Mobile Development Thread

[yeahwhatever]

Originally Posted by Port_of_Bama

I think the spot it was in would be perfect small but perfect.

any time a zoo can be described as "small" it is nowhere near perfect.
no place in downtown mobile would be a good place for a zoo. there is too much noise, air pollution, flood danger during hurricanes, and just no room. zoos with large animals need at least 40 acres for the animals to have enough space to move around.

zoo sizes in this region:
birmingham zoo: 122 acres
montgomery zoo: 40 acres
zoo atlanta: 40 acres
audubon zoo: 58 acres
northwest florida zoo: 50 acres

the zoo in gulf shores is small, but they have smaller animals and will soon be moving to a new 20 acre location north of the canal.


I highly suggest everyone to check out the Mobile Zoo we already have. Its a long drive out to Wilmer, but it gives the animals a lot of room to roam around and fresh air. they have a lot of animals including lions, tigers, and primates and you can get closer to them than in traditional zoos. many of the animals were rescued from inadequate owners or from zoos that had to close down. so check it out when you have time... here is a link to their website http://www.mobilezoo.cc/index.htm

[10101000]

Mobile premiere set for Mardi Gras documentary
Posted by Mike Brantley, TV & Media Editor June 18, 2008 9:03 AM
Categories: Breaking News, Entertainment, Mardi Gras
Filmmaker Margaret Brown, who came home to document Mardi Gras in Mobile last year, will bring her feature-length documentary film on the subject to a hometown premiere at 7 p.m. on Thursday, July 31, at the Saenger Theatre.

"The Order of Myths," Brown's 97-minute examination of the season and how it is celebrated in Mobile, has attracted the notice of reviewers and film festival attendees for its focus on the city's racially separated Mardi Gras societies and celebrations. The film -- which enjoyed a generally well-received world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, earlier this year -- also won the attention of The Cinema Guild, a New York-based film distributor that will put "The Order of Myths" in domestic theaters and eventually on DVD.

Tickets will go on sale Friday for $12 plus a service charge and will be available through the Saenger Box Office and all Ticketmaster outlets.

Brown, who is based in Austin, Texas, will take part in a question-and-answer session following the Mobile screening, said theater manager Chris Penton.

(For more information, see the report on Thursday's Press-Register.)

[phoenixboi08]

Originally Posted by yeahwhatever

any time a zoo can be described as "small" it is nowhere near perfect.
no place in downtown mobile would be a good place for a zoo. there is too much noise, air pollution, flood danger during hurricanes, and just no room. zoos with large animals need at least 40 acres for the animals to have enough space to move around.

zoo sizes in this region:
birmingham zoo: 122 acres
montgomery zoo: 40 acres
zoo atlanta: 40 acres
audubon zoo: 58 acres
northwest florida zoo: 50 acres

the zoo in gulf shores is small, but they have smaller animals and will soon be moving to a new 20 acre location north of the canal.


I highly suggest everyone to check out the Mobile Zoo we already have. Its a long drive out to Wilmer, but it gives the animals a lot of room to roam around and fresh air. they have a lot of animals including lions, tigers, and primates and you can get closer to them than in traditional zoos. many of the animals were rescued from inadequate owners or from zoos that had to close down. so check it out when you have time... here is a link to their website http://www.mobilezoo.cc/index.htm

That's true...but I still think that a zoo could work downtown. I mean not LITERALLY downtown....but near it. There is MORE than 40 acres behind the orange grove developments....the only problem (I ABSOLUTELY agree) is the flooding...oh, well. Maybe we could still get a nice aquarium and a large natural history museum?

[10101000]

I like this picture.

[Electrical Porpoise]

Anyone heard about the Tanker deal being reversed. I was talking to my father on the phone and it cut out but I am pretty sure he said he just got an email saying that.

[sandebr00]

I am sorry to be the bearer of bad news...

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/06/18/america/Boeing-Tanker-Fight.php

[Electrical Porpoise]

PDF file on ruling
Link

[Musicisright]

What the hell?!?

[Shawn35816]

When you have the likes of Lou Dobbs filling the American "robot" peoples minds with what he has, what did we expect? It is a shame.

[OCA REP]

Originally Posted by (Tim)

I like this picture.

I like the angle of that photo too. Previous pictures I have seen made the tower look shorter and thicker. This particular angle makes it look a lot taller to me...

[10101000]

Wow this is like a slap in the face!

[Musicisright]

Muskavon, you were right. Sad day.

[Port_of_Bama]

yeah sad but not an official ruling, I still have hope. They said they will annouce it on the 19th so i`m hoping that on the 19th they will go ahead with the contract.

