Next steps to save Powell School underway
by Andre Natta
Folks driving into downtown Birmingham, AL the morning of February 1 may have noticed a dumpster sitting out in front of the historic Powell School Building along 6th Avenue North. It’s OK if the rain might have kept you from noticing…
It appears that workers from One Stop Environmental have begun to remove debris from the city’s oldest school a little more than a year after a devastating fire did significant damage to it. The property was donated to the Alabama Trust for Historic Preservation along with $500,000 back in October. The building had been named to the organization’s 2011 list of Places in Peril in May. The city’s requested that $150,000 be reserved to cover the cost of demolition in the event that a developer is not located that views the project as feasible.
According to the request for proposals retrieved from Operation New Birmingham’s website, submissions were due on January 9. A story published in The Birmingham News during the holidays suggests that the stabilization project is on schedule enabling potential developers to access the property for review in March. It was also reported that work was underway to design a roof to protect the remaining structure from any more damage due to weather.