Design Review Committee disapproves replacement "Sign"
Preserve Jazz Festival announces sabbatical for 2015
Something that seems to escape the minds of many of the people from all sides of the continuing debate about a future use of the former Carraway Hospital complex is the significance of 24th St. It may mean nothing to those who don’t normally find themselves exploring the Magic City during business hours, but it should.
See, 24th Street is one of the few that connects the area near the entertainment complex with points east. Specifically, you can drive 24th Street from the back side of the Carraway property and eventually you’d end up on Montclair Road (formerly U.S. 78) and eventually Crestwood Boulevard (the current U.S. 78). This also means it’s one of the only non-Interstate routes out to The Shops at Grand River (though that’s the topic of another post…).
A city that has a love/hate relationship with highways may not see the immediate impact of this situation. The same cannot be said for a city working to become a 21st century hub for the southeastern United States. If you don’t believe there are folks working towards that end, I’d invite you to check out the progress of the Birmingham International Airport modernization and expansion as well as the continued planning underway for a transportation hub downtown.
It’s a fun view for that split second – the one that you get to enjoy as you reach the crest of the road right after Montclair becomes Country Club (which is before it becomes Pawnee and then Niazuma) as it brings folks into the city of Birmingham. The nighttime approach into the city center has become even more colorful with the recent addition of Children’s Hospital‘s newest building.
The street immediately turns into 26th Street South as you pull alongside Caldwell Park and the Virginia Samford Theatre. The fork in the road ahead has you follow what is now 24th Street South through Southtown and towards points north.
Those who frequent this route have noticed that the Citgo gas station on the southwest corner of 24th Street and 6th Avenue South has recently re-opened, complete with a grocery. Folks who follow the happenings of the city’s Design Review Committee are probably waiting with intense anticipation as WorkPlay finally opens itself out onto 23rd Street with its new patio.
Once you cross the bridge into what’s long been known as the “loft district” you meet an opportunity to convert Jeremy Erdreich‘s architecture firm into anything right now, including perhaps another restaurant to take advantage of the success that’s been enjoyed by the likes of Urban Standard, Rogue Tavern and (already) El Barrio.
As you pass the always full parking lot of the city’s main U.S. Postal Service branch on your east, Fife’s is serving food on your left while the Stonewall Building waits for a proper tenant. The shell of the former Powell School waits too – and it is getting cleaned out in anticipation of its next act.
Phillips Academy sits on your left as you drive through the with Jones Valley Urban Farm just a couple of blocks over to the east. As you come out from under the Interstate you notice the entertainment district and its Westin Hotel centerpiece rising to the west. If you continue up the road you eventually run into the back end of the former Carraway Hospital property (after passing by a pharmacy and medical office that serves the surrounding community).
I’ve written before about the significance of the Carraway property as it relates to I-22 and I-65. The fact that it’s a terminus for one of the few eastern corridors for the region should probably be an even more important argument made. Especially since I didn’t necessarily point out everything that’s currently going on.
Depending on which piece of property you look at, the traffic count for the Montclair portion of the passage ranges from 11,000 to 17,000 a day.
It’s easy to understand why that’s the case, especially when you realize that even when (or if) Trinity makes the move to Highway 280, there will be continued traffic thanks to the folks living in Crestwood South, and folks frequenting businesses in Crestline Village and the area surrounding Eastwood Village.
Those trips are already commonplace, including ones into the city center for work. If people are in the mood to avoid the Interstate to get to the Marketplace, or if one of those proposed $22 million developments get built, the number of cars will no doubt only increase.
The eastern edge of this development was once considered important – the glow of the signs and lights along Crestwood Boulevard as I approached Birmingham from the east for my first visit back in the late 90s was a clear message to all those that questioned the city’s potential.
For the Carraway terminus of this stretch of road, I’m now left wondering what folks driving to and around the entertainment district will see as a result of wanting to do some exploring (read: searching for a parking spot).
Time will tell if others are thinking about this too.
André Natta is the stationmaster for bhamterminal.com.
A Five Points South folly in progress
The battle’s been won (for now). The issue that we’ve got to worry about now is winning the war.
The war in this case is what will happen on the site where the Chick-Fil-A was proposed (that is assuming that a lawsuit doesn’t materialize). It’s been reported recently that a long awaited renovation of the 103-year old Terrace Court apartment building across 20th Street South from the site is set to begin, with as much as $4 million planned to be spent on the project. That should somehow influence what is considered for the site.
The points (courtesy of Elizabeth Barbaree-Tasker’s comments at the meeting) highlighted by Jeremy Erdreich in this blog post recapping the meeting provide another set of criteria for what could potentially be considered on that site.
There are some saying that Panera Bread would be a proper alternative for the proposed Chick-Fil-A location. Any solution that looks at a chain placing a suburban solution on that site is missing what the major point of the battle should have been.
It’s been an issue of preserving the character of the surrounding neighborhood.
While I’m a huge fan of Panera Bread, I look at their suggested arrival in Five Points South on that site as simply providing a nicer visual but not necessarily dealing with the issue at hand.
You will still have a one-story suburban structure with surface parking taking up one quarter of a major intersection in the city’s greater downtown area. The drive-through will not be there, but the traffic from people picking up their take-out lunches will be.
I’ve long held the opinion that we live in a region that could serve as an example of what a New South metropolitan area could do in the first part of the 21st century. This intersection and the surrounding community provides a golden opportunity to demonstrate just what that could look like and how it would function.
Perhaps it would help if the property owner wanted a solution that was more befitting an intersection that sees an average of 38,000 vehicles a day. Despite the community’s desires, a lot will be determined by what he wants to deal with on that site. This currently means that it will most likely be something that’s one story, at least for now.
Joey Kennedy’s hosting a live chat at 1 p.m. on al.com to discuss the issue further, though I’m thinking that people will be willing to accept a wolf in sheep’s clothing rather than actually affect a change in mindset about what Alabama’s largest city truly lives like at its core.
Let me know what you think in the comments section.
André Natta is the stationmaster for bhamterminal.com.
Photo: The Story Teller – Five Point South. stanroth/Flickr
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Posted in Commentary, development
Tagged AL, Alabama, bham, Birmingham, Chick-Fil-A, construction, development, Five Points South, folly, Panera Bread, status