The University of Alabama System Board of Trustees has approved the final stage of planning for a new, $19.2 million technology facility at the University of Alabama at Birmingham campus. 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 UAB Technology Innovation 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 university. The 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.
“UAB’s students, faculty, researchers and staff need state-of-the-art technology to fuel their academic success and groundbreaking discoveries,” said Vice President and Chief Information Officer Curtis A. Carver Jr., Ph.D. “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.
Snoozy’s to house Honors College
The Board of Trustees also approved a renovation to the old Snoozy’s Bookstore for 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,” said Shannon Blanton, Ph.D., Honors College dean. “We are excited to be able to provide this new home for learning for our students to explore their curiosity, passion and motivation.”
The renovation will comprise the entire two-story, 11,000-square-foot structure with a total construction cost of $2.69 million. The exterior grounds will be leveled and developed into a landscaped courtyard.