BY ERIN SIMPSON
Staff Writer

Phenix City residents are getting their first peek at downtown redevelopment as buildings on key pieces of riverfront property are being torn down. The old Golden Rule club, 1500 Third Ave., was razed Monday. The Salvation Army building next door in the 1400 block of Third Avenue and an old appliance store across the street are next on the list to be torn down. All three buildings will be torn down and the lots cleared within a month, said J.W. Brannen, chairman of the city's downtown redevelopment authority.

The city's downtown redevelopment authority purchased the properties this year as part of the city's plans for riverfront redevelopment. The $273.5 million plan calls for redevelopment of 141 acres from just south of the Dillingham Street Bridge to north of the 14th Street Bridge at Riverview Apartments public housing complex. "It's exciting," Brannen said. "It's been talked about for 20 years, but now it's starting to take shape."