Alabama 7, April 5, 2023

By Cindy Riley CEG CORRESPONDENT

Expected to open in 2025, a new Spain Rehabilitation Center at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) will provide comprehensive care to patients from across the state and beyond.

Located on Seventh Avenue South, the $157 million, 350,000-sq.-ft. project that’s currently under construction will replace the existing 60-year-old facility.

“UAB Spain Rehabilitation is the hub for UAB Medicine’s Traumatic Brain Injury Model Systems, Spinal Cord Injury Model Systems and the National Spinal Cord Injury Statistical Data Center,” said Jeanette Ray, associate vice president, UAB Medicine Rehabilitation Services. “The new facility will continue to serve these patient populations in the areas of service, research and teaching and help those with acquired disabilities have a more functional and productive life. Most importantly, this new space will promote a healing and calming environment for rehabilitation patients

to thrive.”

Ray noted that UAB Spain Rehabilitation Center is one of the Southeast’s leading providers of physical medicine and rehabilitation services consistently ranked among the Top 20 in the Nation by US News and World Report.

“This facility will match the world-class care provided by our team of specialists to improve the long-term function and quality of life for patients with an injury or disability.”

The building will offer approximately 80 rehabilitation

The new structure will include a focus on neurorehabilitation for patients following stroke, traumatic brain injury and spinal cord injury.

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Steve Wood photo

Crew Works in Tight Quarters to Build New UAB Facility

beds, 28 acute care beds and advanced technology. The new structure will include a focus on neurorehabilitation for patients following stroke, traumatic brain injury and spinal cord injury. It also will include a seizure monitoring unit that offers clinical, research and education services to patients with epilepsy.

“Although multiple renovations have been made throughout the years, this new building will allow us to build upon and maximize UAB Medicine’s commitment to

providing patient-centered care,” said Vu Nguyen, chair of the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation in the UAB Marnix E. Heersink School of Medicine. “We are looking forward to welcoming our patients and their caretakers to this new rehab facility.”

Each floor is designed to treat specific patient populations, allowing for patients, families and care team members to remain in the same location. This maintains the proper support for physical, mental and emotional recovery.

The facility also will include family rooms on each patient floor, a respite room featuring a patient art gallery and two outdoor terraces. The top floor will feature a garden where patients can work on mobility, cognition and range of motion. The bottom floor will offer a park for patients to practice navi-

gating different terrains.

UAB broke ground on the replacement facility in early May 2022. Jared Sparks, the director of facilities and capital projects, said that the project location is less than ideal for crews.

“One of the biggest challenges on a project of this nature is that construction is taking place in a very congested site in an urban downtown setting. Prior to construction, this site served as surface parking lots for UAB faculty, staff and patients.”

A significant amount of work remains, with construction continuing at a steady pace.

“A milestone we have reached is that the deep foundations are complete,” said Sparks.

Hoar Construction LLC serves as the general contractor. According to Hoar Senior Project Manager Greg Cross, work began

in early June 2022.

“Currently, we’re forming the concrete structure,” he said. “The remaining significant tasks include 11 stories of structure, building skin and the buildout of the interior.”

To date, crews have completed underground caissons, relocated 70 percent of the utilities, performed 75 percent of the necessary grading and nearly all the foundations and the first level columns.

Site work has included removal and demolition of the existing paving, concrete and some utilities.

Cross noted that underground utilities have been a unique challenge for workers.

“This site has been used for a variety of purposes and has been

built on multiple times over the past 60-80 years, so there were unforeseen utilities and existing foundations we uncovered and had to remove,” he said. “Additionally, the site has basically no lay down for materials and equipment, so we have to create precise logistical plans for materials deliveries. Building the exterior skin will also be a challenge, due to this limited access.”

Approximately 3,500 cu. yds. of dirt will be moved during construction. Demolition included concrete paving, concrete sidewalks, landscaping, curbs, bollards, storm lines, light poles, fencing and concrete walls.

Because the site is not very see UAB page 6

Steve Wood photo

The building will offer approximately 80 rehabilitation beds, 28 acute care beds and advanced technology.

Steve Wood photo Located on Seventh Avenue South, the $157 million, 350,000-sq.-ft. project that’s currently under construction will replace the existing 60year-old facility.

Steve Wood photo

A significant amount of work remains, with construction continuing at a steady pace.

Multivista photo Hoar Construction LLC serves as the general contractor.

UAB photo

Site work has included removal and demolition of the existing paving, concrete and some utilities.

UAB from page 1

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Concrete Work Under Way On UAB Rehabilitation Center

large and is flat, erosion control has been fairly simple.

“We kept the asphalt in place during the installation of deep foundations to help address erosion,” said Cross, who added that a great deal of planning was required before work began. “Access is always key in building a rehab or medical facility. We have to ensure these areas are safe for all future patients. And like any healthcare project, quality of the finished product is one of our highest priorities, as is coming in on time and on budget.”

Other than site conditions, freezing temperatures and rain from December 2022 through February 2023 have been an issue for workers.

“We have lost a few weeks due to weather,” said Cross. Main materials required to complete the project include concrete, steel, metal panels and glass. A mix of heavy equipment also is required.

“We’re using tower cranes for lifting and forming and

pouring the structure, drill rigs for caissons, concrete pump trucks, grading equipment and forklifts.”

For Cross and his team, it’s an honor to be involved in a project that will serve countless individuals.

