center's name descriptive for the
first time since it was built in the 1970s. And since the City
of Homewood is paying for a new dedicated street that
extends through the site, the change meshes well with the
new Shades Creek pedestrian link.
Wben renovations at Brookwood Village are completed tbis fall, storefronts Willface a new public street bull!
across tbe properly by tbe Cit)' a/Homewood and connecting to tbe new Sbades Creek trail.
In presenting the Brookwood Village plans last January at
the Birmingham Museum of Art's Annual Review of Architecture &
Design, HKW project architect Mark Coyle showed slides of the
existing mall's blank walls and described how the new frontage with
storefronts and restaurants in full view would make the shopping
center "Iook like someplace you'd just like to be." Within, there will
still be an enclosed mall component, but a new two-story pavilion
inserted at 90 degrees and fronting on the new street will give it more
visibility and urban presence
The change at Brookwood Village is obviously inspired by
the huge success at The Summit a few miles away at U.S. 280 and
1-459, built from scratch as a single-loaded "main street" by Bayer
Properties with design by architects CRH of Birmingham and Nimrod
Long & Associates. In shopping center circles this is termed "open­air
shopping." In the Homewood case, what is remarkable is how
timely this shift was to the planned redo of an aging mall and how
well it complements the new pedestrian link.
Though the City of Homewood has not yet picked up on the more
sophisticated urban pattern planning now being explored by Mountain
Brook, Fairhope and others, it quickly rose to the occasion when it agreed
to spend more than $7 million on the new street fronting Brookwood
Village. The newly urbanized center may not have the diversity of architec­ture
and uses nor the connectedness evident in Homewood's downtown,
but it represents one giant step away from isolated suburban patterns
toward something people seem to want. _
17 Volume XI, No. II
Anchored by its prime revenue source, Riverchase
Galleria, and made attractive to expanding neighbor­hoods
on the Birmingham metropolitan area's south
edge by a school system created seven years ago, the
City of Hoover is now the sixth largest city in the state
with a population of about 65,000, Successful as it
has been in attracting growth, the pace and shape of
development - or, rather, the lack of shape - caused
a major change in leadership last fall when a new
mayor and city council majority were elected on a
smart growth platform
The national movement promotes a more intelligent and
responsive approach to growth: meshing land-use and transporta­tion,
protecting environmental features, reinforcing existing towns
or neighborhoods and mixing uses together in a way that gives
people the option to walk or ride a bicycle rather than depending
solely on their cars. Mayor Barbara McCollum in one of her first
initiatives put together a task force and consultants to develop a
citywide master plan to look at such issues.
Echoing the distinctions raised in the Fairhope land-use
plan between market/developer-driven, directed-market or pre­ferred-
pian approaches, Mayor McCollum and her supporters look
to the planning process to help them make good decisions and
even correct past mistakes. "When I meet with developers, I tell
them we don't want to stop growth but to make sure we protect our
natural beauty, deal with traffic and accessibility and create long­term
value for our community," she says. Her
experience on the city planning commission and city
council helped shape her sense that the city need- 0
ed to be more proactive about how (? h
it develops.
DesignAlabama 18
LS'( Really, (( major properZF
oltner in Hoover, is currently
developing The Preserve witb
smafler lot hOlises placed around
a centml green that opens at one
end to tbe city's lIew 250-tlcre
Moss Rock Preserre.
Tbe Ritercbase G'al/eria with its office (lnd bole/IOlrers [lisibJeji'om c.s. 31. along wilb olher retail dereioj)ment, sels the present
image of ffoOl'eI:
HOOVER
ON-THE·CAHA8A 01'i-THE-CAc!ASA
$OllU1WCS\ Vf!iaS<:
Concopt
b:;::~
,'I !'"
b:~:
1-, ,""
Hoorer-on-tiJe-Cababtl, a concept pkm commissioned by tbe City off/oOMr, proposes tbe Cababa RifeI' be used to create a
lltilural-foatllre focusjol' both existing and lIew neighborhoods. Pedesfrialljriendf)'. mi.yed-lise m'l/ages are proposed at cerlaill
localiolls along /be u.'ay.
If the best features of Hoover are the master-planned Riverchase
development begun in the 1 970s which includes well-landscaped office parks
and residential areas, as well as Riverchase Galleria, there are signs that more
intimately mixed-use urban patterns will have a place in its future, balanced
with greater recognition of natural features.
When Virginia Williams, formerly chief administrator for Birmingham
Mayor Richard Arrington Jr., joined the city as iirst director of development
four years ago, she oversaw development of a study called "Hoover-on-the­Cahaba"
It turns out, the 27-mile-long city which grew from its origin near
1-65/U.S. 31 eastward toward U.s. 280 as new subdivisions requested
annexation, includes the Cahaba River for most of its length. The plan, which
recently has been fleshed out with an environmental
inventory of what needs protection, calls for the river to
be made an important image and amenity feature. This
includes providing new visibility and access in existing
neighborhoods and creating a series of pedestrian­friendly
villages along the river in yet-developed land.
The lead planner on this study, Darrell Meyer of KPS
Group, has been teamed with planning consultant Bob
House on the Hoover master plan to incorporate aspects of
new urbanism and an armature of green into the process.
In the meantime, USX Realty, which has used good but typical
suburban planning for the extensive development of Trace Crossings over the
past decade, has begun construction on The Preserve, a 300-acre pedestrian-
scale residential district centered on a village green and adjacent
to the 250-acre Moss Rock Preserve that the City of Hoover
purchased as public open space The plan by Nimrod Long &
Associates originally included a retail village component, but
objections from existing residents eliminated any commercial
use. Smaller town home and cottage lots are concentrated at the
center to help establish the feel of a traditional walking neighbor­hood.
Memphis-based architects Looney Ricks Kiss, who have a
"'=M,r; ",~,;w,,-­c(
t>''''",-,«, ,.,"""-;".vc; ... '"
For all of its life, Phenix City (pop. 28,000) has been a de facto
suburb of Columbus, Ga., on the other side of the river. But as
part of a master planning process, the town decided that making a
proper urban center everyone could enjoy and be proud of should
be a high priority.
Out of a day-long brainstorming session held in
August of 2000, KPS Group of Birmingham has developed a
plan organized along Broad Street which, at 164 feet wide, is
four feet wider than the famous Monument Avenue in Richmond,
Va. A double allee of trees and monuments relocated from else­where
in town will establish a strong civic presence. At the north
end, near a new bridge across the Chattahoochee River, a small
hotel and conference center are planned. At the south end near
the old bridge is another hotel and an office building. In between
are a mix of residential and retail plus an existing city hall and
chamber of commerce building. A grocery store, the only one
serving both downtown Phenix City and Columbus, will be relo­cated
to a new downtown shopping center to be built nearby
with traditional street frontage.
number of successful new urbanist developments to their credit,
designed the range of houses being built at The Preserve. The only
place to walk or ride a bicycle to, at least for now, will be the vil­lage
green, the Moss Rock Preserve or a multi-use community
center on the green. Maybe, before too long, residents of Hoover
who have developed a love/hate relationship with big scale, auto­only
development will have some gentler, kinder options on places
to live, work or shop. III
<- ~t.l, ......... '1 ,-'". ~,~<;.--
Tbis pIal! j)repared by XI'S Group
of Birmingbam for downtowll
Phalli): Cif:), sbows lieu' small hotels
and conjerellce facilities. plus a
nell: shOPPing center fo !be nor!h,
located neal' the bridges that cross
OFer 10 Columbus. Ga. In bel/teen
are a mi:..- oj residential. cit!lc altd
business uses ol'edookillg creek­side
open sjJace «nd tlJe rille): The
birds /!re drawing {llustrates bOil"
bltildings are brought to the street,
1[ilh public parking on the street
((lid ill loIs bebind.
