Category Archives: 35203

The Tutwiler, reborn

Posted on April 27, 2007 | 1 comment

Tutwiler Hotel ribbon cutting

The Tutwiler Hotel celebrated the completion of the majority of its $9 million renovation with the citizens of Birmingham during a ribbon cutting ceremony on Thursday evening. The event marked the completion of upgrades to the interior and exterior public areas and the guest room.s and served as the beginning of a weekend aimed at introducing longtime visitors and the curious to the changes to the former Ridgely Apartments building. The Birmingham Heritage Band will be performing on the Richard Arrington, Jr. Blvd. side of the property this morning beginning at 11:30 a.m. and the property will hold an open house on Saturday, April 28, from 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. (convenient for those attending the Magic City Art Connection in nearby Linn Park). Continue reading →

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Posted in 35203, Alabama, Birmingham, Business, News

DRC member apologizes for News building vote

Posted on April 25, 2007 | 17 comments

During this morning’s Design Review Committee meeting, committee member Cheryl Morgan read a statement into the record of the minutes voicing her regret and concerns about the vote that allows for the demolition of the Birmingham News building. Morgan serves as the director of the Auburn University’s Urban Studio in Birmingham.

The statement asks for all to take part in protecting the assets of the city and suggests that there is some irony with regard to the News’ reporting and its actions with regard to the 1917 structure.

Click through to view a copy of Morgan’s statement in its entirety: Continue reading →

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Posted in 35203, Alabama, Birmingham, Birmingham News, Business, Design Review Committee, News

Metro Bistro goes WiFi (free WiFi)

Posted on April 24, 2007 | 2 comments

Those who visit Metro Bistro beginning this afternoon will notice a”free wifi access” sign in the window. The popular downtown bar/hang out spot has become #333 on Bhamwifi.com‘s ever-growing list of free wireless access points in the metro Birmingham area. The list began in late 2004 with less than 50 locations documented ; it now contains 97 listings for the City of Birmingham alone. The website is a partnership between Internet Professionals Society of Alabama (IPSA)and TechBirmingham.

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Posted in 35203, Alabama, Birmingham, Business, Restaurants/Bars

Mayor, Council agree on new bond deal

Posted on April 24, 2007 | Leave a comment

The mayor and city council (or most of them) appear to have agreed on a new bond deal to pay for several city projects, including fund for the Railroad Reservation Park and the new Wal-Mart on the former Eastwood Mall site. The Birmingham News reports that after more than three hours of negotiations, a proposed $143 million bond deal has been agreed upon, including $79 million in new borrowing. A Digital50.com report states that Fitch Ratings gives the city a AA bond rating, providing a stable outlook. The deal now gets read to the public at this morning’s weekly meeting (probably even as this is being posted). There are still concerns, most notably from Councilor Steven Hoyt, about… minority participation in the deal. Time will tell how the public reacts to the latest list, which includes several items fought for by Councilor Maxine Parker (great news for residents of District 4) that several councilors said must be included in order for the deal to move forward.

So what does Memphis think of Birmingham’s planned entertainment district?

Posted on April 20, 2007 | Leave a comment

The Memphis Flyer earlier this afternoon posted a blurb in their Business Buzz section that linked to our own Birmingham News. The brief discusses an article by News reporter Stan Diel filed earlier this month about Performa Entertainment Real Estate, Inc., the firm that the BJCC is planning to hire to develop an entertainment district with retail adjacent to the existing facility.

Rendering of BJCC entertainment district

The fact that no one has commented on the expose so far can be interpreted a number of ways, but for now it just says that it may just be a non-issue for those in The River City. According to the announcement released by the BJCC in February trumpeting the agreement, both sides are aiming for completion of the project within the next 18-24 months.

If the Flyer had waited for two more days, they could have included a link to the feature story in the current issue of Black & White, discussing some of the local perspectives on the issue. Christina Crowe’s piece assumes that the approval of the project is imminent. We’ll see if we can’t figure out if that’s the case and let you know later today.

AmSouth signs being replaced throughout the city

Posted on April 12, 2007 | Leave a comment

Lost in yesterday’s approval of demolition plans for the former Birmingham News building was the pending formal removal of the AmSouth name from area banks. AmSouth merged with Regions Bank last year and during yesterday’s Design Review Committee meeting, four banking centers that currently carry the AmSouth name received approval for new signage.

The bank locations approved yesterday are located in Ensley, Five Points South, the Birmingham Green (20th Street North) and Midtown (University Boulevard).

According to Steve Looney with Commander Board Signs, the new signs may be installed in as little as six weeks. It’s possibly your last chance to capture a glance at the local bank’s logo before it fades into history.

News building demolition approved

Posted on April 11, 2007 | 4 comments

This morning the owners of the Birmingham News building cleared their last hurdle, allowing for the demolition of the 1917 building to move forward. Birmingham, Alabama’s Design Review Committee voted 5-2-1 to approve changes to the landscaping plan, treatments to the daily newspaper’s production facility facade and reviewed plans to attempt to salvage terra cotta elements of the building prior to demolition.

Architects from Williams Blackstock presented plans to erect a 10 foot screening wall built of brick along the north side of what will become a parking lot for Birmingham News employees. Foster hollies and Boston ivy will be planted along the screen to help serve as a buffer between the new surface lot and the production facility. Plans also call for bronze paint to be used on certain elements of the production facility. The old home for the city’s daily newspaper will be taken down, with the basement level being filled in and the foundation walls being taken down an additional 3 feet to accommodate the installation of the surface lot. Based on statements made during their presentation to the committee in early March, the demolition process should take approximately eleven months.

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Posted in 35203, Alabama, Birmingham, Birmingham News, Design Review Committee, News