1918 1st Avenue North
1918 1st Avenue North, also known as the 1918 Building, the Birmingham Gas Company building, the Alabama Gas Company Building, the Alagasco Building or the Alagasco Empire Building, is a five-story, 78,000 square-foot commercial building which was constructed at 1918-1924 1st Avenue North in 1915.
The building housed the Birmingham Gas Company in 1937. The Gasco Employees Credit Union (now 1st Resource Credit Union) was founded there in 1940. In 1948 Southern Natural Gas merged the Birmingham Gas Company and the Alabama Gas Company into the Alabama Gas Corporation, and the 1918 Building became its headquarters. An "Audichron" automated telephone clock was installed in the building's lobby in 1949.
Alagasco was spun off from Southern as a public distribution utility in 1953.
The building was combined with the adjoining Bank for Savings & Trusts with extensive interior renovations and a modern steel and glass facade in 1963. It continued to serve as Alagasco's primary office until completion of the Energen Plaza in 1998.
The long-vacant building was purchased from Bocar Family Holdings of Carson City, Nevada in 2015, and redeveloped in 2019 as a Fairfield Inn & Suites, operated jointly with the adjacent Elyton Hotel. The hotel renovation involved replacement of the 1960s steel and glass facade with simulated stucco.
References
- Davis, Bryan (May 20, 2015) "Hotel developer finalizes deal for former Alagasco HQ." Birmingham Business Journal
- Poe, Kelly (April 20, 2016) "Empire Hotel developer to demolish old Junior League building." The Birmingham News
- Van der Bijl, Hanno (July 26, 2019) "New upscale hotel opens at Heaviest Corner on Earth downtown." Birmingham Business Journal
External links
- Alagasco Building at Emporis.com