Liberty Motors building

The Liberty Motors building is a former automotive showroom constructed in 1957 for the Liberty Motor Company on the northeast corner of 23rd Street and 7th Avenue South.

The modern-style 19,000 square foot building features a deep overhanging cornice shading continuous tilted plate-glass windows. The showroom's two entranceways are flanked by beige brick piers. Aluminum panels screen the roof and formerly supported signage. The adjoining garage areas are constructed of brick.

After Liberty Motors left, the showroom was used by Vulcan Lincoln-Mercury and Bart Starr Lincoln-Mercury through the early 1970s. In 1985 the building was remodeled into offices for Howard Garrett & Associates engineers. Later it served as a medical office for Michael Scott Kendrick, and from 2004 to about 2010 it housed Independent Insurance Agents.

Shannon Waltchack purchased the vacant property in late 2011 in a deal with UAB to renovate it for lease to the university as studios for faculty in the UAB Department of Art & Art History. Dubbed UAB Studio Arts, the building replaces several studio buildings that were turned over to Birmingham's Public Athletic, Cultural and Entertainment Facilities Board for construction of Regions Field.

References

• Azok, Dawn Kent (January 7, 2012) "UAB art faculty get new site in former vacant Southside building for works." The Birmingham News