[sandebr00]

On a more positive note, the Downtown Mobile Alliance issued its monthly newsletter. It includes a rendering of the courtyard that is being built as part of the renovation of the Kress Building. Here is a link:

http://downtownmobile.org/images/news/may_08_e_newsletter.pdf

It also indicates that the AmSouth Building is for sale. Maybe someone who is willing to invest in it will purchase it.

Also, don't forget that the meeting to vote on the new zoning ordinance for SpringHill is tomorrow, if you can make it.

[Electrical Porpoise]

Originally Posted by sandebr00

It also indicates that the AmSouth Building is for sale. Maybe someone who is willing to invest in it will purchase it.

If someone bought that thing and tore it down I would be the happiest man on earth.

Here are some video reactions from earlier regarding the tanker.

Video

[NitekKetin]

Perhaps NG-EADS will procede to use their Brookley complex as a site for COMMERCIAL aircraft assembly.

[Muskavon]

Originally Posted by NitekKetin

Perhaps NG-EADS will procede to use their Brookley complex as a site for COMMERCIAL aircraft assembly.

That's the one positive thing I keep in the back of my mind as a real possibility over time no matter what happens in tanker politics. I think the Airbus folks are determined long-term to get a foothold in the States to assemble and get more market share from Western Hemisphere airlines. And you'd have to think all the research and preliminary investment considering Mobile...that is their ground zero site to do it tanker or no tanker. I don't know how much longer that would be to see it move forward and realize noticable effects on all of us, but I hold out hope that may be the ultimate plan driving all of this: the tanker was a foothold on a bigger plan.

[BlessedMobile]

Let's remember that the GAO found there to be flaws in the process of awarding the contract which does not sound like they were fact altering but rather procedural. If the Air Force chooses to use the same criteria which chose the KC-45 then Boeing will HAVE TO offer a larger comparable aircraft. We did not lose the contract but have to win it AGAIN....something Southerners have long had to do when it comes to economic development. Think of it this way, Airbus is to Boeing what Toyota is to GM...the giant killer. Look at what has happened to American automakers once the better and more innovative foreign car companies got their foot squarely into our market. Airbus will do the same on the world scene when they get their American plant up and running. Tanker or not Airbus is coming to Mobile. Mobile still WINS! Even the new Air Force Chief of Staff has spoken of the KC-45 as the better of the two tankers. This will take a while to happen but I am confident that the KC-45 tanker will be built in Mobile.

[bystander1]

I've always thought of Boeing like the American automakers too, too use to doing things the old way and when someone comes out with something better, instead of improving themselves, they cry foul or want a 'do over'.

I'm still glad the Montgomery County Commission joined in passing a resolution giving their full support for the Brookley site in Mobile.

[Muskavon]

I agree with the automaker comparison. I'll have to admit to a point that has been made elsewhere, that Airbus is what it is now by the subsidies and political wills of countries that wanted to compete with Boeing (not exactly the path of true capitalist upstarts). And that may be an indirect reason Boeing has no true US competition today to bid this project. But we are where we are in history. Either the two companies compete on a level field motivating one to outperform the other in efficiency and quality...or one will become a fat, lazy, underperforming disaster like Ford or GM in the 80's. It doesn't take much imagination to figure out which comapny is heading down that path. So maybe Airbus, assembling in Mobile, will one day become as ubiquitous or blurred with "American" as all the Japanese plants assembling autos all over the South while Boeing (and the domestic autos) continue finding ways to ship off jobs. It's hard for the common person to see the difference and you already see that when it comes to Toyota vs. Ford for instance.

But I really wanted to post the other obvious things to look out for/participate in tomorrow:

1) Alabama Motorsports Park Public Hearing tomorrow:

Public comments on the proposed Alabama Motorsports Park, A Dale Earnhardt Jr. Speedway, off Interstate 65, near Industrial Parkway and Kali Oka Roads, will be heard June 19 at 7 p.m. at the Saraland Civic Center, 716 Mae St., hosted by the Army Corps of Engineers.

http://www.alabamamotorsportspark.com/media/releases/release_052808.html

2) Spring Hill Zoning Thing:

Spring Hill property owners and developers may soon have a choice — use a new zoning plan or the city's existing code.

A proposed "optional" zoning plan will go before the Mobile Planning Commission for approval Thursday at 2 p.m.

"At this point, the optional plan is the best way we can satisfy what the Village of Spring Hill is trying to do, and satisfy the people who had problems with making things mandatory," said Gina Gregory, the Mobile City Council member for District 7, which includes Spring Hill. "That doesn't mean people will be 100 percent satisfied."

http://www.al.com/business/press-register/index.ssf?/base/business/12135213786400.xml&coll=3


Let's see some good news folks!!!!