[Joey Hester]

Thanks for the update on the RSA Battlehouse Tower. Great pictures!!

As far as converting the old Whistler Train Station into a city/transportation museum, federal grant money will be available through the soon to be reauthorized transportation bill. Local governemnts can prepare and submit a grant application to ALDOT for these funds and train station renovations are eligible, if it has a transportation museum component. If you have heard of the ISTEA and TEA-21, then you will know what I am talking about. Historic train stations around the state and nation have been restored using these monies. This would be a great project that would compliment the historic district and other revitalization efforts. I can still remember Wilson Avenue being vibrant in the early 1970's. My guess is that is had recently underwent a streetscape reviatization effort as part of an urban renewla effort in the 1960's. Just a guess though.

A little history on my part (following in everyone else's footsteps)...

My grandparents were from Baldwin County, but moved to Mobile during WWII. My grandfather work at the docks wiring liberty ships before going inot the army. He later retired from Mobile Gas. My grandmother retired from Brookley Field. Anyhow, they lived in Alabama Village and Chickasaw in the 1940's, 50's and 60's. My mother grew up in Chickasaw and went to Vigor.

Myself, I was born in Mobile, but grew up in Baldwin County along the eastern shore and the gulf coast. Unlike the almost everyone else, I consider both Mobile and Baldwin County home. I despise the animosity between the two. I love downtown Mobile and its great historic neighborhoods. Like most forumers here, I am not a big fan of west Mobile. When I was a kid, my earliest memories of Mobile are of my mother and grandmother dragging us through Gayfers, Kress and several other stores around Bienville Square. They later abandoned this practice around the mid-1970's and we went to Bel-Air Mall and Springdale Mall. That's enough for now.

I would love to hear anymore information concerning the developer of the riverfront condos proposed office tower on Water Street. Where was it proposed? Are there any renderings? Also, has anyone seen renderings of the Riverview Plaza's makeover? I have been trying to envision it with a metal crown and spire, but a rendering sure would help!!! BTW, the construction of the Riverview is what sparked my interest in skyscrapers over 20 years ago!!! I even went to the grand opening in 1983!!!

One more thing, does anyone remember a proposed development from the mid-1980's called Waterside? It was suppose to have been a complex similar to the Riverview Complex built over the train tracks aorund where the convention center and riverside park are now. It was to contain hotel and office towers, if I recall correctly. I just remember seeing some articles on this years ago. It obviously did not come to pass, but it would be cool to see some renderings of what was proposed.

Thanks!!!