Bevill Center

Originally constructed in 1988, the Bevill Center was intended to hold the training headquarters of the Army Corps of Engineers as well as University of Alabama in Huntsville's Division of Continuing Education. It also originally contained hotel and restaurant facilities ran by the Marriott Corporation, so that it could easily host conferences and conventions. Throughout this period of the building's life, it allowed for a comfortable and convenient location to handle professional development between the university, the military, and the local business related to it. As the building aged and the community of Huntsville grew, it was made into a dormitory facility in 2020 and remains that way today.

Ground was broke in 1986 on what was then known as the Tom Bevill Center for Professional Development and Continuing Education. Built to house not only the University of Alabama in Huntsville's Division of Continuing Education, but also the national training headquarters of the Army Corps of Engineers, it was intended to bring the two communities closer together. Huntsville, being a military city, and UAH, being a technologically advanced university, saw the need to integrate the two communities better, and the Bevill Center was one step towards that goal that would have a lasting impact on UAH's history. It was named after Tom Bevill, a United States Congressman from Alabama's 4th congressional district at the time, because "his leadership and diligent work positively influenced the Army's decision to locate the headquarters building for all training activities in Huntsville on the UAH campus."^[1]

The building was impressively large, even to fill such a purpose at the time, at 93,000 square foot, housing "100 hotel rooms, a dining area, executive classrooms, administrative facilities and an attractive lobby/atrium area."^[2] The hotel and restaurant facilities of the building were run by the Marriott corporation under contract from the university, but conversely, UAH managed and maintained the rest of the building under further agreement with the Army Corps of Engineers. The Bevill Center's goal was to bring the different professional communities - university, business, and military - of the Huntsville area together to work toward a common goal. The construction of this facility brought UAH and Huntsville into a new era, as Dr. Michael Oliver, then director of the Division of Continuing Education put it:

Huntsville is a city with a unique opportunity for extensive interaction between the technical, business and academic communities. The Bevill Center provides a convenient and comfortable setting for such interaction. The complete resources of a forward-looking University are at hand.

When the building was finally opened in 1988, it successfully fulfilled it's goal of allowing for professional development between the university and the military. Furthermore, due to it's capacity as a hotel, restaurant, and conference center, it was able to host many conferences in the field, including Red Star 2000 which brought prominent Soviet scientists to talk about their advancements in space technology and allow for the comparison and to some extent, cooperation of the two nations, paving the way for a new, more open era of technology. The Bevill Center lived a long life in that role, but as it became less and less necessary for that purpose while the city and community grew, a new purpose was found for it in the 21st century.

In summer of 2020, the Bevill Center was converted to a dormitory facility, now maintained by UAH Housing, that contains 100 studio apartments for upperclassmen (sophomores, juniors, and seniors), as well as a first floor laundry room, kitchen, and the GardenView Cafe. In this new position, the Bevill Center has continued it's purpose on the UAH campus, and will hopefully support the UAH community for years yet to come.

Carswell, Bill. "Center's first conference a success." Exponent (Huntsville) February 3rd 1988. 1-16.

Glasgow, Kim. "Tom Bevill Center officially opens." Exponent (Huntsville) January 27th 1988. 1.

^[1] Quick, Virginia. "Groundbreaking Ceremonies Held For Tom Bevill Center." Postscripts (Huntsville) March 20th 1986. 5 ed, 9 sec, 1-2.

^{[2] [3]} Thornton, Melissa Ford. "Bevill Center Progress." Postscripts (Huntsville) March 6th 1987. 6 ed, 5 sec.3.

The University of Alabama in Huntsville. "Tom Bevill Center Holds Grand Opening." Postscripts (Huntsville) January 26th 1988. 7 ed, 1 sec, 1-2.

The University of Alabama in Huntsville. Bevill Center, UAH Housing & Residence Life. Accessed June 9th 2022. https://www.uah.edu/housing/prospective-residents/residence-halls/bevill-center.