Pittman Center
The Pittman Center For Advanced Medical Studies (PCAMS), (originally named Center for Advanced Medical Studies) was a two-story office building at 1924 7th Avenue South which housed the UAB Center for Clinical and Translational Science. It was named for James Pittman, who served as dean of the University of Alabama School of Medicine from 1973 to 1992.
The brick-clad classically-styled building was constructed in 1980 on the site of the former Reynolds Historical Library, which moved into the Lister Hill Library in 1975. The rectangular building was topped with a hipped roof and had a pedimented gable that faced 7th Avenue, with a projecting balcony supported on square columns.
Pittman commissioned a painting, "Medical Giants of Alabama", from Mississippi portraitist Marshall Bouldin to hang in the Pittman Center's lounge. Controversy over the painting's depiction of pioneering gynecologist J. Marion Sims, who performed medical experiments on slaves, led to the painting's removal.
In 2020 UAB announced plans to demolish the building, along with the adjacent Roy R. Kracke Clinical Services Building, to create a staging area for the expansion and renovation of the neighboring Lyons Harrison Research Building as the Altec Styslinger Genomic Medicine and Data Sciences Building. After those projects are completed, the Pittman Center's site would be converted into a green space.
The building was demolished in 2021.
References
- DeNeefe, Janie (November 19, 2006) "A hidden picture of a medical miracle." Huntsville Times
- Van der Bijl, Hanno (March 9, 2021) "Demo request to go before DRC for UAB’s new genomic building project." Birmingham Business Journal
External links
- Pittman Center For Advanced Medical Studies at Emporis.com