Exploring Montgomery

The storytelling continues… a collection of stories and photos from Exploring Montgomery!

Monthly Archives: February 2016

Toxic Cleanup Clipping — Evil Dirt Once Again Just when we had almost completed out drawings for the park, the specter of the toxic plume arose again. You must remember that this abomination from below had previously cropped up under the Tower’s chiller plant, and the chiller building occupied the west end of this […]

RSA Pavilion – Dirt Problems

February 21, 2016 in RSA tagged dirt / flume / pavilion / problems / rsa / toxic

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

February 21, 2016 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

February 21, 2016 in RSA tagged eras / pavilion / rsa / seven

Seven Flags — This was a fairly routine aspect of our history concept for the park. I solicited help from Ann Tidmore, Montgomery’s flag lady extraordinaire for the past 35 years, to assist with the research. In no time we came up with an “official” list of flags which had flown over our […]

RSA Pavilion – Seven Flags

February 21, 2016 in RSA tagged flags / pavilion / rsa / seven

Tablet Design and Brainstorm — Dr. Bronner now acts like he thought up the park for the “six unsung heroes”, but that is not quite the truth. The six-honoree concept came very late in the process and, as you already know, only after a number of other approaches were considered and discarded. After much struggle […]

RSA Pavilion – Six Honorees

February 21, 2016 in RSA tagged honorees / pavilion / rsa / six

Joel Dickerson — Now let’s back up a moment. A week or two after the final honoree concept was agreed on, at a time when I had given the actual selections only minimal thought, the park was announced to the press by the Retirement Systems. The press, including the Advertiser in particular, jumped […]

RSA Pavilion – The History Buffs Attack

February 21, 2016 in RSA tagged attacks / history / pavilion / rsa

Don Juan Mast — While we were still agonizing over a suitable theme for our pavilion structure, Dr. Bronner mentioned our struggle to his history-buff buddy, retired General Will Hill Tankersley. Will Hill declared that the park should feature the 75-foot-tall main mast of the Spanish man-of-war, Don Juan de Austria, salvaged from that […]

RSA Pavilion – Will Hill and the Ship’s Mast

February 21, 2016 in RSA tagged mast / pavilion / rsa

Brown Paper Blowups — The process by which our seven era-tablets were to be conceived and produced was a fairly complex one. I was to give Larry, the artist and sculptor, a general description of each era together with a list of possible subjects which might be included. Larry was to supply additional historical […]

RSA Pavilion – The Panel Process

February 21, 2016 in RSA tagged panel / panels / pavilion / rsa

Pavilion Concept Drawing — For weeks after our maintenance building project was canceled, we all speculated about the fate of the east end of the C-shaped parcel. Some of us suggested to Bronner that it be utilized as additional parking space to support the Tower, but he would have none of that. He wanted […]

RSA Pavilion – The Concept

February 21, 2016 in RSA tagged concept / park / pavilion / rsa

RSA Plaza Sreet Lights — Midway through the Plaza construction, Dr. Bronner realized his new buildings would not be set off properly unless the surrounding ugly overhead wires and creosote wood utility poles were removed. New sidewalks, street curbs, and asphalt overlay were already in the works along all facing streets, but these wires and […]

RSA Plaza – Traffic Signals and Street Lights

February 21, 2016 in RSA tagged lights / peril and intrigue / plaza / rsa / traffic

RSA Plaza Block Demolition Clipping — It seemed that each of the separate phases of design and construction brought its own bit of intrigue. 2WR’s demolition package, mentioned above, was to start around January 1, 1989, but two days before the preceding Christmas, the Alabama Trial Lawyers Association (ATLA) secured a restraining order against David Bronner […]

RSA Plaza – The Trial Lawyers

February 21, 2016 in RSA tagged lawyers / peril and intrigue / plaza / rsa / trial

RSA Plaza Interior — The clash with Governor Hunt delayed the tenant process until we almost lost the the fantastic unit prices included in the contract with which to complete the office spaces. The contractor’s bid had included very favorable terms under which the tenant fitout work could be done, but there was a […]

RSA Plaza – The Tenants

February 21, 2016 in RSA tagged peril and intrigue / plaza / rsa / tenants

RSA Plaza Night — The Retirement Systems of Alabama’s (RSA) rather timid first step toward their $200 million office building/urban renewal venture into downtown Montgomery began early in 1988 when Dr. Bronner called us in to say that he had acquired two small residential size lots facing Adams Street and located immediately behind his […]

RSA Plaza – The OB Doctors

February 21, 2016 in RSA tagged deck / parking / peril and intrigue / plaza doctors / rsa

Plaza Fiber Repaired — Most construction jobs cause some sort of utility disruption, but the Plaza work reached a high mark. The Plaza’s utility disaster happened during the excavation/pile foundation phase, when Upchurch was contractor. Upchurch had hired as clearing and earthwork subcontractor one Sonny Wadsworth, who is a proverbial loose cannon. Sonny liked […]

RSA Plaza – The Fiber Optic Cable

February 21, 2016 in RSA tagged bell / cable / fiber / optic / peril and intrigue / plaza / rsa

