Avon Building
The Avon Building is a 2-story, 220,000 square foot building on the southwest corner of 29th Street and 7th Avenue South in the Lakeview district of Birmingham's Southside.
The 1926 building, once the home of the Avon Theater, was heavily damaged as a result of frozen pipes in the winter of 1983-84, forcing tenants to relocate. Operation New Birmingham assisted prospective buyer Bayer Properties in getting the building listed on the National Register of Historic Places in order to qualify for tax credits for preservation.
Bayer initially invested $115,000 in what was their first redevelopment project. After about $1 million in improvements, Straight Furrow Productions signed on as the first tenant. Six months later, Bayer accepted a proposal from Bombay Café to lease the ground level corner space. The restaurant's success helped establish Lakeview as a night-time destination in the 1990s.
Vazda studios made use of the former theater space before they moved to the Roger's Trading Company Building in 2006. Some of Vazda's production crew made a short documentary about "Frank", the supposed ghost of a former theater employee.
In December 2006 Bayer sold the building to the Redview Group for $2.6 million. Redview plans to lease the corner space to the Red Mountain Church.
References
- Tomberlin, Michael (December 19, 2006) "Church soon to call historic structure home." Birmingham News
- King, Pamela Sterne (2008) 50 Years and Counting: A History of Operation New Birmingham 1957-2007. Birmingham: Operation New Birmingham