Alabama 7, April 3, 2024

April 3 2024

Help On the Way Crews Begin Work On

Badly-Needed Medical Center Facility

By Cindy Riley CEG CORRESPONDENT

Scheduled to open in fall 2025, east Alabama’s $43 million Center for Mental Health is being built as a beacon of hope for recovery.

The 54,000-sq.-ft. facility, located on the north campus of East Alabama Medical Center, will offer expanded psychiatric services that officials claim are long overdue.

“Locally, we have had to turn away over 500 patients a year who needed inpatient treatment due to the lack of beds in our current facility,” said Greg Nichols, executive vice president/administrator of East Alabama Health. “These families had to seek care at facilities that may not be close to home, which is a burden as they support the patients during an inpatient stay. This alone shows the need for more beds and increased access to care.”

The new structure will include an inpatient unit serving child, adolescent and adult patients with acute mental health needs. While most of these patients reside in the region, there are frequent requests from providers throughout the state seeking inpatient beds.

The facility will be constructed as a single-story building with a pitched gable roof. It will consist of nine long-term adolescent beds, 11 short-term adolescent beds, 10 adult male beds and 10 adult female beds. In addition to the patient rooms and nursing stations, the new building will incorporate indoor and outdoor group activity areas and educational spaces. It also will house the outpatient psychiatric clinic known as East Alabama Psychiatric Services, as well as a space for a residency program to train future psychiatrists.

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Mobile Officials to Demolish Civic Center, Build New Arena

The city of Mobile, Ala., plans to raze its 60-year-old civic center, Mayor Sandy Stimpson announced recently, and replace it with a new, world-class entertainment arena suited for concerts, family shows and sporting events, including professional hockey.

Alabama Public Radio (APR) reported March 18 that the new $300 million facility will be uniquely designed to support Mobile’s Mardi Gras traditions while providing a modern venue capable of bring-

ing in major acts that previously passed by the Port City enroute to other destinations.

To ensure the highest level of programming and customer experience, Mobile officials intend to partner with Coloradobased Oak View Group (OVG) as part of a multi-year operational agreement that includes the new civic arena, the Mobile Convention Center and the Saenger Theatre.

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Site Work Under Way for New Center for Mental Health

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“Throughout the design process, focus was given to safety and security aspects of the final construction,” said Nichols. “Features include a wide range of ligature-resistant fixtures, controlled access, a patient care area layout that allows for better line of site monitoring and outdoor fencing for the safety of patients. In addition, to meet the educational needs of the child and adolescent patients, a fully accredited school will operate within the space.”

Notable features include adequate attic space to house mechanical equipment. This design will allow the maintenance staff to service equipment without the need to enter the patient care space. Also included will be three large courtyards to provide increased access to outdoor space for patients.

Nichols said providing a healing environment is crucial in treating patients who suffer from an all too common problem.

“An estimated one in five adults in the U.S. experienced mental illness in 2021, which represents 57.8 million adult people, not including adolescents. It is reported that 47 percent of U.S. adults aged 18 or older received treatment in 2021; these numbers continue to grow and do not include the youth of our country. Our county is in a deep behavioral health crisis and does not have enough providers or facilities to address the worsening epidemic.

“We began discussion of the project in 2020, as we experienced a greater need for mental health in our growing community. With that idea, an interdisciplinary team of physicians, nurses, support staff and design professionals was assembled to begin the design work. We also worked closely with our general contractor and site work contractor to estimate costs and schedules. We had tremendous support from our community and state legislators to help secure partial funding for the project.”

Nichols said from the owner’s perspective, the biggest challenges are the inflationary pressures seen in the past few years that have drastically increased the pricing of the project

above the preliminary budget. While it appears inflation of product cost has eased in the past year, the market is still much above prices seen in 2020. Additionally, the costs of labor continue to increase, which affects the pricing of all trades.

As construction progresses, major milestones will include site work completion, finished concrete slab, steel erection, exterior walls and sheeting dried in, as well as electrical, mechanical and plumbing work. All will need to be met in order to keep the project on track for an operational date of October 2025.

“It’s very fulfilling to know the work we’re doing as a hos-

pital and the partnership we have with our contractors, Bailey-Harris Construction and Harmon Engineering, will result in a facility that will provide care to patients for the next 50 years or more.”

According to Harmon Engineering president Woody Harmon, “From our perspective, the site work is a multiphase project, because it’s done as a design-build project. The first thing we do is have a conceptual design meeting with the architect to look at the floor plan layout and the utility needs for the project. Once this is established, we start the preliminary site layout by looking at the topography of the

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As construction progresses, major milestones will include site work completion.

For the project, crews performed clearing and grubbing of the site and the installed erosion control measures.

A total of 25,000 cu. yds. of dirt will be moved during construction.

Crews Clear Land to Make Way for New Medical Center

site, the existing and new main drives that will feed the facility and we look at the existing utilities to see where they must tie-in. Based on this information, we prepare a complete set of civil design plans submitted to the city for approval.

