TUSCALOOSA — A state-of-the-art information technology hub is coming to the University of Alabama at Birmingham’s (UAB) campus, along with the renovation of an old bookstore into a new Honors College building.
The University of Alabama System Board of Trustees on Friday unanimously approved the final stage of planning for the new, $19.2 million UAB Technology Innovation Center. The building, to be located at the intersection of 17th Street South and Ninth Avenue South, is expected to open in late 2020 or early 2021.
The 40,000-square-foot IT center will house the campus internet connectivity and technology infrastructure and also host colocation services to campus, offering power, bandwidth, cooling and physical security for servers used by departments across the downtown university. This new building will provide a state-of-the-art facility for the UAB’s data center and a number of UAB IT employees, who will have unique collaborative and individual work spaces, according to a university statement.
“UAB’s students, faculty, researchers and staff need state-of-the-art technology to fuel their academic success and groundbreaking discoveries,” UAB Vice President and Chief Information Officer Curtis A. Carver Jr., Ph.D, advised. “This new center will empower collaboration and innovation at UAB as well as improve the lives and health of citizens throughout the state.”
In the new building, which replaces the Rust Computer Center, UAB IT will host the fastest high-performance research computer in the state and the data highway that connects researchers throughout the University of Alabama System. It will also house an innovative and cost-efficient Tesla Powerpack battery system that increases system reliability and availability while reducing the carbon footprint and a number of innovative features to meet the technology needs of UAB students, faculty, researchers and clinicians.
Old bookstore to become Honors College
The Board of Trustees on Friday also approved a renovation to turn Snoozy’s Bookstore into a facility that will house UAB’s Honors College.
Renovation of Snoozy’s for the Honors College Building, which will supplement the Spencer Honors House, is scheduled to begin in August and be completed in May 2020.
“The Honors College Building will be a wonderful space for our growing Honors community, and will house faculty and staff and provide our students with new classrooms, meeting rooms and open areas for student activity,” Honors College Dean Shannon Blanton, Ph.D., commented. “We are excited to be able to provide this new home for learning for our students to explore their curiosity, passion and motivation.”
The Snoozy’s renovation will comprise the entire two-story, 11,000-square-foot structure with a total construction cost of $2.69 million. New classroom spaces for honors students will be created. The exterior grounds will be leveled and developed into a landscaped courtyard.
These two projects continue a period of historic growth for UAB — in campus construction, research awards and student population.
Sean Ross is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @sean_yhn