_. ty
New commercial and civic buildings are located in an
urban manner, built to the sidewalk line with parking to the side or
rear. Another key aspect drawn from traditional urban centers: All
downtown parking will be public, both on-street and in off-street
lots owned by the city, so spaces will be used for multiple purposes
and walking will be encouraged.
"The plan calls for making the two downtowns work
together, providing hotel space to complement the Columbus con­vention
center," says Darrell Meyer of KPS Group. "Columbus is
the industrial side, with restored old mills and warehouses, while
Phenix City is the green side. There will be new residential on the
bluff overlooking a waterfront park and the river and downtown
Columbus on the other side." III
19 Volume XI. No. II
Two locations in north Alabama illustrate the diverse applicability
. of the new urbanism revival of traditional town planning, as well as
the importance of adhering to the movement's standards.
DesignAlabama 20
Huntsville architect Steve Mouzon of Mouzon
Associates has been an avid follower of the new urbanism
movement, attending the annual Congress for the New
Urbanism (CNU) where the principles and projects are debated
and refined. He was recently involved in a reassessment of
Gorham's Bluff, laid out by a New Orleans architect. Instead of a
range of lot sizes and firm civic ordering, the plan was essen­tially
standard lot layout with a few civic gestures. Mouzon
developed revisions, presented for a roundtable critique at the
recent CNU held in New York City.
Gorham's Bluff will now feature a range of lot sizes,
especially smaller ones conducive to those wanting to have a
small second-home cottage. The revised plan puts emphasis on
the town as an arts retreat with studio and dormitory space for
visiting artists. At the center, a planned assisted living center
will be designed as an integral part of the town. "The cafeteria
will be a sidewalk cafe that anyone in town can eat at, the mail
room - the town post office and the library - the town library," says
Mouzon who has been named town architect. "The residents will be
integrated into the life of the community just as old people were in
towns everywhere a century ago."
The potential for new urbanism planning to reinforce and
extend an existing town is also being explored by Mouzon at
Mooresville. This historic planters' village two miles east of the
intersection of 1-65 and 1-565 leading to Huntsville is threatened by
surrounding development. After seeing examples of Mouzon's new
urbanism work for Gorham's Bluff, the mayor of Mooresville has
retained the architect to develop a plan to extend the intimate scale
and architectural character of the town across several hundred
acres of adjacent agricultural land. By expanding as a town, not
random suburban sprawl, Mooresville would not only secure its
quaintness but provide a small town choice for new residents. _
The historic planters' Village a/Mooresville, tbreatened by
sprau.!ljrom the nearby 1-6511-565 interchange, has asked
Mouzon to delle/op a new urbanism plan for the lalld
around the Village in order to protect it.
Vestallia Hills plans to delle/op an open spacejrameum>k and a serieS ojpedestrian village centers, plus a cl~)' center around its original shopping center on us. 31>
Su
Originally developed in the 1950s and 60s in a fully suburban
mode, the City of Vestavia Hills (pop. 25,000) is known for its
quality schools and an overall green infrastructure highlighted
by the Shades Mountain crest and a landscaped U.S. 31,
including a tree-lined median. But an active community group
has recently pushed for something more and that includes a
stronger urban identity.
The same round of municipal elections that has
set a new smart growth agenda in Hoover also brought a
new city council majority and a new mayor, Dr. Scotty
McCallum (former president of UAB), to push for the new
set of urban goals. A long-range planning committee
chaired by resident volunteer Fred Yeager and served by
staff planners from the Regional Planning Commission of
Greater Birmingham (RPC) is looking at a wide array of
issues. But central to the effort is a bundle of objectives
with the aim of making Vestavia Hills a physically more
attractive, memorable and pedestrian-friendly place.
• ~. P'" • _. S
. .. .-.-....-.. ....
Among the many ideas generated during community brain­storming
sessions, a large number fall under the "SubURBAN MOVES"
theme including
• Promote a sense of neighborhood by creating a balanced
relationship between residential areas, retail facilities,
places of employment, recreational facilities, civic and
cultural facilities and other activities
• Develop guidelines to promote quality and consistent
architectural and landscape improvements
• Convert guidelines into ordinances that are enforceable
• Develop a city center.
In June, RPC conducted a Vestavia Hills image-ability work­shop
based on the mental mapping principles of Kevin Lynch, where
residents determined that their main north and south gateways along
U.S. 31 were well marked, but not those lying east and west. The
desire for a walkable city center to be located around the original com­munity
shopping center on U.S. 31, plus smaller pedestrian-oriented
centers attached to neighborhoods, are expected to be key features of
a new master plan.
Putting the pieces together in a more thoughtful, more
urbane manner has risen to high priority on the lovely south slopes of
Shades Mountain. _
21 Volume XI, No. II
The first eMe bUilding in Mt laurel at tbe jool o/Double Oak Mottntain in Sbelby Cottnty is the fire Sideu.-alks in the small/ot l1eigbborboods in the town center are bordered
'-~~""-'-'-~"'f'~I~tJt "IMt Laiirel
Su [J,---==:-,~
Just beyond the upscale subdivisions and mega-strips
of Birmingham's ever-expanding U.S. 280 corridor, on
a relatively quiet Shelby County Highway 41, a new
beginning for an earlier model of suburban planning is
underway: Mt Laurel.
This past summer. when Mt Laurel hosted interested
Alabama architects and landscape architects on a tour-and-bar­beque,
the visitors could see the beginnings of the town center
The first pbase.Mt Laurel plall l}' DPZ of.'rIiami.
Lo.nJ 1.;<0 Pia"
,,",.,', .. .".".", 0Ii
."" .
The T'own
0/
MT LAUREL
and the walking neighborhoods extending outward along the
valley floor, as well as a civic lake set on the lower slopes of
Double Oak Mountain just above the town center. It takes some
imagination, but the fire station and tower clad in native stone
gathered from nearby, the signs showing locations for the first
commercial building and a row of live/work townhouses, the first
narrow street of architect-designed cottages in Arts & Crafts style
and the sidewalks bordered by handsomely crafted stone retain­ing
walls already set a tone.