“Hoar Construction has over 30 years of experience dedicated solely to healthcare construction, along with our over 80 years of experience in a wide variety of sectors,” he said. “Many of our healthcare clients are longterm partners because of our solid relationships, attention to detail and precise planning. “Our healthcare teams understand quality and safety are of the utmost priority on projects such as this, and we have the processes in place to ensure the project meets our client’s goals. One of the best parts of working in healthcare construction is knowing that we’re helping make a positive impact on the community. Working on a project so close to home, and with a key client like UAB, we can be really proud of the facility and the work we’ve done in Birmingham.”  CEG

Baldwin County to Finish $341.4M in School Construction

The Baldwin County Schools system on the Gulf Coast of Alabama is close to completing $341.4 million in new construction projects in an astonishing reversal of fortunes nearly eight years after an earlier school building program was overwhelmingly rejected by voters, AL.com reported Feb. 15.

In addition, the current program, called “Pay As You Go,” will finance another $94 million in new projects that could be under construction by this fall.

It is a program mostly paid for with cash and without long-term bonding and new taxes, the statewide news service noted. Pay As You Go has added around 1.5 million sq. ft. in new school construction, itself a remarkable feat when considering no new building occurred within the county school system between 2009-2015.

The program was praised in midFebruary during a school board meeting while the newest slate of projects was unveiled. Later this spring, Baldwin County school officials are expected to unveil a separate list of projects that include new athletic fields and fine arts venues.

“I don’t think people really understand how blessed this system is,” said Eddie Tyler, the superintendent of the Baldwin County School System, Alabama’s third largest behind Mobile and Jefferson counties.

Better Solution

AL.com reported that in 2015, an $8 million property tax increase was overwhelmingly defeated during a special election that was almost financially disastrous to the county. In addition to the new mill rate, voters did a rarity: They also voted down the

renewal of existing mill rates, which meant the school system was staring at less revenue and few solutions to address rapid growth.

The property tax increase was expected to generate $350 million in new taxes that would finance a long-term bond. With interest, school officials say that program would have cost around $500 million.

It was a tough defeat at the time because the county’s schools were filling up fast. Officials scrambled to bring in trailers to house the overflow of students, and up to 130 portables were spread throughout Baldwin County’s four-dozen school buildings.

“It allowed us to get back to the drawing board, and allowed us to rethink everything,” said John Wilson, the school system’s chief financial officer, about the earlier election defeat. “We cut expenses, prioritized everything, and came back with a cash aggressive financing program. It was devastating at the time. But in hindsight, it allowed us to get creative and figure out a much better solution in the long-term.”

School System Growing in Multiple Phases

The Pay As You Go program started relatively small — the first two phases, which began in 2015, financed around $40 million in projects.

Phase 3 was $116 million, followed by Phase 4 at $101.3 million. Parts of Phase 4 are currently under construction or are set to continue throughout 2023, including a new $27.2 million elementary school in Silverhill.

The only major project under way that is not financed through Pay As You Go is an $82.7 million career-tech school being built

on Alabama Highway 59 north of Loxley. That 196,340-sq.-ft. facility, which could cost up to $92 million once it is complete, is financed through a long-term bond.

The Phase 5 projects, set to get under way by this fall, include:

• A new $30 million, 118,000-sq.-ft. middle school in Elberta that will have 25 classrooms, four self-contained classrooms for special education, four labs, a band suite and chorus room, and a competition track.

• A $26 million elementary school in Loxley.

• At Daphne High School, $10 million will be spent to build a new cafeteria accommodating 750 people, additional classrooms, a new parking lot at the current softball field, and the relocation of the softball field to nearby property that will be deeded from the city of Daphne to the school system.

• Elberta Elementary School will receive $10 million to expand by converting a gymnasium into 12-13 classrooms, and the construction of a new gym and cafeteria.

• Another $9 million is slated to replace aging buildings at Daphne Elementary School with a 20-classroom addition to reconfigure the facility into a K-6 school (it is now a K-3 facility).

• At Magnolia Elementary in Foley, $8 million will go toward adding new classrooms.

Even More Projects Ahead in Baldwin County

Wilson told AL.com that discussions are also under way on how to address an expansion or reconfiguration at Foley High School, along with the construction of a new high school in the Eastern Shore.

Additional rezoning of school boundaries

is expected to accommodate the new growth and to alleviate schools that are approaching or are near capacity. For instance, Belforest Elementary School, just opened in the 20202021 school year, has already reached the limits on how many students it can accommodate.

“What is coming are families with young children and our elementary schools are getting overrun,” Tyler explained. “We are holding on and we will rezone. Will it happen between Stapleton and Loxley? Is it going to happen in Daphne around Belforest? We don’t know yet, but it is coming.”

In addition, the arrival of a $2 billion Novelius plant north of Bay Minette could lead to more demands on schools in the northern portions of Baldwin County. Wilson said the massive new factory could bring in $18 million to $20 million in new sales taxes.

The school’s finances were also boosted with last year’s split by Orange Beach, according to AL.com. As part of the breakaway agreement, the Baldwin County School System received over $35 million in cash — money that will go toward the new athletic fields and fine arts venues to be announced later this year.

The expansion projects in the southern Alabama county east of Mobile do not include other school projects that are also ongoing.

In Gulf Shores, for instance, that city’s school system is undergoing the “Next Wave,” a 10-year construction program estimated to cost $200 million and include the construction of a new high school.

Gulf Shores split away from the Baldwin County School System in 2019. 

UAB from page 2

UAB rendering Expected to open in 2025, a new Spain Rehabilitation Center at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) will provide comprehensive care to patients from across the state and beyond.