A changing skyline
Battle House Tower to become tallest Alabama high-rise

By Angelle Bergeron

When the crowning touch is placed on top of the 35 floors of the $73 million Retirement Systems of Alabama's Battle House Tower in Mobile, it will mark the second time Pete Faulkner has built a state's tallest building.

Faulkner was also senior project manager for Archer Western when the Atlanta-based contracting firm built BellSouth's 33-story regional headquarters in Nashville.

He said the Mobile building "is a prime project, something you chase your whole career to get."

His enthusiasm is obvious. Darting around the site, he called attention to the most intricate details of the structure, one that is destined to alter the Mobile skyline for generations to come.

The building's apex is a six-story, steel structure that will stretch the building to 41 floors, making it the tallest in Alabama.

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From a vantage point atop the fourth-floor level, which was the height of the structure at the end of August, Faulkner gave the lay of the land. Hugging the banks of the Mobile River to the immediate north is the glitzy new Convention Center, also designed by Thompson, Ventulett, Stainback & Associates of Atlanta, the architectural firm for the tower.

"That's the AmSouth Bank, that white building over there," Faulkner said, pointing south, a short distance from the tower's namesake, the old Battle House Hotel building. "At 424 ft., it used to be the tallest in Alabama (1969-1986). When we finish the tower, it will be 750 ft."

The tower, 750,000 sq. ft. of hotel and office space, will connect to the Battle House Hotel, which is currently undergoing restoration by White Spunner Construction of Mobile.

When Archer Western mobilized on the tower in February, a separate RSA contract had already been completed for a foundation of a 7-ft.-thick concrete matte on piles.

"In Atlanta, you can put in a caisson and go to the bedrock, but not here," Faulkner said.

The tower has a concrete shear-wall construction consisting of two interior, u-shaped walls of reinforced concrete that are designed to make the building earthquake and hurricane resistant.

High-strength mixes (10,000 psi on the vertical components and 7,000 on the horizontal) are being used at the lower parts of the building.

"Most of the pours will be at night because the high-strength mixes set up faster," Faulkner said. "It's so hot when they're taking the forms off, it will almost burn your hand."

Archer Western is self-performing the forming and placement, including the building's core and shell, an adjacent parking garage and a low structure that will connect the tower to the hotel.

"It's an aggressive schedule and a very sophisticated building," Faulkner added. The project is scheduled to complete in February 2006.

The job is a big one - from the six-story crown to the 12,000-lb., two-story, precast concrete panels that will be placed on the exterior.

The metaphorical significance of being the biggest and melding old and new hasn't escaped Faulkner, who points out the owner's hefty revitalization efforts.

"RSA is also currently working on a cruise terminal and another hotel right here in this area," he said. "They're trying to create a little boom down here."

Since the late 1980s, RSA has worked diligently to change the state's visual and economic landscape, while preserving some of Alabama's most precious historic gems, said Ron Blount, project director for RSA.

"Dr. David Bronner, CEO of RSA, has a vision that the stronger he makes Alabama, the stronger he makes the retirement system," Blount added.

RSA manages retirement funds for Alabama state employees and benefits are generated from various investments as well as contributions from the state's general fund.

In 2000, RSA began courting Mobile for a revitalization effort because the city was willing to assist with building and zoning issues and parking ratios, Blount said. The nearby $19.5 million cruise terminal was opened in October.

RSA is also spending $15 to $17 million to renovate Mobile's Adam's Mark Hotel, which has been renamed RiverView Plaza.

The 750,000-sq.-ft. Battle House Tower is a prime example of RSA's ability to marry the historically significant with modern construction. The tower is so named because of its connection to the Battle House hotel, which was originally constructed in 1852.

"There's an old saying in Mobile, 'As goes the Battle House, so goes Mobile,'" said Jill Haynes of MDI, the public relations firm representing White Spunner. "Basically, the economy of Mobile has kind of followed the ups and downs of the Battle House."

After a fire destroyed the hotel in 1905, it was rebuilt on the original foundation and opened again in 1908. Ironically, shipping trade fell off in 1905 and didn't bounce back until WWI, Haynes said. The hotel closed permanently in 1974, about the same time the local economy took a major downturn.

"Remarkably, there has been recent, renewed emphasis on Mobile, so once again the Battle House has set the tone for the economy," Haynes said.

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For more information about RSA, go to: http://www.rsa.state.al.us/