DesionAlabama 22
What matters most, of course, is the plan commissioned by
Birmingham's Stephens family from Andres Duany & Elizabeth Plater­Zyberk
(DPZ), leaders in the new urbanism movement that has
advanced a new/old model for creating walkable, human-scaled neigh­borhoods
and towns with civic presence. The 500-acre first phase
includes the town center and attached or small lot dwellings gathered
intimately on the valley floor with the pattern loosening, of necessity, as
it climbs the steep slopes.
Great care is being taken to balance what is built with what
nature provides, preserving even smaller trees and encouraging the use
of native plants, a passion of Elton Stephens Jr. Town landscape archi­tect
Rip Weaver explains that larger trees removed from building sites
have been turned into timbers to be used for arbors and other civic
structures. Because the plan includes carefully placed civic buildings,
the fire station designed by Dungan & Nequette of Birmingham takes
on added importance. But everywhere, really, in a walking town, archi­tecture
becomes important because it can be seen and appreciated.
Town architect Scott Finn pOints out that because Mt Laurel
was not able to interest a select list to join a home builders guild, the
Stephens have created their own building concern. This is not devel­opment
as usual, but it is not unprecedented. "I tell people that every­thing
we're doing is based on what you can find in early Birmingham
suburbs like Forest Park, Homewood and Mountain BroOk," says Finn.
The narrow streets, sidewalks, storefront architecture and
civic space found in small towns and early 20th century urban neigh­borhoods
and suburbs are newly appreciated. It may be a softer kind of
urban than the word usually connotes. But sitting at a sidewalk table
with people and strollers and dogs passing by is urban - and it's back,
it seems, in places the recent past would never have predicted. _
A!ab:l(!l,t Historic:!! Commis~ion
ALABAMA MAIN STREET PROGRA,\1
Main Street Matters:
AlabamaJs Main Street Program
They say we're getting back to basics - back to the heart of
things. And the heart of any city is its downtown. After years of
decline, many historic downtown districts across America are
once again thriving, and
it's happening with gusto
in Alabama. Anyone who
has been away from the
state for just a few years
will notice an impressive
transformation.
by Jessica Annstrong
Built in 1913 and once a huggyMand.barness shop, the structure is
highly decorated with stone trim delineating bays and providing con­trastingfoundation
and cornice lines. Current owners the Fambrougbs
rehabilitated the building in 1993 wit" what was tbe first fafOde
inamtive grant funded by Downtown Gadsden Inc_
Until recently, many of Alabama's downtowns hid decades of histOlY
behind neglected f~ades. Buildings have been treated to colorful
awnings and new coats of paint Trees, flowerbeds and old-fashioned
street lamps line sidewalks. Commercial vacancy rates are dow11
with underused and dilapidated properties reborn as restaurants, offices and
shops. Street life is invigorated with festivals and community events.
Part of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the Main Street program
was established after determining that the country's downtowns were in a
serious state of deterioration. Since 1980, the National Main Street Center has
been working lIith communities nationwide to revitalize their downtowns. The
Main Street approach involves saving historically significant architecture and
breathing new life into a town's commercial core. It's a locally driven economic
development tool targeting local issues and concerns.
Alabama's Main Street program began in the early 1980s when the
Alabama Historical Commission offered incentive grants to tOW11S interested in
improving their commercial districts. Since its inception, the number of Alabama
towns jumping on the Main Street bandwagon has steadily increased. The pro­gram
was reorganized in 1988 under the leaderohip of Alta Cassady as Main
Street coordinator, a position recently filled by Andrew Gerachis.
"The appeal of the Main Street approach can be found not only in its success
in preserving buildings," says Gerachis, "but in so doing successfully builds a
sense of community. The organizations that result from following Main Street's
four-step process are stronger, highly interwoven and better able to meet the
needs of dynamic communities."
23 Volume XI, No. II
DesignAlabama 24
Dating to 1884, the building originall}' was bome to Pizitz Department Store. In 1996 Gilbert & Williams Properties purchased and rehabili~
tated the long vacant red brick structure with the white terra cotta ftlftlde. Its five upper bays are delineated by fluted pilasters and each of
the windows is sunJwunted by spandrel panels tuith bas relief shields, swags and cornucopias.
The key to Main Street's success is the partnership
between the public and plivate sectors, explains Cassady,
who now serves as the AHC's grant program administrator.
"Main Street was one of the first organizations to l~alize the need for such a part­nership.
With today's tax cuts, state revenues are dO\In, and the govemment can
no longer do it alone. The private sector needs fmancial incentives and guidelines."
A public-private partnership has worked wonders in communities througb­out
Alabama, creating a boon to local economies. If in doubt, take a look at
downtown Gadsden, a textbook example of a successful Main Street community.
"Gadsden was fortunate to have stability in its govemment," adds Cassady,
who was Main Street state coordinator in 1993 when Gadsden's redevelopment
efforts began. "A professional plan was done, and Cathy Back was hired as
Main Street manager She's very enthusiastic and dedicated - a real dynamo."
The Main Street program is administered through DOlin town Gadsden Inc.,
creating a catalyst for public and private investinent, says Back. Nearly $22
million has been spent on building improvements and purchase of property
in the downtown district, Back notes. Additionally, there has been an increase
of 419 jobs and 82 new businesses. The occupancy rate has risen from 79 per­cent
in 1993 to 90 percent today.
Along with an effective public-plivate partnership, Back credits Gadsden's
success to its fa,ade and sign grant incentive programs, as well as the
establishment of a downtown design review process. Since 1993, Gadsden
has benefited from 93 grant-funded improvement projects, and several other
projects are underway.
Downtown Gadsden Inc. joined the city in a major streetscape project on
Broad Street that consisted of many improvements such as widening Sidewalks
and installing brick pavers, streetligbts, benches and crosswalks. "It has made
downtown look like something out of a dream," observes Back.
The Downtown Core District, as Gadsden's downtown is offiCially called,
was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1997. This deSigna­tion
makes federal income tax credits possible for renovating historically
significant buildings, says Back. It also allows property owners to change
state property rates from commercial to reSidential, she adds.
"A parking management plan has been developed in cooperation with the
city," says Back, "and we are working together to make improvements. We
have also developed a historic walking tour of downtown."
In addition, a design plan for a streetscape project on Chestnut Street
(parallel to Broad Street) has been created. Other new projects in need of
funding include a design and reuse plan for the Pitman Theatre - the last
theater remaining in downtown Gadsden - and the development of a
downtown plaza. Upcoming plans also include a comprehensive promotion
campaign. Also in the works is an update of Gadsden's original revitalization
plan developed in 1993.
"The study of existing conditions and trends, as compared to those in 1993,
will help identify strengths and wealmesses in the physical and economic attrib­utes
of downtown," explains Back. "Strategies to enhance the strengths and
improve the \\~almesses are intended to gUide public and private sector actions.
This result will be a road map for continued improvements and revitalization
of downtown Gadsden."
Bam and raised in Gadsden, Back is the first and only manager of Downtown
Gadsden Inc. Her advice to other communities planning to spruce up and
rejuvenate their downtowns?
