Daily Archives: February 21, 2016

Monroe St Phase
As Dr. Bronner outlined it early in 1992, the Monroe Street segment would consist of seven structures.  Two major office buildings, three large parking decks, a child care center and an outlet mall.  Three architectural firms would be included in the action–PH&J would design the two office buildings and the […]

RSA Union – The Monroe Street Phase

 in RSA  tagged monroe / rsa / union
RSA Clipping
For at least a half-century, the lower end of Monroe Street had been the downtown domain of the black community.  Located there were the stores which catered to a black trade, their own movie theater, barber shops, etc.  Monroe Street was not a good address. When word went out that […]

RSA Union – What’s In A Name

 in RSA  tagged name / rsa / union
Rice Semple House
To assuage the Acting State Finance Director, Jimmy Rowell, Bronner agreed to build a stand-alone multistory parking deck just behind the Lurleen Wallace State Office Building and near the State Capitol.  In turn the Finance Director agreed that the State would vacate its gravel parking lots on the block which […]

RSA Union – The Tar Baby

 in RSA  tagged rice / rsa / semple / tar / union
Park and Tower
January 6, 2000, turned out to be a warm sunny day.  Almost 300 people attended the celebration.  The descendant families of five of the six honorees were present and basked in the glory being heaped on their ancestor.  All three television stations had crews there and favorably reported on the […]

RSA Pavilion – Dedication Day

 in RSA  tagged dedication / pavilion / rsa
Mayor Bright
Six weeks before the dedication Montgomery elected itself a new mayor.  In a startling upset, unassuming and inept attorney Bobby Bright bested incumbent Emory Folmar in a spirited run-off.  My personal ogre was gone.  Our city was heading down a new path, and all the RSA’s and my relationships with […]

RSA Pavilion – A New Mayor

 in RSA  tagged mayor / pavilion / rsa
Brown Paper Plantation Owner
As noted earlier, during the conceptual process, I constantly struggled with Larry over the political correctness of the history panels that he was creating.  It seems strange for someone born and raised in the East Alabama Black Belt, but apparently Larry had this compulsion to ennoble the Indians, to aggrandize […]

RSA Pavilion – Larry’s Prejudice

 in RSA  tagged pavilion / prejudice / rsa
Mary Ann Neeley
Now let’s forget all that ugly stuff and get back to park planning and research.  Establishing the seven historic eras was not all that difficult, nor was thinking up the important events that might be depicted for each era.  I started with the profound reference volume, “Know Alabama”, and quickly […]

RSA Pavilion – Seven Eras

 in RSA  tagged eras / pavilion / rsa / seven