ACA dorm expected to be complete by fall 2023; work to start by Monday

Jun. 14—The contractor for the $15.6 million Alabama Center for the Arts dormitory has moved a mobile office to the downtown Decatur construction site and will have crews working by Monday on the project that students say they welcome.

"Ever since I started coming (to ACA), I've been interested in having dorms," said Zana Mercury, a Madison resident majoring in multimedia at the Alabama Center for the Arts. She graduated from Calhoun Community College last fall and is currently in a work-study program at Athens State.

"I think it's a wonderful opportunity and I'm glad it's finally officially happening," Mercury said.

Calhoun Community College and Athens State University are partners in the ACA, and officials from the schools held a ceremony Monday to mark the start of construction on the three-floor, 43,474-square-foot residence hall. Its 49 apartments will include 11 studio, 19 one-bedroom and 19 two-bedroom units.

Kerry Warren, director of facility operations at Athens State University, said there were 80 beds in the original plan but the number had to be reduced to 68.

Construction of the dormitory on the corner of First Avenue Southeast and Johnston Street is expected to take around 12 months, according to Athens State President Philip Way.

"Technically, you could say (the dormitory) will be open in the fall of 2023," Way said. "I hope it will be, but I'm also a realist and I understand about supply chain delays."

Century Construction of Tupelo, Mississippi, is the contractor for the residence hall, and project manager Brayden Owen said he should have workers on site within the next seven days.

"We're going to start out working six days a week, and then as the project progresses, we're going to be working seven," Owen said.

Owen said they will begin by removing the existing concrete slabs at the site and then "get it to grade."

'Great opportunity'

Carlen Anderson is taking classes at the ACA this summer and will begin her senior year at Athens State in the fall. She is from Nashville and said she is thankful that future out-of-state students will have a residence near the campus.

"I think it would be a great opportunity to have people like me who are not residents in Alabama to be able to have such a great arts experience and be able to actually live here," Anderson said.

Calhoun sophomore Gadge Wigginton is part of the theater program at ACA. Even though he is from Decatur, he said he is considering relocating to the dorms because of the short distance to the school and to his job at Mellow Mushroom, which is also downtown.

Fellow sophomore Marcus Patten, who is also involved in the theater program, said he hopes the dorm will serve as a residence for ACA students who commute long distances.

"We have a lot of friends who live kind of farther out like Huntsville and one friend from the Tennessee area even," Patten said. "We have one friend from Florence and it's like an hour drive for him."

Close to classes

The residence hall will be a little more than a block south of the ACA's two academic buildings. The dorm will have a 250-mph rated storm shelter on the first floor.

"There will be interior common areas to include a post office and leasing office on all three floors," said Jimmy Hodges, interim president at Calhoun Community College.

Hodges also said students will be able to access the dormitory with a keycard.

State Sen. Arthur Orr, R-Decatur, sponsored legislation in 2020 that is providing $15 million in funding for the project. The dorm will be the first housing project for the ACA.

The ceremony Monday was attended by elected officials and leaders from both Athens State University and Calhoun Community College.

City Council President Jacob Ladner told those attending that the dormitory will help enhance the city's art scene in downtown.

"Really, we're opening up the doors to an even greater number of people to experience what we have right here in downtown Decatur," Ladner said. "We've got the Princess Theatre, a world class Alabama Center for the Arts, our River Clay Festival that we have. Just the talent we have ... when you go to see our grade school productions all the way up to Athens State and Calhoun (theater) players to our community theater, it's really amazing the commitment to the arts this city has."

Hodges said if ACA students have a good experience with the school and from living in the dormitory, it could influence them to stay in Decatur after they graduate.

"Anytime that a student can live in a residential environment on a college campus, it enhances their whole college education experience to begin with," Hodges said. "It also ties them to the community. That was what our hope and intention was in putting (the dormitory) in downtown Decatur."

Unit amenities for the dorm will include a refrigerator, stove/oven, microwave, dishwasher, a clothes washer and dryer, high-speed internet, and Wi-Fi. There will also be a fenced exterior courtyard and seating and gathering areas.

The dorm is being built on a downtown block that will be transformed in a little more than a year. The city of Decatur is building a parking deck next door to the dorm on the corner of First Avenue and East Moulton Street while developers are constructing a Fairfield Inn by Marriott east of the deck, at the corner of Second Avenue and East Moulton.

— wesley.tomlinson@decaturdaily.com or 256-340-2438.