"Fonn partnerships and work together as a team," she recommends. "The
city has to be One of those partners - everyone from the elected offiCials to
department heads, to the guys who empty the trash and everyone in between."
On the left, tbe Pitman Theatre, constructed in 1947, is tbe last remaining movie theatre in downtown Gadsden though it closed in 1983. Owned iry' tbe city, it is being renovated in partnership
wit" Downtown Gadsden Inc. as a venue for classic film, lectures, musical presentations and as a home for the Gadsdelt Symphony and Etowah Youth Symphony. The Senior Activity Center is
composed of the other two buildings shown on the right. Fonnerly alC Penney store andAlaco PbamUlCY respectively, the d~y purchased and rehabilitated tbe stnlCtures in 1997 and linked
their interiors. 1be lC Penney ftlfade was completely renovated employing architectural features typical hz the Southeast. The fomler Alaco building, constntcted in 1943, is a amtributing
building in the Downtown Gadsden Historic District and was rehabilitated to its original condition.
When a problem can't be solved, move on to something else, continues
Back "Make certain to always strive for consensus," she suggests, "Keep
active and open communication with business and proper~' owners and city
officials, Always be open and easy to work With, but hard to run over and
keep down,"
The numbers clearly indicate the success of the Main Street program in
Alabama, More than $200 million has been invested by the private sector in
the downtown areas of participating communities, Public improvements
exceed $66 million, and thousands of new jobs and businesses have been
created statewide,
Twelve Alabama communities are currently participating in the Main
Street program, and eight additional cities have inquired about the program
within the past six months, says Elizabeth Brown, Alabama's dq)u~' historic
preservation officer,
"I certainly see a growing interest in Main Street throughout Alabama,"
says Brown, "Everywhere I go mayors are interested in preserving the core
of their cities, They want to ensure economic development and a sense of
place, All Hardee's [restaurants] are the same, but there is variety in tile
state's downtowns,"
Indeed, suburban sprawl in Birmingham looks basically the same in
Huntsville or any other ci~' in America, Noted for their singular value and
character, historic downtowns are a sharp contrast to bland, !\ny10wn, U,S.A,
"Before Main Street, the only vehicle available to communities for
downtown revitalization was the 'master plan,' a design tool necessary and
useful for conceptualization and grow1h, but somewhat limited in reaching
the neighborhood on a personal level," notes Thomas Kaufmann, design
specialist for the Alabama Main Street program
"The master plan was analogous to the Wide-angle view of a 70-millimeter
lens, The Main Street approach works extremely well because it is an indi­vidual
snapshot, much like the one depicting the original family business
gracing the mantle at home, It is about people, pride of place and love for
the community,"'"
One of the oldest structures in downtown,
tbe Kyle Building, built in 1883" was
originally home to SA Berger Dry Goods.
It now bOllses Imagination Place, an ad~
juuct facility of the Center for Cultural
Arts. Rebabilitation, completed in 1996,
removed a false front of aluminum and
masonite. The building has a distinctive
empire roof line with projecting gable,
and all windows have segmental-arched
rusticated stone heads.
The Center for Cultural Arts OCCUpies tbe former Belk Hudson
Department Store building. The facili~y was resuifaced with EIFS
and features a cylindrical projection at the corner and a recessed
entf}' with cautilevered canopy. Relwvation was completed prior to
adoption of the Downtown Revitalization Plan, and the programs
and activity generated by the center factored greatly in the
renewal of downtown.
Jessica Armstrong is a freelance writer based in Auburn.
~"~'9
25 Volume XI, No, II
Designer~Profi Ie
• el an
by Jessica Armstrong
o
~ ----~
DEPARTMENTS
DesignAlabama Web site.
DesignAlabama 26
In the early 19th century, the remarkable
process of photography revolutionized our perception
of reality. A century later modern artists created some­thing
entirely new with form and color. Web designers
of the 21 st century are elevating the computer to a
medium of creative importance. In a sense, the com­puter
screen is today's canvas.
Web designer and Auburn University professor
Wei Wang uses the computer to generate new discov­eries
and insights. Raised in Shenzhen, Canton, in
the People's Republic of China, he left his homeland
Six years ago to study and teach in the United States.
"I'm very interested in Web/interactive design
because I think it is a great challenge to combine
design theory and advanced technology," explains
Wang, who teaches undergraduate graphic design
courses in Auburn's Department of Art. He and his
wife, Tianxia, moved to Auburn in 1999 and have two
young sons, Albert and Eric.
"As a Web designer I speak with my design,"
he continues, "both for the Clients and the end-users.
For clients, a Web site needs to strengthen their
image and identity, reach their short-term and long­term
goals and, most importantly, act as a communica­tion
medium. For end-users, the same site needs to
provide an engaging interactive experience which
leaves them with recognition and an impression of the
client's image."
His Web site, WangDesign, is not only a self­promotional
site, but also a Web deSign resource for
his students. The site is presented in two versions -
English and Chinese.
In 1993, Wang received an undergraduate
degree in industrial product design in Shenzhen. He left
China to earn a Bachelor of Fine Arts in graphic design
at Utah State University and a Master of Fine Arts in
graphic design at Louisiana Tech University, where he
taught computer graphics. He continues to develop his
Web design work with an exuberance that keeps pace
with the technological changes in the electronic age.
Computer graphiCS, 2-D and 3-D animation, interactive
interface and multimedia design are among his areas of
interest. Wang has earned several awards including a
first place ADDY for designing the Louisiana Cotton
Museum logo.
Before moving to America, Wang served as art along with contrasting color images and high contrast page designer must also construct a site that is easy
director for the China Shenzhen Foreign Trade Group between soft-edge and square formats. The site also to update.
Corp. Shenzhen was the first city in China to develop its contains a functional and graphically powerful "Finding one unique solution for each client
economy when the country opened its doors to the arrangement of positive and negative space. Other fea- makes Web design very exciting and challenging,"
West, says Wang. A large percentage of Shenzhen's 3.5 lUres include a multihued and comfortable grid, user- remarks Wang. "I also enjoy the way you can commu-million
residents, he adds, speak English and enjoy a friendly interface and dynamic but consistent layouts. nicate with a client from any corner in the world to
relatively high income. The background of the opening page provides find out the best way to promote their services and
"I haven't designed a Web site for Chinese a collage of many digital images merged together products. Think about it. Everyone - not just a limited
clients yet, but that's something I'm going to do in the seamlessly to represent the diversity of Alabama's number of people - is able to see your design work
near future," says Wang. "Right now, I'm working on a design fields, Wang explains. through the Internet. What could be more exciting?"@'
flash Web site, onewaystudio.com, which will have a "I treated the foreground as a visual message in
mirror site in China. It will be launched later this year." a pair of quotation marks - DesignAlabama's logotype
The limitless potential of the Web is unleashed on the very left and the reversed mark on the right,"
when Wang sits down in front of a blank computer he continues. "The quotation consists of several
screen. He has designed Web sites for many companies images of design details in a square format and an
and agencies including S.Y.R. Computer Inc. and Health eye-catching spiral stairway which leads your eyes
Products Corp., both in New York. He has also to the Enter button."
designed sites for many companies in the South such On the home page Wang designed a navigation
as the Bradford Electronic Co. in Huntsville and First banner on top in the same style as the opening page
City Bank in Florida. but with a stronger square-format grid system. A
One of his latest projects is a site for color rectangle under each of the five top-level links
DesignAlabama Inc. When a Web Site is created for provides the dominant color of that particular page.
a publication whose mission is to provide a public The background of each inside page has a visible
forum for deSign, that site must naturally reflect a color square grid against the color shape, which
high standard of composition. DesignAlabama's pages
are fresh, contemporary and uncluttered. Graphics are
stimulating yet clear and direct. Wang has applied a
similar use of images and text to the journal's new site,
www.designalabama.org, expected to launch this fall.
