Theatre Design & Technology - Oct 1967 - 6

USITT NATIONAL PRESENTATION
WINNING DESIGN OF BIRMINGHAM CENTER,
AlA-SPONSORED COMPETITION
Participants: DONALD H. SWINNEY, President, USITT
ALEX LACEY, Chairman, Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center Authority
GEORGE W. QUALLS, AlA.
Time:

7:30

Place:

The Library: Barbizon-Plaza Hotel

SWINNEY: Welcome to our 1967 USITT Conference. We
consider ourselves fortunate to serve as hosts for the first
public display of the winning model for the Birmingham-Jefferson County Art-Center competition. It gives me a great
deal of pleasure to introduce Mr. Alex Lacey, chairman of
this City-County Authority.

P.M.,

Wednesday,

May

31,

1967

knows in contests like this who's designed what. So, Alex
and I shared a common relief when the winner was announced and when he found out that this was the model we
designed. The model has been made part of the existing
city of Birmingham, as here shown.

Through the efforts of a group of architects in town I understand that Twentieth Street, which is really the main drag
in Birmingham, is likely to be changed into a pedestrian mall
progress in our country. From the tragedy that occurred in which will terminate in the Civic Center here. All the comBirmingham several years ago, came two good things: one, petitors were fighting the presence of a railroad track which
a new city government dedicated to progress for all its citi- runs through town and the impending presence of an interzens regardless of race, creed, or color; and second, a new, state highway. And we were charged to make a connection
wonderful system of communications with all the people in between this four-block area, which will be redeveloped as
our community. A very important step taken was the ap- the Civic Center, and the existing square. This is a little
pointment of your member, Mr. William Briggs, to make a bit like trying to cover second and third base at the same
needed study of the community and of the community need time. We tried to tie the existing municipal area in by a
with respect to a civic center. Mr. Briggs and his very astute covered canopy that ducks underneath the interstate and the
wife and assistant prepared a study which became in effect railroad tracks and comes out 30 feet below street level.
The way we started the design was with the automobile;
a seed crystal of the project.
four thousand automobiles can be placed beneath this comAbout that time, several of us succeeded in having the State plex by means of a number of entrances. The motorist then
Legislature pass a bill to create a separate authority to be can go to any building in the Center.
known as the Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center Authority.
Now going around the project clockwise, the circular buildThis is a tax-exempt public corporation whose duty it is to
ing is the coliseum which will have somewhere around
design, build and operate this Civic Center. Two tax bills,
13,000 seats and will be devoted to various athletic events;
one tobacco and the other on hotel-motel rooms, also were
Barnum Bailey would show up here and maybe other shows.
passed and became effective in September, 1965. These
Next is the Music Hall having about 3,300 seats, designed
proceeds come to the Civic Center Authority. The first bill
for symphony concerts and the opera. At the other corner
also required that the architect for the project be selected
is the Theatre with 1,300 seats, and the exhibition space
through an architectural competition approved by the Americompletes the series: here you might expect the automobile
can Institute of Architects; and that approval also requires
show, the home show, and so forth. It's all white. We have
an architect, known as a professional advisor, who sets up
a big pool in the middle; there are fountains and a piece
the competition and conducts it. Naturally we selected Bill
of sculpture that we were not able to put into the final
Briggs for this job and he has done well for us.
model. What we were trying to do was more than design a
The competition was kicked off last June at a press con- theatre or music hall or coliseum. We left that for later if
ference down the street, and it was rather overwhelming. we were fortunate enough to win. Instead we concentrated
We had a total of over two hundred and seventy-six entries mostly upon the exterior space, to shape it so that we
in the competition. The jurors narrowed it down in the first would be able to come to it at any time conveniently. So,
days to eight finalists; this weekend a panel of five jurors- in a general way, it's a kind of automotive garden where we
three architects and two theatre experts-selected the win- try to hide the car.
LACEY: Thank you very much, ladies and gentlemen. The
Civic Center in Birmingham is a part of a new pattern of

ner. The three architects were Max Abramowitz, designer of
the Philharmonic Hall and Metropolitan Opera in Lincoln Center, John Cal wan nick of San Francisco, and Gayle Obata of
St. Louis; the two theatre experts were Mr. John Fernald,
director of the Meadow Brook Theatre, Oakland University,
Michigan, and the redoubtable Harold Burris-Meyer. The winning design and the winning architect are here with us now.
I'd Iike to introduce to you Professor George W. Qualls of
the Graduate School of Fine Arts, University of Pennsylvania,

It takes two or three different elements to do a good job in
theatre, architecture, or any other profession. We were so
very fortunate in having people in Birmingham who knew
what they wanted, and so all we had to do was to work
with them in a very sincere way. It's been a very wonderful
experience. This could not have been done without four
things. You have to have the people. You have to have the
government. You have to have the money. And you have to
have the politicians on your side. In this case, we had all
QUALLS: Thank you very much, Mr. Lacey. I'm, needless to of these. All of them worked together with great harmony
say, most happy to be here. Because of the mechanisms in- and through this, I think, we have been able to help Birvolved in keeping all the projects anonymous, nobody really mingham a little bit in getting something really good.

[]lliO THEATRE DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY

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