Tag Archives: 35203

Pay for the paper at the box with a credit card

Posted on June 28, 2011 | Leave a comment

New Birmingham News boxes downtown. acnatta/FlickrFolks who pick up their copies of The Birmingham News from one of the newspaper boxes in front their headquarters don’t have to necessarily have change anymore.

At least three of the boxes located at the corner of 20th Street and 4th Avenue North now accept credit cards.

It’s not necessarily a new concept; the folks at AdAge wrote about the expanding trend last summer pointing out that USA Today had devices on boxes in airports for several years. The Wall Street Journal, New York Times and Chicago Tribune are other publications that have tried them. They’ve even been tried out in Juneau, AK.

We’re still hoping for a digital newsstand someday though…

Photo: New Birmingham News boxes downtown. acnatta/Flickr

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Posted in Media

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Plan to save Birmingham’s Powell School on the table today

Posted on May 23, 2011 | Leave a comment

Powell School post fire. acnatta/FlickrSince we’ve already mentioned The Birmingham News earlier, today a story was posted to their website talking about a possible plan in place to save the historic Powell School building in downtown Birmingham from the wrecking ball.

According to the piece, the proposal currently on the table for consideration by the City Council’s Budget and Finance Committee this afternoon would give the city’s oldest school building to the Alabama Trust for Historic Preservation. The city would give them up to six months to secure a developer and stabilize the structure or else the building would be demolished.

Sam Frazier is presenting the proposal on behalf of the Trust and he’s got personal experience in saving historic structures. He serves as chairman of Birmingham’s Design Review Committee, the National Trust for Historic Preservation advisor from Alabama and a member of the Alabama Trust’s board.

Needless to say that many people in the city are hopeful that the building can be saved, especially when you see how many blog posts and photos exist across the web sharing that sentiment. This list includes the front page of the Alabama Trust’s Spring 2011 newsletter. The school was named for the first president of the Elyton Land Company, the real estate company responsible for the city’s existence.

Photo: Powell School post fire. acnatta/Flickr

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Posted in architecture

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Art Connection is on, some artists donating proceeds

Posted on April 28, 2011 | Leave a comment

MCAC 2011 posterWe’ve received several phone calls about whether or not the ONB Magic City Art Connection will take place this weekend. According to their fan page on Facebook, not only is the event still taking place this weekend, but several of the participating artists plan on donating portions of their proceeds to area charities helping those affected by the tornadoes.

Two charities that have been mentioned specifically on the page are the Birmingham-Jefferson American Red Cross chapter and the Craft Emergency Relief Fund.

If you’re an artist and plan on donating proceeds from sales this weekend, we’d love to create a list via our comments section.

Crawfish Boil on as well

Another major event taking place in downtown Birmingham this weekend is the Schaeffer Eye Center Crawfish Boil, taking place adjacent to the BJCC complex. They’ve announced that donation barrels will be located throughout the festival site.

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Posted in alwx, Art

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A place to Mix it up downtown

Posted on December 14, 2010 | 3 comments

Mix Restaurant sign. acnatta/FlickrFolks in Birmingham’s central business district will soon have a new place to visit for sandwiches, sweets and drinks before they spend the evening enjoying a show. It appears that Mix will be joining the mix in the very near future.

The ground floor space at the corner of 19th Street and 4th Avenue North has been vacant since August 2006 when Restaurant G decided to move into The Tutwiler Hotel and become Icon. This is the latest venture by Chris DuPont, owner of Café DuPont (located just a few blocks over on 20th Street between 1st and 2nd Avenues North.

Well, folks that have driven by the space in One Federal Place in recent weeks have noticed new furniture and equipment recently moved in to the space. Today, while passing by, people would have seen a new sign (pictured above)  just days after new dark red awnings replaced the black ones that shaded its windows. The sign tells us all that we currently know about the new space – that it will serve sweets, sandwiches and drinks – though we’ve also heard that you shouldn’t be surprised to see some interesting stuff on the walls once it opens…

Photo: Mix Restaurant sign. acnatta/Flickr

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Posted in food

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Operation New Birmingham changes food truck stance

Posted on August 20, 2010 | 1 comment

Spoonfed Grill. Courtesy of Operation New BirminghamEarlier today Operation New Birmingham sent out a tweet that referred followers to the front page of its website. There, it posted the following statement about the issue of food trucks in the city, most recently represented by the situation involving the Spoonfed Grill:

“ONB President Michael Calvert has advised Mr. Jason Parkman, the owner of the Spoonfed Grill, that ONB no longer opposes food trucks in downtown. Comments from Mr. Parkman’s customers and supporters and subsequent conversations with several downtown restaurant owners indicate that food trucks do indeed contribute to the choices available to people working downtown and add to the urban experience for visitors. Calvert has apologized to Mr. Parkman and acknowledged that he made a mistake.

Current City ordinances do not permit food trucks or other private vendors to do business in a public right of way such as the loading zone in front of the Wachovia Building. ONB has pledged to be supportive of Mr. Parkman in his efforts to have ordinances modified to allow properly licensed food trucks to operate in the public right of way.”

Photo: Spoonfed Grill. Courtesy of Operation New Birmingham

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Posted in Business, The City

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What is the future of coworking in Birmingham?

Posted on March 9, 2010 | 1 comment

Shift Workspace Bob Farley/f8PhotoThe hope for the meeting taking place this evening at Shift Workspace starting at 6 p.m. is to answer the question of if there is a future for coworking in Birmingham, AL. The collaborative space opened to much fanfare (and media coverage) last May. We’ve maintained a desk in the space for several months and are considered an anchor tenant, originally hoping to use it for a series of conversations about issues affecting the city.

This January however, a post on the site quietly announced an initial decision to downsize and move the concept of the space to Austin, TX. A recent article in the Birmingham Business Journal revealed that the location would most likely close when its lease is up, though some of the members are trying to see if they will be able to keep the idea alive (whether it be there or elsewhere in the city), hence why they’re meeting tonight.

The hope is to see if the city’s tech and creative communities want a space and, if so, what’s needed to make it useful for them. Come on out and share your thoughts.

Photo: Bob Farley/f8Photo

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Posted in technology, The Terminal

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Travelogue: Not quite abandoned yet

Posted on February 23, 2010 | Leave a comment

A look up into the Lyric Theater. acnatta/FlickrJJ MacCrimmon is a photographer out of Huntsville, AL who recently posted these images of the historic Lyric Theater on his blog Orbits of a deluded mind. He’s promised to share additional photos from his trip this past July soon.

The upper floors of the building that housed the theater has been vacant for many years now, but as many of you may know (and as JJ points out in his first post of photos back in December) there are many people working to restore the property and have it see use again as a performance venue for Birmingham, AL. The Lyric is currently owned by Birmingham Landmarks, Inc., the organization that currently operates The Alabama Theatre. Folks looking for additional information about the theater can check out this entry on BhamWiki or this post from Cinema Treasures.

Folks looking to find out how they can help with the theater’s renovation efforts should check out the official Lyric Theater website.

Photo: A look up into the Lyric Theater. acnatta/Flickr

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Posted in Travelogue

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