“Once these plans have been approved by the owner and the city, we start the actual site work. This work involves the clearing and grubbing of the site and the installation of all the erosion control measures. Once the erosion control measures are in place, the mass grading of the site starts. In conjunction with mass grading, the storm drain, water, fire protection and sewer are installed.

Harmon added, “When the site is at grade, base material will be placed under building pad, drives and parking lots to prepare to pave. As soon as the base is down and all utilities are in place, the curb and gutter will be installed to control and divert storm water to the storm water collection system. Once the curb and gutters are complete, the first layer of asphalt will be placed on all the base material that has been installed for drives and parking.”

A total of 25,000 cu. yds. of dirt will be moved during construction. Heavy equipment on the project includes excavators, dozers, rollers, off-road trucks, tri-axle dump trucks, wheel loaders and water trucks.

The building will be steel frame construction with an engineered exterior of KOL high-density fiber cement panels. The roofing will consist of asphalt-based architectural shingles and associated underlayment and water protection. Impact-resistant interior panels will be found throughout the space. Welded sheet flooring will be used in all patient rooms, and LVT will be placed in the hallways and support areas.

For Nichols and the rest of the team, completion of the facility can’t come soon enough.

“It’s always rewarding to see the dirt start to move and the building take shape. Knowing that we will be able to increase the number of patients we care for is even more rewarding. Having seen such a need in our community over the past several years, and now being close to a point where we can help address that need, is worth the effort and investment.”

Equally important, he stressed, is the need to change public perception.

“While many families have experienced the impact of

mental health personally, there is still a stigma attached to mental health. Patients may feel ashamed and think they can just ‘get over it’ with will and determination.

“However, mental health issues most often have underlying conditions that can be best treated by a team of physicians and nurses. Just as important are the therapy aspects and coping skills that patients learn while admitted. These are critical for a successful discharge. There should be no shame in admitting to needing help.”  CEG

(All photos courtesy of Harmon Engineering)

$300M Arena Will Replace Aging, 60-Year-Old Civic Center

“Mobilians have been talking about how to address our aging Civic Center for nearly two decades, and we are beyond excited to put this feasible and affordable plan into action,” Stimpson said in a press release. “We have partnered with the best in the entertainment industry to help design and operate the most technologically advanced arena in the region. It will have the versatility to host all kinds of events and attractions and meet the unique needs of our community. This is a game changer for Mobile.”

The new arena will be designed to provide exceptional experiences, including retail spaces, luxury suites, VIP clubs, premium seating, great sightlines and dynamic acoustics, according to the release.

In addition, flexible seating and layout options will allow the new facility to easily accommodate a range of activities, including smaller shows and larger events with more than 10,000 spectators and fans.

Plans call for multiple ballrooms capable of hosting events of all sizes — offering greater flexibility for Mardi Gras balls and

local events and creating additional spaces for conventions. Besides concerts and live performances, the new civic arena will be built to host professional hockey, ice skating performances and many other youth, collegiate, and professional sporting events.

Stimpson and other municipal officials are relying on being able to attract top-tier programming to the new arena, which, in turn, will hopefully bring 400,000-plus new visitors to downtown Mobile each year.

Existing Civic Center

Operating at Loss

Because the Mobile Civic Center is functionally obsolete and unable to host many modern attractions, finding a way to replace or upgrade the facility has been a goal of city leaders for decades, according to APR.

High maintenance costs and limited capabilities have led to an operating loss of approximately $18 million over the last decade. However, due to the fiscal stewardship of the Stimpson administration and its aggressive efforts to pay down existing debt, the city of Mobile is now in a position

to turn one of its greatest financial liabilities into a huge asset for both the community and its visitors.

Over the last two years, Stimpson and his team evaluated multiple proposals to renovate the existing Civic Center. Following an extensive assessment with leading industry architects, though, it became clear that building a new facility from the ground up was the most fiscally responsible decision, his administration said in the latest news release.

APR noted that a new civic arena will create a better, more sustainable, and longer-lasting facility that will give Mobile residents the most return on their investment. A remodel could not guarantee the same results and would still cost taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars.

As part of the proposed management agreement with the city, OVG also will improve the food and beverage experiences at the Mobile Convention Center and Saenger Theatre. The city also will invest in additional improvements at the theater.

Based on current designs, the construc-

tion’s cost will be financed through cash contributions from the city of Mobile and project partners as well as sponsorship opportunities, strategic borrowing through the bond market, and other funding sources.

Because of its strong financial position, Stimpson said Mobile can take on a project of this scale without impacting any public services or losing out on other important capital needs across the city. A strategic financing plan will allow all debt associated with the new civic arena’s construction to be paid down in less than 20 years.

In the coming days, the Mobile City Council will consider several items related to the demolition of its existing civic center, theater, and Expo Hall as well as study the operating partnership with OVG.

Contingent upon the timely approval of necessary contracts, demolition should begin in August, and construction of the new facility would start in February 2025. With a two-year construction timeline, the new arena is estimated to be open in time for the 2027 Mardi Gras celebration. 

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The site work is a multi-phase project.

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