Media contact: Yvonne Taunton
Photography: Steve Wood
Collaboration and community are common themes for honors students at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
UAB’s Honors College hosted a building dedication and ribbon-cutting Wednesday, Aug. 18, to celebrate its new home for honors education, Honors Hall, located at 1321 10th Ave. South.
The $3.55 million renovation of Honors Hall was approved by the University of Alabama System Board of Trustees in June 2019. The two-story, 11,000-square-foot structure is composed of two classrooms, two group study rooms, a quiet study space, a student lounge and additional seating throughout the building, along with staff and faculty offices. It features beautiful earth tones and an array of glass windows that provide natural sunlight.
“We so appreciate the opportunity to work and study in this wonderful space,” said Shannon L. Blanton, Ph.D., inaugural dean of the UAB Honors College. “It is certainly integral to cultivating the sense of belonging and community that is such a distinctive feature of the UAB Honors College. In this new building, we will nurture a welcoming and supportive environment for honors students to learn, grow and collaborate with one another.”
Honors Hall joins the Spencer Honors House to provide multipurpose space to host honors classes, individual study, Honors Faculty Fellow events, honors student gatherings, activities, workshops and symposiums.
The renovated facility, previously the home of Snoozy’s Bookstore, is one of the latest buildings at UAB with the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, or LEED, certification. Honors Hall received the LEED certification for Interior Design and Construction, which focuses on indoor spaces that reduce stress on the environment by generating less waste and lowering the use of energy, water and other resources.