Phoenix working to adapt vintage buildings for new uses
The city of Phoenix is working to simplify the process of adapting older buildings for new business uses on an all-new episode of Building Phoenix, premiering 8 p.m., Wednesday, Jan. 28, on Phoenix 11, the city’s news and information station available to Cox and Qwest Cable subscribers (for additional airdates and times, click here).
Program highlights: A 1940s firehouse in Sunnyslope becomes Bomberos Café and Wine Bar; coffee connoisseurs are filling up at Copper Star Coffee, housed within a vintage gas station in the Melrose on 7th Ave. area of midtown Phoenix (pictured at right); a former tire shop is transformed into Results Only, a facility to get pumped up and healthy; and the trendsetter who transformed a historic post office into Postino Wine Café is ready to do it again; plus appearances by Vice Mayor Tom Simplot and Councilwoman Maria Baier.
“Building Phoenix” is a production of the city of Phoenix Development Services Department. Michael Hammett, host and executive producer, is an Emmy Award winner and former contributing reporter/producer for ABC 15’s Sonoran Living. The program will be streamed live during the premiere. The Building Phoenix show is available on-demand.
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It’s this type of development- recycling- that I enjoy the most and that draws my friends and I to downtown Phoenix. New buildings are nice but they tend to lack character, a sense of place and some type of history – what little there is.
arturciesielski - January 27, 2009 at 7:49 am
Recycling older buildings is a great move for Phoenix but I hope it doesn’t give officials the wrong mindset.
I agree that, in this time of recession and hard budgets, the opportunity to revitalize old buildings with a new clientele could work wonders for the area. Abandoned buildings plague downtown, but I’ve seen definite improvement over the last couple years.
That said, I hope officials don’t forget about building projects all together — they have a history of swinging between extremes. Reusing old buildings helps only in the short-term. The buildings are often in need of serious repair and can only last for so long. If they become derelict run-downs, no one benefits.
I also hope Phoenix officials can get over their fear of high rises. For a city Phoenix’s size, we have almost no vertical growth. If Phoenix really does want people to live closer together and stop urban sprawl, we need to build up.
Channing Turner - February 12, 2009 at 9:47 am