Tag Archives: downtown

A new lot for food trucks in downtown Birmingham

Posted on May 20, 2013 | Leave a comment

bhamfoodtrucklotThose watching and waiting for progress on the city of Birmingham’s food truck ordinance will no doubt be happy with what they see happening at 211 Richard Arrington, Jr., Blvd. between 2nd and 3rd Avenues North. It also means there are a few more options for lunch in this portion of the city’s central business district.

It appears as though a long-term use has been identified for the vacant lot Barber Companies has had available since September 2009. The property was being considered to be the home of the Trim Tab Brewing Company before they chose to locate in the former home of the Barber Motorsports Museum in Lakeview.

Cantina sent out the following tweet on Monday morning:

Gravel has been placed in the lot, with an image shared by the Birmingham Business Alliance via Twitter on May 16 showing a large crowd and the Melt and Dreamcakes food trucks in place on the lot. Based on the two tweets and the food truck community’s busy weekend, the site has most likely been in use for less than a week so far.

It looks like things will continue to stay busy for the Greater Birmingham Food Truck Coalition in the coming weeks; a search of their website shows they currently have plans to hold their second rally catty-corner from WorkPlay on June 9 (the property is primarily a paved lot). The event listing shows tickets costing $10 in advance. They are also still trying to make sure folks are aware of the organization’s alternative proposed suggestions for the ordinance.

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A new parking location for the VA patients and visitors

Posted on November 1, 2012 | Leave a comment

New veterans parkingFolks driving into downtown Birmingham along 22nd Street this morning probably noticed a new blue sign or two looking at them as they approached 5th Avenue N. They may have also noticed a lot of folks standing at the corner of 22nd St. and 4th Avenue N., catty-corner from the home of The Birmingham News and AL.com.

Once you saw the buses pulling up – and did a little digging online – it all started to make sense. As of today, all veterans and visitors utilizing the Birmingham, AL Veterans Medical Center located at 700 19th St. South will need to park on the city’s north side and take shuttles to the facility. There is no cost for them to park in the deck according the VA’s website.

As Mike Tomberlin reported in The News back in January, the VA needed to secure new parking options to replace the 799 spaces they leased from Children’s of Alabama. Their new facility – the Benjamin Russell Hospital for Children – opened in early August, necessitating the access to the spaces itself.

The VA’s current solution, the Birmingham Parking Authority’s Parking Deck #4, was built in 1984 and contains 673 spaces. According to a response to a question on the medical center’s Facebook page, the move is a temporary one “until the VA builds its clinical annex.”

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Posted in Health

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Filming of “42” set to close some downtown streets next week

Posted on May 9, 2012 | Leave a comment

Jackie Robinson's 42 at Citi Field June 10, 2009. David Berkowitz/Flickr.The filming of the Jackie Robinson biopic “42” will be taking over some of downtown Birmingham’s streets next week. The closures will serve as bookends for the crew’s stay – it’s been previously reported that they’ll be filming next week at historic Rickwood Field. Incidentally, there’s still a chance to sign up to watch filming at the ballpark as well as a chance to be an extra.

We’ve been trying to make some sense of the maps that we’ve been forwarded to us. Birmingham Police will be on hand to direct both vehicular and pedestrian traffic. You never know what could happen if fans of Chadwick Boseman (portraying Robinson) and Harrison Ford (portraying Dodgers GM Branch Rickey) even think they’ve caught a glimpse of them…

The closures will begin this coming Sunday, May 13 (PDF of closure map) in the area surrounding the Tutwiler Hotel. Park Place will be closed between Short 20th St. N. (the portion that runs directly in front of City Hall) and Richard Arrington, Jr. Blvd. N. It will also be closed on Monday, May 14 – along with one parking lane and one traffic lane along Arrington between Park Place and 6th Ave. N. Their goal is to reopen the area to traffic by 9 p.m. on May 15.

Next Friday, May 18, 3rd Ave. N. (PDF of closure map) will be closed from 17th Street N to Richard Arrington, Jr. Blvd. N. will reopen to traffic early Saturday morning (May 19). There may also be a section of 17th St. N. closed between 3rd & 4th Ave. N. at sometime on May 18 reopening the following morning. They’ll be towing cars too, so don’t park where you’re not supposed to be.

Photo: Jackie Robinson’s 42 at Citi Field June 10, 2009. David Berkowitz/Flickr.

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Posted in 35203, Movies

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Next steps to save Powell School underway

Posted on February 1, 2012 | Leave a comment

Powell School debris cleanupFolks driving into downtown Birmingham, AL the morning of February 1 may have noticed a dumpster sitting out in front of the historic Powell School Building along 6th Avenue North. It’s OK if the rain might have kept you from noticing…

It appears that workers from One Stop Environmental have begun to remove debris from the city’s oldest school a little more than a year after a devastating fire did significant damage to it. The property was donated to the Alabama Trust for Historic Preservation along with $500,000 back in October. The building had been named to the organization’s 2011 list of Places in Peril in May. The city’s requested that $150,000 be reserved to cover the cost of demolition in the event that a developer is not located that views the project as feasible.

According to the request for proposals retrieved from Operation New Birmingham’s website, submissions were due on January 9. A story published in The Birmingham News during the holidays suggests that the stabilization project is on schedule enabling potential developers to access the property for review in March. It was also reported that work was underway to design a roof to protect the remaining structure from any more damage due to weather.

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No more digging for change while visiting the courthouse

Posted on January 5, 2012 | Leave a comment

Pay and display meter on Park Place in downtown Birmingham.If the Jefferson County satellite courthouses don’t reopen in the immediate future, odds are when they do they’ll be in different locations.

During a bankruptcy hearing today the Jefferson County Commission was given permission to break the leases on those spaces. The satellite offices have been closed since last April.

As people continue to head downtown to the county courthouse (where long lines may be the norm for some time to come), they may want to be aware of the expansion of the pilot program implemented by the Birmingham Parking Authority last year. During the holidays, additional pay and display meters were installed along the southern edge of Linn Park and in front of the Birmingham Board of Education headquarters.

These join the ones installed directly in front of Birmingham City Hall back in September (as pointed out first by Jeremy Erdreich on his blog Construct Birmingham). They also resemble ones being manufactured and installed throughout our sister city “across the pond.”

The machines take change as well as cash and credit cards. Who knows? Maybe one day you’ll have a pay and display on a block near you.

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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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Building a more livable Birmingham with the AARP

Posted on June 24, 2011 | Leave a comment

Image from Complete Streets FlyerNo, this event is not just open to those current members of the AARP here in Alabama but to those who’ll eventually be among its ranks here in metro Birmingham.

Next week, Dan Burden, a Florida-based, internationally recognized voice on the issue of walkable, livable communities, will be leading sessions in downtown Birmingham (close to Railroad Park) and in Fairfield (where the Regional Planning Commission of Greater Birmingham is spearheading a revitalization of the Bessemer Superhighway) for all residents – young and old alike – to look at how these areas can be made more livable.

The sessions will include letting residents do walking audits of the areas in question and opportunities to influence those responsible for making the necessary changes. The organizers of the event have provided a flyer to share with you (one that suggests that the proposals developed in these sessions will be considered as next steps). It contains information about how to RSVP for the limited spaces available during these full day sessions.

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Posted in Urban Design

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