Tag Archives: downtown

You are still Beautiful, Birmingham

Posted on November 16, 2010 | 1 comment

You Are Beautiful, too. acnatta/FlickrOne of the newest pieces of graffiti in Birmingham, AL is located directly across the street from Railroad Park in downtown Birmingham, AL. It is the second major location of the phrase “You Are Beautiful” in the city in recent weeks; the first was placed on the Highland Avenue bridge located over the Elton B. Stephens Expressway on the city’s Southside.

When The Birmingham News first reported about the graffiti in October, it was suggested that it may be part of the Operation Beautiful movement. Other sites have pointed out that it is more likely part of the movement explained and chronicled on you-are-beautiful.com.

No matter what the reason, it’s one good reason to get together on Twitter for a #bhamchat conversation tonight. We’ll be getting started at 7 p.m. CT. There will also be an interesting take posted over on Dear Birmingham tomorrow morning.

Photo: You Are Beautiful, too. acnatta/Flickr

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Posted in The City

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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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A look inside The Pizitz Building

Posted on May 24, 2010 | 10 comments

Pizitz Building Interior. The Heaviest CornerThe folks over at The Heaviest Corner were able to get inside of The Pizitz Building recently and take a look at how the historic structure currently looks (they aren’t sharing exactly how they got in however). They’d already written about the building earlier this year (February).

They were also able to take some photos of the proposed plans for the building’s renovation.

Plans were for the 1923 building were announced building back in January via The Birmingham News after several attempts to redevelop the building (including this one from 2003).

The developer, Bayer Properties, has created a page for the project, scheduled for completion in 2010, on its official website. Both law firm Baker Donelson and Forest Park grocer V. Richards have announced their intention to move into the building once the project is completed.

Photo: courtesy of The Heaviest Corner post.

UPDATE: These have not been the only photos taken of the Pizitz in recent months. A comment received on the site last night included a link to Naaman Fletcher’s Flickr photoset taken over two years. FYI – the comment was deleted because it violated The Terminal’s terms of use policy.

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Posted in architecture

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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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Bell to hold open meeting for young professionals

Posted on February 2, 2010 | Comments Off on Bell to hold open meeting for young professionals

Birmingham, Alabama logoBirmingham mayor William Bell has announced – via the city’s Twitter account – that he will be holding a meeting with young professionals at Urban Standard on Thursday at 12 p.m. According to the follow-up tweet posted by the city’s public information office, the hope is that those in attendance will be willing to “share your ideas, concerns and vision for the future for Birmingham.”

We’re just happy for the folks at the popular lunchtime spot as they’ll be packed on Thursday with both young professionals interested in sharing what they want for the city showing up and the regular crowd. It will be the second public meeting held by the mayor announced via Twitter since being sworn in last Tuesday.

Logo: City of Birmingham

UPDATE: We figured we’d ask you to share what you’d suggest or talk to Mayor Bell about over on Magic City Question.

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Posted in 35203, The City, yp

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2nd Avenue North gets new Charm

Posted on September 1, 2009 | 1 comment

Folks who’ve lived in Birmingham for a long time may remember Jinx in Birmingham’s Five Points South commercial district. Its ecclectic atmosphere made it one of the shopping district’s most popular stores.

charmon2ndWell its owner, Chatham Hellmers, has decided to open a store in one of the city’s trendiest new spots – 2nd Avenue North between 23rd and 24th Streets downtown (2329 2nd Avenue North to be exact). The new venture, called Charm (here’s the fan page on Facebook), opened this morning. She’s hoping that some of you will stop by this evening for a minute to say hello and to check out the charms and other pieces available for purchase. There may also be a finger food or two and maybe even a keg. Its supposed to be going on for a while…

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Posted in Business

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