Birmingham National Garage

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The Birmingham National Garage is a 7-story, 400-car parking structure at 1813–1819 1st Avenue North, now part of the Jemison Flats condominium complex and sharing its address of 1827 1st Avenue North. It is 110 feet wide and 182 feet deep, taking up the full depth of Block 108B, with its rear facing Morris Avenue.

The deck was built in 1928, on the site of the former Cahaba Coal Yard, by a group of investors, including Ed Moore, Sydney Bowie, David Meyer and William Engel, who incorporated as Birmingham National Garage Inc.. The deck was initially leased to National Garage Inc. of Detroit, Michigan.

Warren, Knight & Davis designed the parking deck with help from consulting engineer T. L. B. Lyster of Detroit. It was constructed with a concrete frame, and concrete slab floors and roof. The exterior was clad with an 8" thick brick curtain wall. The entrance and exit ramp is located at the northwest corner of the building. Several interior spaces were sectioned off in the front 60 feet of the building to the east of the entrance, originally housing an office, waiting room, and two shops. A brick-enclosed elevator and stairway were located in the back part of the office opening into the waiting area.

An affiliate of LIV Development purchased the garage building out of foreclosure in 2014 and commissioned Cohen Carnaggio Reynolds architects to produce plans for its restoration. The architects proposed a photograph of the Birmingham Terminal Station be reproduced on perforated metal panels to be installed in the openings in the garage's south wall, facing the Birmingham Intermodal Facility, then under construction. At the same time, the sectional doors facing Morris Avenue were bricked up.

A large-scale painted mural reading "It's Nice to Have You in Birmingham" was also proposed for a set-back wall on the top floor of the parking deck, visible from Railroad Park and a few other locations. The proposal was approved by the the Birmingham Design Review Committee in March 2015. Shortly afterward, Yellowhammer Creative applied for trademark protection for the phrase and sought a $63,000 licensing fee for its use on the garage. LIV Development challenged the filing with the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board.

Retail tenants

References

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