UAB’s New $8.2M Police Headquarters Facility Opens

We would like to congratulate the University of Alabama at Birmingham on the grand opening of their new campus police headquarters. The two-story, 28,000 square-foot facility is located at the 1100 block of 14^th Street South, adjacent to the old police headquarters building. The new facility will be the home to all of UAB’s police operations going forward. The ground floor will include a lobby area, storage space for records, areas for processing and storing evidence, staff offices for patrol and UAB Security Staff, a breakroom, weight room with men and women’s locker rooms and showers as well as a 24-hour, seven-day-a-week emergency call center. The second floor will house senior staff and administrative offices, a conference room, breakroom and 1,500-square-foot training room as well as the investigation department offices. The old headquarters building will be demolished and the property will be used for on-campus parking.

“This new facility provides a state-of-the-art space for police operations and room to accommodate continued growth of the department,” said UAB President Ray L. Watts. “It is tailored to the specific needs of UAB Police. It gives our officers and staff the room and resources they need to perform even more effectively as they continue maintaining a secure environment for all on campus.”

BHATE was awarded the UAB Police Headquarters Building in 2016 and has been involved through the entire project –  from the preliminary geotechnical assessment to quality assurance testing and inspections.  Since this particular area of the UAB Campus has highly plastic clays with high risk of shrinking and swelling, the geotechnical assessment required an extensive laboratory testing program to analyze the most cost effective solution to mitigate the shrink-swell risk.  As the design documents were finalized, BHATE coordinated with UAB, TurnerBatson (Architect), and MBA (Civil and Structural Engineer) to review project civil and structural specifications.  In addition, BHATE worked with Wyatt General Contractors during construction to assure materials and construction met the contract documents.  The new Police Headquarters is another fine addition to the UAB Campus, and BHATE is proud to be a part of this project.