2250 Bessemer Road

2250 Bessemer Road is a commercial lot located at 2250–2254 Bessemer Road (formerly 2630 Bessemer Road), on the corner of Ensley 5 Points West Avenue, in the Five Points West district of Birmingham's Central Park neighborhood.

The site was occupied by the South Park Service Station in the 1940s, and then was used for Nick Gulas' Sombrero Drive-In in the 1950s. The first office building on the site was constructed in 1960 for the Five Points West branch of the Exchange Security Bank. The one-story stone and tile building was designed by architect William Shaw and constructed for $175,000 by the Robins Engineering Co. The branch originally featured three drive-in teller islands.

The branch became part of First Alabama Bank by merger in July 1971 and was renamed Regions Bank in 1992. It operated as a branch of that bank until it was vacated in the 2000s.

Schaeffer Eye Center, which had operated in the building for more than a decade, purchased the property for $100,000 in 2011 under a redevelopment agreement from the City of Birmingham. That project did was not realized.

In 2020 attorney Eric Guster bought the building from the city for the same price and announced plans to demolish it for construction of a new 3,800 square-foot office building.

Occupants

• South Park Service Station, 1940s
• Sombrero Drive-In, 1957
• Exchange Security Bank, 1960–1971
• First Alabama Bank, 1971–1992
• Regions Bank, 1992–2000s
• Jackson-Hewitt Tax Service / Jack Schaeffer optometrist / Tandy Corporation (2000)
• Schaeffer Eye Center (2007–)

References

• "New Exchange-Security branch for Five Points West" (August 1959) The Birmingham News
• Van der Bijl, Hanno (September 14, 2020) "Local attorney acquires former bank building in Five Points West." Birmingham Business Journal
• Van der Bijl, Hanno (November 18, 2020) "Guster plans new office building at former Regions branch." Birmingham Business Journal