1st Avenue South: Difference between revisions
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*** 2000: The [[Daniel Building]] ([[Compass Bank]] headquarters) | *** 2000: The [[Daniel Building]] ([[Compass Bank]] headquarters) | ||
** South side ([[Block 121]]) | ** South side ([[Block 121]]) | ||
*** former site of [[W. A. Mitchell & Co.]] saloon | |||
*** [[Cityville Block 121]] | *** [[Cityville Block 121]] | ||
* [[Richard Arrington Jr Boulevard South]] intersection/underpass | * [[Richard Arrington Jr Boulevard South]] intersection/underpass |
Revision as of 17:11, 23 March 2014
1st Avenue South (originally called Avenue A) is an east-west avenue in Birmingham running from I-65 in the west to Roebuck in the east. In the downtown area it is just south of Powell Avenue and one block from the Railroad Reservation. As it proceeds eastward it is interrupted by I-20/59 near Gate City and resumes in Woodlawn separated from 1st Avenue North by Division Avenue. It is once again interrupted by I-59 at 82nd Street South in East Lake and then terminates at 87th Street South just shy of Parkway East near the Roebuck Municipal Golf Course
The downtown section of 1st Avenue South is in the early stages of large scale redevelopment. It is slated to become the main frontage for the Railroad Reservation Park between 14th and 18th Streets, and is also experiencing significant redevelopment around the location of the 1st Avenue Cut
1st Avenue Cut
The 1st Avenue Cut is a depressed railroad bed running through the center of 1st Avenue South from 20st Street South to 24th Street South. In the early 1990s a produce stand occupied the 20th Street end of the cut. When Compass Bank purchased the adjoining Daniel Building in 1993, it considered paving over the adjacent areas of the cut.
The cut is part of plans for a linear park connecting the Railroad Reservation Park with Sloss Furnace and beyond. It is also at the center of significant recent redevelopment, including the Corporate Realty Building, Jackson Galleries, the Seaboard Yard townhomes, Golden Construction, Williams-Blackstock Architects, and other new or renovated uses along those four blocks.
The presentation of the City Center Master Plan in 2005 showed the possibility of filling the cut to create a tree-lined boulevard. Some residents, vocally represented by then-City Councilor Elias Hendricks, expressed their view that the cut should be preserved for its interpretive and nostalgic value, but "cleaned up" to make it an asset to the area. The Central City neighborhood sponsored a clean-up day for the cut in June, 2005.
In 2012 the 1st Avenue Cut appeared in the master plans for the Red Rock Ridge and Valley Trail System. Later that year the Rotary Club of Birmingham sought to partner with the city, the Freshwater Land Trust, Operation New Birmingham and the Railroad Park Foundation to reclaim the cut as part of a pedestrian and cycling greenway connecting Railroad Park with Sloss Furnaces. Rotary officials dubbed the proposal "Line Park". At the same time, students from Auburn University's Master of Landscape Architecture program participated in an Urban Design Studio focusing on how to re-work the cut as a pedestrian corridor.
East of downtown
Moving east from the 24th Street viaduct the street is home to recent construction on the former Seaboard Air Line Railroad yard and spillover from the adjacent "Design District" around Dr Pepper Place in Lakeview. The 24th Street viaduct and Red Mountain Expressway overpass occasionally shelter small groups of homeless persons. The CSX 32nd Street Yard was active on the south side of the street until 2012. Until then it had often provided a staging area for the Ringling Bros & Barnum & Bailey's Circus train.
Red Light District
The area around the western ends of the railyards served as Birmingham's Red Light District in the early 20th century.
According to a 1909 report by Mayor George Ward the policy of "Segregation" had a positive effect:
- "It has reduced the number of unfortunates in our midst over 75 per cent by driving hundreds away. It has reclaimed every other section of the city from suspicion and contamination. It has made it possible for women and children to go and be seen in every other part of the city at all times without fear of being misunderstood or embarassed. It has done more to prevent thievery, debauchery, and murder; more to prevent insidious temptation; more to reduce licentiousness, incipient and chronic, than can ever by known by the public or the authorities. This district should be regulated sternly; treated fairly; kept in the background, and conditions improved from year to year."1.
The best known house in the district was operated by Blanche Bernard who, banned from soliciting at the Terminal Station instead offered gentlemen a free carriage to their hotel. The catch was that even if their hotel was located just down 5th Avenue North, the carriage would always tarry around the Southside Loop to show off the attractions of the Red Light District. The houses were finally razed in the 1930s.
On the relatively isolated stretch between 35th and 41st Streets there is frequent drag racing in the late evenings. Past 41st Street, 1st Avenue peters out into a local-access street.
