Ghost Buildings....

     There's a story in The Birmingham Business Journal that surveys that city's long empty "ghost" buildings....kinda like the ongoing story of the Montgomery Mall.

     Lots of empty buildings around, in Birmingham and elsewhere, some of them with mortgages that can't be paid because there's no rental income.
     The City of Montgomery is buying 1 Court Square, an ugly 1970's structure that blocks just about any improvement on that end of Dexter Avenue.

     The building is owned by the FDIC, taken over after Colonial Bank went under. I didn't live in Montgomery at the time of that urban renewal project, but was it considered a success at the time?

     Will Montgomery bite the bullet and just tear it down? Tough decision when you've just spent $3-Million buying it.

     That's 1 Court Square on the right of the fountain in this photo. There was a lot of talk a year ago about locating a new State House building on the site, though where that money would come from is a mystery.
     The three story tan building, center left, was home to a telegraph office from which the telegram autorizing the start of the Civil War was sent.