Sketchbook Assignment 3, The Strip: "Glamour Shots"

Starlight Six Drive-In Theatres is south on Moreland Ave on an otherwise zudzu-lined stretch of highway. It is still operating and shows several movies each evening. Sound is, of course, provided by your radio.

The original Krispy Kreme Doughnuts is on Ponce de Leon Avenue at Argonne St. Look for the lit neon "Hot Now!" sign to know when a drive-through is worth it.

The Varsity is more iconic than Atlanta itself, and is celebrating its 80th year in operation. It holds the record for the largest drive-in fast food restaurant in the world. Car culture, indeed.

The Majestic has been "serving food that pleases since 1929." It is open 24 hours and is at Ponce de Leon and N. Highland Ave. Along with the Plaza Theatre, it is in Atlanta's first strip mall with parking in front.

A Sign of the Times

This very subdued shopping center is on Lakewood Avenue just past the intersection of Lakewood and Metropolitan Parkway.  My guess on the style is some hybrid of modern/postmodern.  Modern in the sense that the front is a ribbon of glass, sort of.  Postmodern in material, stucco, and that interesting cover for the walkway and the colonnade supporting the extended roof cover for the walkway.  The windows have been obscured by large poster-like coverings.  The businesses here conform to the approach road in decline, start up businesses by a marginalized constituency.  The parking lot lamps look pretty modern, but they are in disrepair, as evidenced by their leaning over.  The parking lot itself is in state of disrepair.  I guess the catch phrase for this neglect is “deferred maintenance”.

 

I included the previous photo to give context to this photo.  This fantastic sculptural sign took me by surprise as I was scanning the (Metropolitan) strip for interesting photos.  This behemoth straddles the corner of Lakewood and Metropolitan and alerts drivers-by to the location of the Family Dollar store (which I think might not even be there anymore).  Unfortunately the sign is in a state of disrepair.  I love the contrast between the overt sensationalism of the sign and subdued nature of the actual shopping center.  I wonder if this sign can be saved?  (I guess this photo refers less to Ford and more so to Venturi, but I felt compelled to include it.)

 

This strip is on Cleveland Avenue, an approach road from I-85 that intersects with Metropolitan Parkway.  Really, I just had to include this because I was so amused by the proximity of Pleasers to the East Point police station.  The presence of the Pleasers business and the Titlemax speak to the discard zone of transition that pervades most of the southwest side, particularly, but not limited to the approach roads to the city.  The roof  and “starved” classicism of the Titlemax suggests that the corporate architecture has been influenced by the “environmental” designs of the 70s/80s.  Obviously the tastemakers are not concerned with the aesthetics of this area, which is a pastiche of signs, fast food joints and businesses most likely found in marginalized areas. 

Recycling...

This strip center is located off of Peachtree right across from the Brookhaven Marta station and is a great example of a recycled strip center. Many businesses have come and gone, but the biggest transformation is that of the retail space in the middle of the shopping center. What was once a grocery store turned into Wilson & Sons Antiques. As Timothy Davis states in The Miracle Mile Revisited, "cast off supermarkets are both more affordable than new buildings and ideally located for providing community services." Although the space sits empty yet again, I'm sure the owners had the same thought process as Davis when they leased this space. As you can see, the shopping center does not get many visitors except for the Blockbuster at the end. Perhaps if more money had been spent updating the center (as in the example below) more people would be drawn to it.

More money and effort was put into the transformation of the strip center at the corner of Howell Mill and Collier Road than the last example. The largest retail space here was once a low end grocery store, followed by a low end drug store. It sat empty for a time until Publix purchased the space, remodeled it, and brought life back to the shopping center. As you can see, every space is rented and the parking lot is full! Even though the strip center is recycled, it was made to look new and modern instead of left dingy and clinging for life. Although this process might not be historically accurate it saved Publix a good amount of money not having to build a new store from the ground up and increased surrounding property value.

This ethnic strip is located off of Buford Highway, a part of Atlanta full of multiple ethnicity's located in a small area. Some towns have "Little Italy" or "Chinatown," but we have the melting pot that is Buford Highway. In most of the shopping centers along this road, you can find a mix of Hispanic, Vietnamese, and Chinese vendors all in one place. The chance of gentrification of this area is very slim as the area has been like this for some time and is very run-down. It would take a lot of time, money, and labor to really make this area sparkle.

"... the architecture of the American Roadside ..."

In Calhoun, Georgia, originally, the main street, Wall Street was the throughway. This became Highway 41, the Old Dixie Highway from Chattanooga to Atlanta in the early 1900s (Liebs 18). Calhoun, with its hotels and theaters, became an important overnight stop for passengers. Then, in 1977, Interstate 75 was finished, and the businesses and traffic migrated to the exits near the interstate (Liebs 34). In the last ten years, preservation and restoration efforts have re-focused attention on Wall Street, bringing this architecture of the roadside in Calhoun full circle.

In the first picture, this 1920s gas station evokes the domestic imagery that Liebs discusses. The blue, arched roof of the English Cottage style, with its white paint and double chimneys, is a representation of "the home" which held "deep-rooted symbolic value" for drivers and consumers (Liebs 101, 44); the garden plot in front is another vestige of the home image. This contrasts with the Regions Bank building to the left, with its reflective glass and square, modern architecture. The drive-up gas pumps under the 'carport' area would have been only steps from the Dixie Highway, and the two service bays to the right show that this was a busy service station. Now, the business which has adapted this location is Calhoun Auto Sales, and on the day this picture is taken, the employees are washing used cars.

The second picture shows a similar era gas station further north on Highway 41 which is in a less affluent neighborhood currently being reclaimed by Latino/a immigrants. This gas station has not been adapted or retooled. The basic elements of the first gas station are present--the drive-up gas pump area under the 'carport, the evocation of home with the pitched roof and red brick, and the chimney. However, this stretch of the 1920s-1970s strip in Calhoun does not receive much traffic as I-75 more quickly parallels 41. In the rearview mirror (lower right-hand corner of the picture), the Highway 41 strip stretches back toward the center of town.

In the third picture, the restoration of the downtown is seen in the work being done to sidewalks and storefronts. This goes hand-in-hand with the renovation of an important building, the Gem Theater, following the trend begun in the 1960s with the National Historic Preservation Act (Liebs 68). The sidewalks on the other side of town have already been restored. The storefronts with their awnings (another refurbishment technique described by Davis), foliage, and banners throughout town proclaiming Calhoun a "Main Street City" (see smaller picture) attest to the return of the car and the consumer to this downtown area.

More Parking!

This is a picture of Edgewood facing downtown. Here there are cars parallel parked on the curb in the right lane. I'd prefer to use that lane for driving, especially when it looks like a lane and not parking spots! But it occurs in a space where there is not an abundance of parking options, so I suppose it is necessary.

The second picture is of a vacant lot downtown used for parking. You can barely see the cars because the weeds are growing up the chain link fence. Perhaps we could call this "green space?" Downtown is full of ugly, vacant lots used for parking with people flagging you in and charging at least $5. Sometimes they are closed down businesses and probably serve the owners' need for income in the only way they have.

The third picture is of parking lines around Chastain Park. I noticed that there were lines blacked out and redone at a sharper angle. In Lots of Parking, the author has a diagram on increasing parking angles and how they increase the amount of cars able to park in the same space. It seems impossible to me, but I suppose he is right.