About
the Center
The three
partners in the new Center for Regional Planning and Design
envision the Center as a resource and convening place for
people who want to build better communities.
The Auburn
University Center for Architecture and Urban Studies, Region
2020 and the Regional Planning Commission of Greater Birmingham
have formed a partnership to create the Center, which is
housed in a newly renovated historic building in downtown
Birmingham located at 1731 First Ave. N., the former Young
& Vann Supply Co. building.
The
Center is designed to make it easier for people to participate
in all aspects of regional planning and development, community
design and collaboration. Region 2020 offices are on the
first floor, RPC occupies the second floor, and the Auburn
program is on the third floor.
The partnership
makes the resources of the three organizations more accessible
to Central Alabama communities and neighborhoods that are
the focus of their efforts. “The vision is to create
a working environment that is collaborative, and can add
to the quality of the work and make it more cost effective,”
said Larry Watts, executive director of RPC.
Auburn,
RPC and Region 2020 signed a “Memorandum of Agreement”
forming the partnership on August 7, 2003. Signing the MOA
were: Daniel Bennett, dean, Auburn University College of
Architecture, Design, and Construction; Guin Robinson, mayor
of Pell City and chairman of the RPC Executive Committee;
and Elise Penfield, executive director of Leadership Birmingham
and a Region 2020 Executive Committee member.
The Center
is also a site to do planning and design work necessary
to support Region 2020’s goals for building better
places to live, said Ann Florie, Region 2020 executive director.
“It is an excellent example of the cooperation and
leveraging of resources that Region 2020 advocates.”
The space will bring together government entities, civic
groups, neighborhood organizations, businesses and citizens
to develop and coordinate plans and programs to enhance
neighborhoods, towns and cities. Although housed in Birmingham,
the center is being formed and designed in such a way as
to reflect its owners, which include communities, counties
and citizens throughout the Central Alabama region.
“The
Center is a neutral space that belongs to governments and
citizens in the region, Ms. Florie said. “It provides
a meeting space for people to come together to work on regional
issues.”
The Center
opening accomplishes one of the Region 2020 goals set by
the more than 5,000 citizens who participated in creating
a vision for the region, comprised of 12 counties in Central
Alabama.
The three
partners joining forces makes sense. RPC, Region 2020 and
the Auburn Center for Architecture and Urban Studies have
worked closely for years on regional projects.
“We
really do have common goals of improving the quality of
life through good planning and design, and creating good
choices for people doing development or redevelopment,”
said Cheryl Morgan, director of the Auburn Center. “We
know from our work that there is a real interest in the
region in knowing what alternative development options are.’’
Joining
the partners in the space initially are: the Housing Enterprise
of Central Alabama (HECA); Initiative 7, a non-profit Black
Belt community economic development initiative that is the
brainchild of U.S. Rep. Artur Davis; CAWACO Resource Conservation
& Development Council; CommuteSmart Rideshare and Traffic
Safety; and Scenic Alabama.
The Franklin
Setzer Gallery, located on the first floor, provides the
Center, communities, organizations and students a location
to showcase their work. It is intended as a place for communities
to display design drawings, models and show videos about
their projects, and a place for everyone to gather and find
out what’s going on in the region. Another area will
be devoted to work of the partners. The Gallery is named
after the late Franklin Setzer, founder and the first Director
of the Auburn University Center for Architecture and Urban
Studies.
The Center
partners are soliciting funds to expand and support the
center. Plans call for a state-of-the-art regional community
conference center. This would allow people in outlying areas
to participate in meetings via videoconferencing. There
would be a town hall space, small meeting space and interactive
workspace. A regional library and resource center also is
in the plans and is dependent on obtaining additional funds.
The Center
is located in the downtown Entrepreneurial District and
is across the street from the Intermodal Center.
As advocates
of revitalizing downtowns, all three organizations considered
it important to locate the center in a reclaimed historic
building. “It’s walking the talk,” Watts
said. The building was built in the late 1890s as the Alabama
distribution center for Anheuser-Busch Brewing Co. Young
& Vann Supply Co. occupied the building beginning in
about 1910. The building is listed as a contributing structure
in the historic downtown retail and theater district.
“It
has a great history,” said Chris Engel, the Birmingham
architect who handled renovations. “It’s great
that it hasn’t been through 20 owners. Young &
Vann took good care of the building. It still has a lot
of amazing features that we were able to preserve.”
One of
the many unique features is a large steel skylight, which
was designed not for aesthetics, but to bring much needed
light into the warehouse. There is also a floor scale, once
used to weigh freight, which will become part of one of
the tenant spaces.
Sloss
Real Estate Group Inc., well known for renovating
historic city structures, was responsible for the development
of the building, which contains about 30,000 square feet.
Stone Building served as the contractor.
Cathy Crenshaw, President of Sloss, said Birmingham has
a history of strong city planning and excellent historic
buildings. “This building encompasses both, and is
a great addition to our region,” she said.
Places
are created… Places are preserved… Places are
more useable… Quality of life is enhanced and the
region is a better place to live.
