POWERGRAMS

11 If the walls of Corporate Headquarters could talk, they would tell the story of the hundreds of employees and contractors who invested thousands of hours putting their heart and soul into making the Alabama Power facility the showplace it is today. This year marks the 30th anniversary of the completion of the last major expansion of Corporate Headquarters. When the 18-story north tower opened in April 1986, Corporate Headquarters quadrupled in size, becoming the largest commercial office building in the state. "When I was asked if I wanted to head up a project called the Corporate Headquarters, I said, 'Where do you want it and how big do you want it?'" said retiree Ken Penuel. "They gave us a clean slate. We could decide the future size and the best location for the building. After looking at our options, we decided that staying right here at 600 North 18th Street in downtown Birmingham and adding a major addition to the existing 1925 Building made the most sense." That was in 1981 – the start of design of the 900,000-square- foot Corporate Headquarters, which included the renovation of the 300,000-square-foot existing facilities, the addition of an atrium and a 1,568-space parking deck, construction of a fleet service facility and the renovation of the annex at Seventh Avenue and 17th Street. The plan was to bring the company's 2,500 employees – many of whom were working in office space scattered around Birmingham – under one roof to achieve logistical and operational cost savings. With the return of about 600 employees to the downtown area and the creation of many new jobs, the expansion COMPANY STAYED AT 'HOME' 30 YEARS AGO TO EXPAND FACILITIES BY CARLA DAVIS Corp HQ 3.0 MILESTONE Combined buildings brought together more than 600 employees from downtown rental facilities.

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