The 5 Points I grew up with (please, post pictures if you got 'em)

[Dog Walker]

Fans & Stoves was a Setzers(?) then became Towers Hardware.   Towers was still there in 1983.

[JaxNative68]

Wow! Late 80's & 90's as nostalgic past.  Am I old or is this to recent to be considered "history"?  Now Ock's photos are history!

[David]

Contemporary history maybe. It is almost 2011, Five Points has changed a lot since the 90's and 80's. My memories consist mainly of catching a good show at club 5 and hanging out at fuel as teenager in-between record/tape/cd rummaging sessions at the theory shop. I believe there was another record shop a few doors over from there, but I can't recall the name.

And who can forget the tattoo/piercing shop that made national news from all the tongue splitting, human hanging, gentalia altering illegal(ish?) mini-surgeries that they did. Needleworks right?

[ubben]

I'm not sure about the history of this effort, but doesn't RAP or the city or the people of Riverside-Avondale want to put something beautiful or significant at the Five Points Intersection? That ugly cheeseball traffic signal (which confuses 60% of the people entering the intersection anyway) is completely underwhelming for such an important junction of the city. How bout a fountain, an obelisk, a statue of Klutho, a sculpture...? Is anyone working on this?

[Dog Walker]

That blinkey light in the intersection is OLD!  Ugly, but old.  It's been there since the '50's at least.

Various attempts have been made to decorate it; the most recent were little glass blobs all over it.  JTA just repainted it and put reflectors in the pavement to try to keep people from hitting it all the time.

Since yellow and red blinking lights don't seem to mean anything to drivers anymore maybe they should top it with blinking led signs that say STOP in one direction and DON'T STOP in the other underlined with a crawling arrow that shows the correct side for going past it.

If that intersection was just a little larger it would be a great place for a roundabout, but it is my understanding that is is just too tight for trucks to get around anything larger than the current signal.

[5 Points Theatre]

ubben,

There was a proposal to replace the blinky light with a giant eagle as part of the Town Center road improvements.  People rallied to defend the existing light.  It does date from the 50's, and has become very identified with 5 Points.



That said, there is plenty of room for that intersection to be improved.  I have heard people say that there's not enough room for a true roundabout, but I can't find where the City has actually studied it...

Maybe the transportation planning department at MetroJax can take a look...  There is a lot of room on the "corners" that is currently sidewalk.

[Non-RedNeck Westsider]

So we can't build more buildings because of parking issues.  We can't make an intersection 'safer' because of big trucks.

The machines are taking over and they're winning.

[Dog Walker]

NRW, if it was up to me, ALL articulated tractor-trailer combinations would be banned from the entire Riverside/Avondale Historic District.  When the roads in this area were planned there was nothing so large and our roads really cannot take them safely.  Watching a 50+plus trailer being negotiated through 5 Points gives one heartburn.

[fieldafm]

NRW, if it was up to me, ALL articulated tractor-trailer combinations would be banned from the entire Riverside/Avondale Historic District.  When the roads in this area were planned there was nothing so large and our roads really cannot take them safely.  Watching a 50+plus trailer being negotiated through 5 Points gives one heartburn.

Dog
How then would Publix, St Vincents, and the various bars and restaurants in the neighborhood get restocked then?

[Dog Walker]

Box trucks that can safely maneuver on our tight streets.  When you look at the amounts that are off-loaded you can see that smaller trucks could do the job just fine.

[Non-RedNeck Westsider]

NRW, if it was up to me, ALL articulated tractor-trailer combinations would be banned from the entire Riverside/Avondale Historic District.  When the roads in this area were planned there was nothing so large and our roads really cannot take them safely.  Watching a 50+plus trailer being negotiated through 5 Points gives one heartburn.

Dog
How then would Publix, St Vincents, and the various bars and restaurants in the neighborhood get restocked then?

Sysco - Box Truck, National Beverage - Van/Box Truck, Freshpoint - Box Truck - for all the others, there's Riverside Ave and Oak St w/ a dolly.

[Jaxson]

Contemporary history maybe. It is almost 2011, Five Points has changed a lot since the 90's and 80's. My memories consist mainly of catching a good show at club 5 and hanging out at fuel as teenager in-between record/tape/cd rummaging sessions at the theory shop. I believe there was another record shop a few doors over from there, but I can't recall the name.

And who can forget the tattoo/piercing shop that made national news from all the tongue splitting, human hanging, gentalia altering illegal(ish?) mini-surgeries that they did. Needleworks right?

If I am not mistaken, you must be referring to Now Hear This! (No, I am not excited, there was an exclamation point in the name)

[ricker]

despite the size and placement of the grounded signal, and the recent Margaret St. resurfacing from Gilmore, coupled with the newly replaced reflectors, and "Keep right" signage with the restriping mentioned above, mixed with the dump-truck logic of using the correctly sized vehicle to serve the inventory control measures of the 'hood's merchants and entertainment venues etc.. .  isn't this a roundabout?!?  Or are we not calling it a roundabout because all traffic stops except Park St.?

traveling away from the river on Margaret St, toward Gilmore with Mossfire and O'Brother's on my right, approaching Park st., if I wish to simply cross Park to reach Forbes and beyond, should I round the signal or just keep my wheels straight?

I am sometimes that a**hole that slowly rounds the damn thing when the stop signs are loaded to see whoelse will follow suit.
mini social experiment or me being crazy? you decide.

[deathstar]

@Bill Ectric You've seen Frank in Arlington? Wow, I'd really like to get ahold of him some how, I'll have to ask my Grandmother if she has his number still!

For the first time in 16 years, I went to Gina's Deli yesterday morning on the way back from a bike trip down St. Johns to Riverside Ave and then the Riverwalk. I talked to Jackleen and told her that I had grown up in this very Deli. I informed her on the passing of Haywood Murray, my Uncle of no relation, just last name. She was a bit sad, and told me that even after he sold the Deli to her brother, he'd come in and have coffee with them for awhile. She still remembered my Grandmother, and was amazed that it'd been so long since I'd been in there. She then offered me a card with a hole punch and a menu and asked if I'd suggest the deli for anybody. Of course, I'll be doing my best to help out

Something I never shared before. The back room of the Deli had an upstairs that housed a mostly empty room that held a bunch of empty boxes, and nothing really more than that. There was a door that led to the rooftop, however they'd never let me go up there by myself. My accident prone ass would be just the one To fall off there *snicker*. The downstairs had a BUNCH of mannequins, fashion magazines, old coolers, etc... When the Deli was busy, I'd either hide in the food prep room, the kitchen, or the backroom, it was all I had to do when I couldn't help or my Grandmother wouldn't let me run from shop to shop

[Dog Walker]

I've always wondered what was in that upstairs.   Does it extend over Basel's Tailor Shop too?  The shops in 5 Points were altered and added onto at the back over the years.  There are all sorts of extra rooms and unused second stories along there.

BTW, Gina's was vandalized Thursday night by some jerk.