Doors to the newly-constructed George Washington Carver High School for Health Professions, Engineering and Technology were opened in a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Jan. 16, 2001 in Birmingham, AL.

The Doster Construction Company of Irondale, AL, recently completed both this state-of-the-art school and a kitchen and dining hall building. An athletics and multi-media building is in the offing. The facility replaces the former Carver High School which was closed in 1998.

The Doster professionals on the project include Mike Horton, senior project manager; Kim Maikranz, project manager; and Charlie Hubbard, superintendent. Damian Curtis is project engineer.

Designed by the architect firm of Giattina Fisher Aycock Architects Inc. of Birmingham, this is a five-story, 166,000-sq.-ft. classroom building which will accommodate 2,000 students and teachers.

Construction of this $44.5-million project began in August 1999.

Kim Maikranz, project manager, Nichols Carver High School said the work had gone “very smoothly,” and that no glitches — weather or otherwise — had delayed the workers during construction.

“Last winter’s cold spell concerned us but it didn’t hold us up,” Maikranz said.

Describing the school as “a five-story building on property that formerly was the North Birmingham Golf Course,” Maikranz said that the school’s entrance is set into the side of a hill making only the lower floors exposed from the front while all five stories are seen from the rear.

The mass grading and preparation of the building pad was done by the Saiia Construction Company of Birmingham. Concrete form work was done by the Southern Company Services, also of Birmingham.

Equipment for the project was provided by D & F Equipment Company, NationsRent and United Rental.

Other sub-contractors who participated in the construction included the M & A Electric Company, P & M Mechanical; and Professional Masonry; all of Birmingham, and Plumbing Systems Inc. of Irondale.

On a given day, between 150 and 200 workers were working at the site.

Michelle Chapman, director of communications for the Birmingham school system, also enthusiastic about the complex, said, “This is a magnificent building with many special components. For example, on the second floor is a large media center and the school is equipped with 650 computers and video on demand is available in most of the 45 classrooms.”

Both Maikranz and Chapman mentioned a corner classroom on the fifth floor in which two sides are glass providing a stunning view of Birmingham’s skyline in the distance.

This school is the first new high school built in Birmingham in three decades. It is also the first of three new high schools that are included in the Capital Improvement Plan of the Birmingham City School System. Both the city of Birmingham and the state of Alabama contributed funds towards the building of this new facility.

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