East end
1st Avenue South re-appears in downtown Woodlawn, with Georgia Road forking away to the south at 58th Street. The street continues underneath I-20 into East Lake and continues through 20 blocks of predominantly residential uses until it is again interrupted by I-59 a few blocks shy of its eastern end at 87th Street.
Notable locations
- For an alphabetical list of locations, see the 1st Avenue South category.
North Titusville
- Residential
- South Elyton Baptist Church
- 1st Street South intersection
- Residential
Central City neighborhood
- 12th Street South intersection (road ends)
- 1200: property formerly owned by Merita bakery
- 1229: Former location of Red Mountain Market
- 13th Street South intersection
- 1300: Flowers Foods baker (former Merita bakery, closed 2012)
- 1301: Wood Wade building (Beer Engineers)
- 14th Street South intersection
- North side
- South side
- 1415: Shoe Factory Skate Slab (former Shoe Corp. warehouse, destroyed by fire in 2006)
- 15th Street South intersection (south only)
- North side
- Railroad Park
- 1500: Former site of EGN warehouse
- South side
- 1501: Southeast Express
- 1531: B & A Warehouse
- North side
- 16th Street South intersection (south only)
- North side
- Railroad Park
- 1600: former location of SYSCO Food Services warehouse
- North side
- 17th Street South intersection (south only)
- North side
- Railroad Park
- South side
- 1799: Standard at Midtown proposed condominium building
- North side
- 18th Street South intersection
- North side (Block 113C)
- Birmingham Parking Authority Lot D (1975–present)
- South side
- North side (Block 113C)
- 19th Street South intersection
- 1909: former location of The Lighthouse
- 1911: former location of the Wiseola Bottling Company
- 20th Street South intersection (begin 1st Avenue Cut)
- North side
- 2000: The Daniel Building (Compass Bank headquarters)
- South side (Block 121)
- former site of W. A. Mitchell & Co. saloon
- Cityville Block 121
- North side
- Richard Arrington Jr Boulevard South intersection/underpass
- South side
- 2127: Ramwood Furniture
- 2129: Brad Morton studio and residence (former Seaboard Saloon)
- South side
- 22nd Street South intersection
- 2204: Williams-Blackstock Architects (former V & W Supply Company building)
- 2212: Golden & Associates
- 2214: Golden Construction
- 2226: Pullman Flats
- 2229: Davidson Design Group
- 23rd Street South intersection (south only)
- 24th Street South underpass (end 1st Avenue Cut)
- 2409: former branch office of Ballard & Ballard millers
- 2417: First Avenue Rocks
- 2420: Thomas Steel Products
- 25th Street South intersection (south only)
- Elton B. Stephens Expressway underpass
- 2701: Goodwyn Mills and Cawood
- 2801-3199: CSX 32nd Street Yard
- 2726: Alabama Ballet
- 2800: Seaboard Yard townhomes
- 2900: The Lamb Firm
- 2920: Cohen Carnaggio Reynolds
Avondale
- 35th Street South underpass
- Old Car Heaven
- 3607: Former location of Cave 9
- 4240: Bagby Elevator Company
- 4901: Alabama Taxi Rentals
Woodlawn
- 5500: Smiles for Keeps
- 5528: City Arts Boutique
- 5612: former location of Frostop drive-in
- 5701: Faush Metropolitan Manor
- 5704: Interfaith Hospitality House (1983-2009)
- 5720: Christ Health Center
- 5916: Interfaith Hospitality House (2009-present)
East Lake community
- 6400: Colonial RV Center
- 6460: Martin Animal Hospital
- 6461: Market Services of Alabama
- 7110: East End Memorial Hospital
- 7753: East Lake United Methodist Church
Notes
- (Ward - 1909)
References
- Coman, Victoria L. (April 27, 2005) "Central City looks for help to tidy up old railroad cut." The Birmingham News
- "Williams-Blackstock first new kid on the block." (March 5, 2004) Birmingham Business Journal
- Voyles, Jerry. "Alabama Rail History" - accessed June 26, 2006
- Ward, George B. (May 1, 1909) "How Birmingham Has Grown in Past Four Years." Birmingham Ledger. Reprinted in "Geo. Ward Made a Business Mayor. Geo. Ward Will Make a Business Sheriff. Help Him Win" (1910) Birmingham. Roberts & Son, Printers. - accessed via the Birmingham Public Library Digital Collections
- Spencer, Thomas (July 4, 2012) "Rotary Club of Birmingham exploring greenway linking Railroad Park and Sloss Furnaces." The Birmingham News
External links
- Photographs tagged "1staves" in the Magic City Flickr Group.
- Urban Design Associates. (2005) Birmingham City Center Master Plan Update (PDF)