"The design process of DesignAlabama's Web
site is not simply converting the existing two-dimen­sion,
multiple-page publication to a colorful Web site,"
explains Wang, who serves as an aSSistant art director
of DesignAlabama. "In fact, it is a big challenge to give
the publication a new and more exciting look while
being consistent to the existing layout, color palette
and type choice of the journals."
DesignAlabama's Web site replaces Sketches, a
newsletter formerly published by the organization that
offered up-to-the-minute information about
DesignAlabama Inc. projects, says Executive Director
Karen Seale. Like Sketches, the site will provide semi­nar
and conference dates along with other relevant and
timely information. It will also serve as an important
resource tool.
"Primarily, the Web site is intended to reach the
non-designer," adds Seale. "We hope that it will eventu­ally
become an access portal to other design-related
Web sites."
No fancy typefaces and flashing banners. No
garish animation and sounds. The Site is designed to be
aesthetically pleaSing, thought-provoking and easy to
use while remaining gimmick free.
Graphic boldness, a luminous surface and a
sense of order define the site. Visitors are presented
with a strong visual message on the opening page
also serves as the positive space of the Web page,
explains Wang.
"There is no harsh visible divider between the
navigation menus and the contents, which makes all
visual elements on each page work together as a
whole," he continues. "So the viewer has an easy and
comfortable browsing experience while navigating
through the site."
Five links are provided, including information
about the organization's 12 board members. The
About Us link consists of the organization's mission
statement, history, purpose and philosophy. The Past
Journals link offers the basic content of the most
recent journals and allows viewers to download previ­ous
issues. Also provided are links to current news
and events, contact information and a resource page
with links to eight different design
categories. An outgrow1h of its printed pages,
DesignAlabama's Web pages offer global dialogue
and a worldwide forum for deSign.
"The Web site will give DesignAlabama the
opportunity to reach a new and possibly younger
audience," Seale explains. "It will also give us the
chance to promote our organization and its ongoing
projects in a more timely and cost efficient way than
we can in print."
Several ingredients are essential when building
a successful Web site, says Wang. These include a
well-organized information hierarchy, user-friendly
interface and navigation system and, of course, an
attractive design style. A balanced combination of
visual deSign and proper technology is vital. The Web
Top: Oneway Studio Web site.
Middle: Wang Design Web site.
Bottom: Auburn University Department of Art Web site.
27 Volume XI, No. II
Historical'i'Perspectives
Back to the Future
Historic Neighborhood Schools
by Karen H. Seale
An American icon
- the small school you could
walk to in a neighborhood
where you knew your
neighbors - is disappearing.
Only 13 percent of alltrzps
to school are made by
walking and bicyclzng today.
Schools that hold the
memories of generations are
disappeaz1ng. Handsome
school buildings
- landmarks that inspire
community pride - are
being discarded for plain,
nondescrzpt boxes thai
resemble factories.
- "\x.t!-!Y JOIl>::-;Y CAN'T \'(It\LK TO
SCl-l(X)L" BY CO.~.'/C·\. '\CE BEAtJ.\!ONT
AND ELIZABETH PrANCE
DesignAlabama 28
Linekauf Elementary School, located in the hemt of a historic Jackson County's Skyline School, which was built from local
Mobile neighborhood, has withstood a centmy of weather, fire and Cumberland Mountain sandstone. With the help of a knowledgeable
threatened demolition to be restored to educational and commu-nity architect, older schools generally can be adapted to meet current stan-service.
Built in 1905, this nationally registered historic Imldmark is rep- dards for safe~', handicap accessibility, computer technology and class-resentative
of brick masonry and detailed woodwork no longer available
in modem constmction. It is as well a symbol of the city's early growth
westward, notes Deveraux Beamis, director of the Mobile Historic
Development Commission.
When the school was slated for demolition due to fire damage and
disrepair, its loving community, with the help of the commission and
Mobile architect Nick Holmes, fought for its preservation. In 1995 work
began to restore Linekauf to its former beauty. This was a project beyond
most historic restorations due to extensive fire damage. Along with
upgrading the fil~ safety systems, replacing the roof and installing ele­vators
to meet American Disabilities Act accessibility reqUirements, parts
of the brick exterior had to be replaced and an interior steel frame
installed for additional support. Today, Linekauf Elementmy stands as a
symbol of neighborhood pride and achievement.
Unfortunately, many of Linekauf's Southem cousins have not been
dealt a Similar fate. Now considered an endanger~d species by both the
Alabama Historical Commission and the National Trust for Historic
Preservation, many historic schools are disappearing from Alabama's
communities. "Schools were once thought of as important civic land­marks,"
reflects Richard Moe, pr~sident of the National Trust. "They
represented community investments that inspired civic pride and partic­ipation
in public life. ),lany of today's newer schools resemble big-box
room requirements.
THE RENOVATION OF AN OLD BUILDING IS COST PROHIBITIVE.
When planned by an architect experienced in rehabilitation tech­niques,
renovations of an existing building will often cost conSiderably
less than construction of a new faCility.
OLDER SCHOOLS DO NOT MEET CURRENT ZONING REQUIREMENTS.
It's often true that the existence of surrounding neighborhoods does
not allow for the acreage necessary for extensive parking lots and play­ing
fields, however, many historic schools have developed agreements
with the adjacent parks and churches to sharB needed space. Studies
have shown that the building of new schools in outlying areas that meet
zoning r~quirBments actually leads to a number of problems including
increased automobile traffic and urban sprawl. In his research of the
subject, Cecil Steward, dean of the College of Architecture at the
University of Nebraska, concluded, "The public school system .. is the
most influential planning entity, either public or private, promoting the
prototypical sprawl pattern of American cities."