Drop Off Curb — As might be expected, the RSA Plaza and the ACC grandeur made the original RSA office building appear rather drab by comparison. As a result, Dr. Bronner had us upgrading the original building even before the last hammer fell at the Plaza. We told Dr. Bronner that a significant problem […]

RSA Plaza – The Drop-Off Curb

February 21, 2016 in RSA tagged curb / drop / off / peril and intrigue / plaza / rsa

Tavern on the Green — As it turned out, the RSA Plaza building was six stories plus a basement, and enclosed some l50,000 square feet of floor area. Bronner decreed a fast food restaurant on the main floor and a suave “greenhouse glass” banquet type facility on the penthouse level. The latter was to be […]

RSA Plaza – The Concept

February 21, 2016 in RSA tagged concept / peril and intrigue / plaza / rsa / tavern on the green

Plaza Turf War — Early in l989 word had gotten out that the RSA was about to construct some 450,000 square feet of office space in the capitol complex. That space, added to the 700,000 square feet in the just completed “Missing Persons” Building, would impact the Aronov and Lowder real estate empires, which […]

RSA Plaza – The Aronov Attack

February 21, 2016 in RSA tagged aronov / attack / peril and intrigue / plaza / rsa / turf / wsfa

RSA Plaza Color Rendering — The State Building Commission approved our preliminary scheme on January 26, 1989. Our relationship with that agency had gone surprisingly smooth considering the Building Commission’s prior relationship with the RSA. Two months earlier, acting on instructions from Bronner, I had called on newly appointed “BC” Director Bob Crumpton (whom I […]

RSA Plaza – The Building Commission

February 21, 2016 in RSA tagged building / commission / peril and intrigue / plaza / rsa

Emory Folmar — Even before the Plaza work began, there was this feeling that Dr. Bronner and Mayor Emory Folmar did not get along very well. They were like two boy dogs in the same yard. Bronner continuously complained in print and in speeches that the city downtown appeared dirty, rundown and overgrown […]

RSA Plaza – Struggle With The City

February 21, 2016 in RSA tagged city / peril and intrigue / plaza / rsa / struggle

RSA Plaza Drain Below — As noted previously, the Plaza design included an elaborate landscaped roof deck opening from the glass enclosed restaurant on the 6th floor. It offered a splendid view of the State Capitol and the remainder of the Capitol Complex. We designed the roof patio area with 2-foot square granite pavers […]

RSA Plaza – Roof Drains Below

February 21, 2016 in RSA tagged below / drains / peril and intrigue / plaza / roof / rsa

RSA Plaza Deck — The Plaza parking deck was a 2WR project, but it did impact the PH&J Plaza work. Besides the terrible complexity of the junctures of the floor levels on every floor, there was the matter of the green roof. We had cautioned 2WR to spec a custom green color for their […]

RSA Plaza – Parking Deck

February 21, 2016 in RSA tagged deck / parking / peril and intrigue / plaza / rsa

RSA Parking Deck — Planning proceeded with all haste. The Plaza parking deck (a 415 car deck, the one that started all this) would bid first, and the other three structures were to be bid slightly later in a single $50 million package. Ever the financial wizard, Bronner demanded that all this work be […]

RSA Plaza – Chronology

February 21, 2016 in RSA tagged chronology / peril and intrigue / plaza / rsa

RSA Plaza — Completed in 1990. The smallest and the first of the Retirement Systems rental office endeavors, but the one over which most of the wars were fought. Given how much RSA investments have improved our downtown, it’s hard to believe that this one was vigorously opposed by the Mayor, the Governor, […]

RSA Plaza

February 21, 2016 in RSA tagged peril and intrigue / plaza / rsa

Elevator Clip Art — As the prospect of $100 Million in office building construction pervaded the elevator industry, all the major manufacturers began to scramble to be sure their product would be considered. Certainly the RSA Union and Tower together would be the most significant elevator work in Alabama for 1993. I had been […]

RSA Union – The Elevator Ride

February 21, 2016 in RSA tagged elevator / ride / rsa / union

Brice — The low bidder on the RSA Union contract was Brice Construction Company of Birmingham, and I reiterate that they did an outstanding job. The workmanship was excellent, the work was well coordinated, and no serious accident occurred. Ron Blount, the owner’s representative, tended to disagree, and I spent a good […]

RSA Union – The Contractor Stands Tall

February 21, 2016 in RSA tagged brice / contractor / rsa / union

RSA Union and Deck — By almost any standard, the RSA Union was a huge building. It was to be nine stories high (plus basement), with floor plates of 40,000 square feet. That produces a building of 400,000 square feet of floor area. It was 25-percent larger than the ACC, which previously was the largest […]

RSA Union – The Concept

February 21, 2016 in RSA tagged concept / rsa / union

Steve Timms — As noted in the outset of this section, 1992-93 was a depression era in the construction industry, and bids on The RSA Union office building and parking deck were taken on January 21, 1993, slap-dab in the middle of the economic recession that Bronner had predicted. We received nine proposals, […]

RSA Union – Remarkable Bids

February 21, 2016 in RSA tagged bids / remarkable / rsa / union