Despite these arguments, historic schools like Alpine's Winterboro
High School have remained in active service for many years through
warehouses. Their architecture reflects little pride, and they sometimes continued maintenance and periodic upgrades.
have an expected life span of a mere 30 )Bars." Not every historiC school is a candidate for rehabilitation. However;
Often, misconceptions regarding the renovation of older neighbor- many schools that are in a state of decline can be put back into service
hood schools lead school boards to opt automatically for the construc- with an architect knowledgeable in building rBstoration and a little inge-tion
of new, remotely placed schools over the prBservation of existing nuity. For further information on historic school preservation, you cml
facilities. The most common misconceptions include: refer to the National Trust for Historic Preservation's r~port "Why Johnny
Can't Walk to School: Historic Neighborhood Schools in the Age of
NEWER IS ALWAYS BETTER. Sprawl" and its publication, II Community Guide to Saving Older
With a life expectancy of 100 years or more, many historic schools Schools, a school appraisal gUide to help offiCials evaluate the merits of
ar~ better built than their modern counterparts. In addition, they often renovating older schools, both of which are available from its Web
exhibit local character in their materials and workmanship, like site: w\Vw.nthp.org. Ii
TOP lEFe Damaged by fire. Mobile's
historic Linekauf Elementary was
slated for destruction.
80TTOM lEfT: Linekauf Elementary
after a 1995 renovation by Holmes &
Holmes Architects of Mobile.
TOP RIGHT: Through regular mainte­nance
and upgrades, Winterboro High
School in Alpine, Ala, has remained
in active service more than 80 years.
BOTTOI'], RiGHT: Built of local
Cumberland Mountain Sandstone,
Jackson County's Skyline School was
historically restored in 1999 by Fuqua
Osborn Architects, PC, of Huntsville.
Details+of Interest
A w A R o s
. t1?~({:\"
esign~/J~am'l
"" "\;.'" ""~"1,r(/*"' if
anti highligJ;JS
Top to Bottom:
Childrei1"s Harbor Famil)' Center
/Children"s Research & innovation
Batchelor Childrei<"s Research Irls1itrj/e
Tai!edega Industriai Development Center
Centra! YMCA
Alabama Wildlife Rehab Center Raptor Wing
Maxwell AFB Ambu!atory Hea!!h Care Center
Velerans" Memorial Park
Cherokee Bend Elementary School
Photos W.ff'lBsy of lire
AfabamaAIA
AlA 2001 DESIGN AWARDS
The Alabama Council of the American Institute of Architects in July presented its annual design awards selected by a jury of four
prominent Florida architects. The following seven projects were chosen from among 30 statewide entries:
HONOR AWARD
Giattina Fisher Aycock Architects Inc. of Birmingham
Talledega County Industrial Development Center. Lincoln­Respecting
the densely wooded rural site. the architects utilized
simple materials and forms to integrate the industrial structure
with the natural landscape The building is composed of three
discrete volumes: a linear two-story bar of board-formed con­crete
housing classrooms and offices'. a cubic meeting space
clad in corrugated steel; and a large rectilinear shop of long­span
steel and glass. The building presents a low profile to the
entry side and its full height to the open shop volume which
invites the outside in.
AWARD OF MERIT FOR HISTORIC PRESERVATION AND
ADAPTIVE REUSE
Fuqua Osborn Architects, PC, of Huntsville
Central YMCA. Huntsville - Located within the Twickenham
Historical District. the former YMCA was renovated for law
offices on two floors and tenant space on two other levels. To
preserve the charm of the 1912 structure, historical details were
restored including "craftsman" elements in the lobby. A new
floor inserted in the gym to provide additional office space was
tied in with the original balcony but sensitively set below the sill
height of existing arched windows.
HONORABLE MENTION
Giattina Fisher Aycock Architects Inc. of Birmingham
Children's Harbor Family Center/Children's Research &
Innovation, Birmingham - The design was generated by devel­oping
a typical research lab module then establishing a struc­tural
grid to provide an efficient layout in the multifunctional
building. The configuration of the module also influenced the
building's massing. circulation. public spaces and fenestration.
Building materials link the new to existing structures.
Garikes Wilson Karlsberger of Birmingham
Batchelor Children's Research Institute. University 01 Miami
School 01 Medicine. Miami - The 148.000-square-foot facility
consolidates both clinical and research components in pediatrics
at a major medical school. The $21 million building anchors a
newly created quadrangle of research facilities designed in the
tradition of a university campus. The lower floors housing clinics
are compatible in height and pattern with nearby structures while
the research floors extend above with a vertically expressed
fagade. The design is anchored by a nine-story element which
serves to screen and break down the mass of the bulky building.
"i."h"'~'Jf.r{;~
a wide variety
of events and
resources.
•
Sherlock, Smith & Adams Inc. of Montgomery
Maxwell Air Force Base Ambulatory Health Care Center,
Montgomery-Key emphasis is on design aesthetics, cost-effi­ciencies.
functionality and user convenience in the Mission/
Mediterranean-style center wh ich features buif-colored brick and
punched windows. The interior is organized around a central
atrium spine which provides a degree of clarity. as each potential
destination is visible at the entrance. The ground floor is laid out
in continuous fabric which allows clinic boundaries to be moved
or expanded as needed.
ArchitectureWorks, PC. of Birmingham
Alabama Wildlife Rehabilitation Center Raptor Wing, Pelham -
The Raptor Wing addition to the center housing injured wild ani­mals
located in a renovated iormer restaurant in Oak Mountain
State Park "'delivers visual complexity with economical gestures
in plan.'" The budget-conscious design, based on the idea of a
huge protective wing, places interconnected cages where the
public can view the injured animals from an inside corridor while
the birds are exposed to the natural environment outside.
Also at the awards banquet. members voted for the best architec­tural
work submitted. This year's Member Honor Award went to
Giattina Fisher Aycock Architects Inc. for the Alabama
Veterans' Memor'lal Park in Birmingham New this year is the Top
School in Mountain Brook.
This award recognizes the
architect-designer's ability
to showcase concrete
Block Award presented by the
Alabama Masonry Institute to
Paul B. Krebs & Associates
and Masonry Arts Inc. for the
Cherokee Bend Elementary
masonry in a building project and a masonry contractor's
ability to provide quality installation.
29 Volume XI, No. II
MONTGOMERY ADVERTISING FEDERATION'S ADDYS
The Montgomery Advertising Federation presented its 2000-01 Advertising Addys last February. Auburn's Gafford Compton
Design Group Inc. earned the Best of Show Award for the Auburn University Hotel & Dixon Conference Center ad series. Scott
Compton was the art director. Among the six Addys won by Cunningham Group Inc. of Montgomery was the Special Judges
Award for Design for the Alabama Law Foundation's 2000 Annual Report. Margaret Taylor, art director on that project, also gar­nered
the Art Director of the Year award. LWT Communications LtC of Montgomery won five Addys and Kim & Company
Communications earned one. Copperwing Design, Creative Consultants Inc., LWT/KBK New Media, The Slaton
Agency plus Cunningham Group Inc. and LWT Communications LLC received Citations of Excellence.
Lett: Best of ShOw Award for
Gafford Compmn Design Group
Right: Speciai Judges AV/are
for Design for Cunningham Group
YOUNG ARCHITECTS WIN AWARD IN NATIONAL DESIGN COMPETITION
Ilanny Trotter from Batesville, Miss., Nolanda Bearden from Birmingham, Juan Milhouse from Birmingham and Melissa
Teng from New Orleans won an Award of Merit in a juried competition held in conjunction with the 2001 American Institute of
Architects' (AlA) national convention in Denver The Gresham Smith and Partners Inc. design team, which included starr graph­ic
designer Chad Martin from Montgomery, worked at their own expense and on their own time to develop an entry for the competi­tion.
All of the team members have worked at the Birmingham firm for three years or less.
The competition focused on an urban infill project in Denver's historic Five Points neighborhood and drew entries from allover the
United States. Photographs of the site were supplied along with the competition's rules and guidelines. The team designed four resi­dential
units and a 1,000-square-foot commercial space that serves as a buffer. They accommodated onsite parking by excavating below the
building five feet to provide car space. Each unit has its own balcony facing the street with privacy created by a screen element that
also accents each entrance. Local brick and stucco provide durability and minimized maintenance. The team, which sited deciduous
trees for summer shade and winter heat, also incorporated other elements from Colorados "Build Green Checklist" in their entry.
LOOKING AT BUILDING AND PLACE
"Alabama Architecture," a new book published by the University
of Alabama Press, celebrates the state's diverse architectural
heritage by presenting a wide-ranging view of Alabama's build­ings
and places. Alice Bowsher'S spare engaging text and Lewis
Kennedy's artful photographs present an exhilarating, educa­tional
and aesthetic tour of the state's architectural landscapes
through more than 150 original color images. The book is orga­nized
into chapters exploring the baSic design elements place,
form, space, balance, materials, light, movement, proportion,
context and "delight" Featured are 100 sites encompassing all
regions, periods and scales ranging from a rnedieval keep in the
Lineville water tower to the Mercedes-Benz Visitor Center to the
Gaineswood Mansion. The book can be ordered from the Web
site http//VNIIV.uapress.uaedu/authors/bowshe01.html.
DesignAlabama 30
The design team display­ing
their award-winning
project are (teft to right)
Juan Milhouse, Melissa
Teng, Darmy TroUer.
Notanda Bearden and
Chad Martin.
STATE DESIGN FELLOWSHIPS
The Alabama State Council on the Arts is currently taking appli­cations
for Design Fellowships. The council awards fellowships
of $5,000 or $10,000 to individual artists in the design arts
based on merit of work, career achievement, career potential and
service to the state. This component provides awards to recog­nize
artistic excellence, as weil as professional commitment and
maturity and to contribute to the further development and
advancement of the artist's professional career. Applicants are
encouraged to be as specific as possible about the proposed use
of fellowship funds in order to illustrate the seriousness of their
professional intent The deadline for applications is March 1,
2002. For more information piease contact Randy Shoults,
Community Arts program manager, 334/242-4076 or
ran dy@arts.state.aLus,
YESTERDAY'S TOMORROWS COMING TO
ALABAMA
Yesterday's Tomorrows: Past Visions of the American Future
will tour the state in 2002 as part of the Smithsonian Institution
Traveling Exhibition Service. The exhibit presents an historical
overview of popular expectations and beliefs about the future
from the late 19th century through the late 20th century. Divided
into four sections, the exhibit will explore how the home, the
community and transportation were envisioned in the past and
wi!1 examine predictions for the future found in the media. At
times lighthearted, as with the 1950s living room that can be
cleaned with a garden hose, the exhibit features abundant and
colorful examples of predictions and inventions that went awry.
Focusing on the belief in a technological utopia and progress
based on material means, the exhibit's artifacts will demonstrate
how the predictions of the past shed light on the values and
attitudes of their times.
2002 Alabama Touring Schedule:
March 15 - April 26 - Guntersvilie Museum and Cultural Center,
Guntersviile
May 3 - June 14 - Tuskegee Human and Civil Rights Multicultural
Center, Tuskegee
June 21 - August 2 -Isabel Anderson Comer Museum and Arts
Center, Sylacauga
August 9 - SepL 20 - Clarke County Museum, Grove Hill
Sept 27 - Nov. 8 - Tennessee Valley Art Center, Tuscumbia
Nov. 15 - Dec. 27 - Pioneer Museum ot Alabama, Troy
REPAINT MOBILE PROJECT
The Mobile Historic District Commission through its RePaint
Mobile program has launched a T ri-Centennial neighborhood
revitalization project to spruce up the city's historic districts ior
next year's heritage celebrations. The committee wili choose 16
structures, two from each historic district, and have them painted
in an historically appropriate coior scheme. The colors wil! be
based on preliminary paint analysis to determine the original
color scheme, with final choices dictated by the style and period
of the structure. The owner-occupied structures, to be nominat­ed
by neighborhood organizations, committee members or the
general public, must be of some architectural significance and
be located within one of the city's eight historic districts.
The response from the commercial public has been significant
with several paint company stores committed to providing paint
for 12 of the 16 houses, plus labor to paint one house. In addi­tion,
local general and painting contractors have volunteered
their time and services. As a culmination of the project, all of the
16 structures will be spotlighted on a driving tour of Mobile's
historic district during the 2002 Preservation Week,
AU LANDMARK RENOVATED
0.0. Smith Hail, a classic Flemish-style building on the Auburn
University campus, was renovated recently. AU Facilities
Construction Services supervised the work and KPS Group of
Birmingham served as architect for the renovation. "We tried to
maintain the historical value of the building," says Mike Bel"
senior project manager for Construct'lon Services. The building,
completed in 1908 as the college's first dormitory, was tem­porarily
converted into a hospital in 1918 for students suffering
from the killer swine flu. In 1921 it became a dormitory for
women but was burned in a fire in 1933. The Civilian Works
Administration used the remaining exterior walls and rebuilt the
structure in 1934 from designs by the respected architectural
firm of Warren, Knight and Davis.
"While not a true restoration," Bell said, "we did try and capture
as many of the original elements as possible" The existing cen­tral
staircase was relocated to the side providing more usable
space and allowing for inclusion of an elevator. Doric columns
encased in square boxing were uncovered and restored as was
the original heartpine fiooring in hallways and corridors.
DESIGNALABAMA JOINS NDEC
llesignA',abama has joined the National Design Educat'lon
Coalition (NDEC), an organization whose purpose is to identify,
disseminate and develop strong design education programs that
provide or support K-12 education. Composed of various design
interests across the nation, including a number of universities,
Ihe group's goals include compiling state design education pro­files,
sharing information among existing programs and encour­aging
new program deveiopment through increased access to
information and ideas.
"Design education in Alabama has long been a priority of our
organization, and now we have the chance to impact it on a
national level," comments DesignAlabama Executive Director
Karen Seale "Not only is it important for those students who
pian to go on to careers as architects or urban planners, but
design education teaches all students how to define problems,
gather information, create solutions and evaluate results,"
HABITAT FOR HUMANITY DESIGN
INITIATIVE
This past August, DesignAlabama, Auburn University's COi!ege
of Architecture, Design and Construction and the Alabama
Association of Habitat Affiliates kicked off a collaborative project
to improve the energy efficiency, durability and community com­patibility
of Habitat for Humanify's housing designs in Alabama.
Over the next school year, 20 Auburn students in the college will
be involved in this project which includes a research phase and
a design phase, culminating with the construction of one of Ihe
new prototypes
PLACES IN PERIL 2001 FOCUSES ON ENDANGERED PROPERTIES
The Alabama Preservation Alliance in conjunction with the Alabama Historical Commission present their list of the state's most
endangered historic places for the year 2001:
Main Building, Tallassee Mill Complex, Tallassee - The
centerpiece of one of the premier industrial complexes remaining
from the antebellum South is a massive three-story T -shaped edi­fice
constructed in 1854-55 by Italian stone masons. In June
1999 the building's roof was severely damaged by a thunder­storm,
and it will not be restored tiil the insurance settlement
dispute is resolved. The Talisi Historical Preservation Society,
which has won an award for its efforts to restore the complex, is
completing the rehabilitation of the adjacent 1840s boiler room
building for its meeting place
Frederick House, Opelika - Constructed in 1900 by business­man
James T. Frederick, this handsome Neoclassical Revival
house started out as a one-story residence. It was enlarged to its
present form in 1914 and occupies a prominent place in the
North Opelika Historic District Although not landlocked, the
adjacent Trinity Methodist Church purchased it for expansion
purposes and found a buyer to move it out of town this summer
over protests of the neighborhood association and others.
Expansion of religious institutions within historiC districts is often
an issue in Alabama, but there are notable examples where con­gregations
have responded creatively to growth, while maintain­ing
the character of their neighborhoods.
Thomas Dunn House,
Camden - The woefully
neglected two-story frame
Dunn House stands in con­trast
to the beautifully main­tained
mid-19th century
homes in Camden. The origi­nal
portion was built between
1825-30 by Thomas Dunn as
a two-story log house that
was one room deep (I-house). It was enlarged to a two-room
deep (double pile) Federal-style house probably by Ihe early
1840s. During the lale 19th century, the two-story portico and
several interior details were added and the roofline raised.
Generous heirs recently donated the house, poorly maintained by
a previous owner, to the Wilcox County Historical Sociefy which
will need substantial funds for restoration.
Peerless Saloon, Birmingham - Dating from 1888-89, the
Peerless is one of the oldest commercial buildings remaining
downtown. Constructed by Gilbreath Construction Co and remodeled
around 1920, it features decorative brickwork typical of the Victorian
Period. Vacant tor several years, a 4O-loot portion at the rear was
demolished by the present owner who seeks to raze the remainder
despite attempts by Operation New Birmingham and others to work
for ils rehabilitation. It is structurally sound but deteriorating rapidly.
Leighton Training School, Leighton - With a U-shaped plan
and Colonial Revival stylistic elements, the one-story brick former
Colbert County Training School is a reminder of progressive
African-American educational opportunities before integration.
Completed in 1929 as a Rosenwald school, it served several
Karen Sea[e. executive director oj DesignA!abama. David Hinson. professor of architecture at
Auburn. and Karen McCauley, executive director of the A!abama Associaiion of Habitat Affiliates.
generations of students (including entertainer Percy Sledge)
until closing in 1970. Reopened a year later as the Leighton
Middle School, it closed after the 1993-94 school year and
since then has been badly vandalized.
John Glascock House,
Tuscaloosa - Built in 1844
by Virginia native John
Glascock, this house is one
of three remaining examples
of the Gothic Revival style
and one of only approximately
three dozen antebellum buildings left in Tuscaloosa It features
handsome cutwork and pOinted arch windows, as well as original
interior details. Glascock was a cousin of statesman and presi­dentiai
candidate Henry Clay, who reputedly stayed there on
several occasions. Located in a primarily commercial area,
the house has excellent potential as a rehab tax credit project,
but to date has had no offers.
Hobbs Island/Ditto's Landing, Huntsville - These two adja­cent
historic sites contain archaeological deposits dating back
thousands of years to the ArchaiC Period. Hobb's Island has at
least 16 known sites, including up to six possible burial
mounds. Ditto's Landing was the s'rte of a ferry and trading post
built by trader John Ditto in 1807 and contains eight known
archaeological sites, although neither area has been sufficiently
surveyed. The area, which was associated with the Chickasaw
and Cherokee tribes during the 18th and early 19tr, centuries,
is in danger of development.
Sweetwater Plantation,
Florence - This stately
Federal Period brick home
bears a strong resemblance
to its Virginia antecedents
and features fine interior
woodwork including marble
mantels and silver doorknobs. Construction was begun in 1828
by Gen. John Brahan, a War of 1812 veteran, and completed
after his death by his son-in-law Robert Patton in 1835. Patton
was elected Alabama's governor in December 1865 and served
until removed by military order in July 1867. The house is now
surrounded by a rapidly developing commercial area and is in
need of restoration.
Fort Gaines Dfficers' Quarters, Dauphin Island - These
adjacent identical two-story frame Victorian residences are
former Spanish-American War-era officer's quarters on the edge
of the historic portion of Fort Gaines, a military site whose origins
date to the early 19th century. Unoccupied tor several years, both
are in critical need of maintenance and repairs. Although the
adjacent brick portion of the fort is a cify-owned tourist attraction,
the houses are not included in the current park. Despite the offer
of a land swap, their future is uncertain due to possible expansion
of a recreational vehicle campground for the city
Tumlin Gap Railroad Tunnel and Trestle, Altoona -
Constructed from 1899 to 1903 by the L&N Railroad, the tunnel
and trestle are exceptional early 20th-century examples of
industrial engineering skill. The longest tunnel in Alabama
(1,920 feet) fealures concrete headwalls at each end. The trestle
is 350 feet long and spans approximately 70 to 80 feet high.
Following a grant to convert to a Rails-to-Trails pathway, local
landowners contested, and the court ruled in their favor. The
tunnel owners have partially blocked it to prevent access, which
is also preventing rainwater drainage .•
31 Volume XI, No. Ii
Desl• nAlabama
Volume XI, Issue II
PUBLIC DESIGN AWARENESS AND EDUCATION
DesignAlabama Inc. works to increase awareness and value of the design disciplines
"A doctor can bury
that influence our environment. We believe that the quality of life and
his mistakes, but an
economic growth of this state are enhanced through attention to and
architect can only
investment in good design.
advise his clients
SubURBAN MOVES
to plant vines."
(~ common mistake
- Frank Lloyd Wright (1Jesign is not
people make when
for philosophy -
trying to design
it)s for life. ))
something completely
-/ssey Miyake
foolproof is
to underestimate
the ingenuity of
complete fools. "
Employment Consultants Inc.
NATIONAL
ENDOWMENT
FOR THE ARTS
This publicalion was made possible through funding by the conlribulors lisled above.
For addilional information about DeslgnAlabama, please call (334) 396-5341.
- Doug/as Adams