Alabama’s Public School and College Authority awarded $23.5 million to five educational capital projects today, with the largest amount going to a transportation research facility at the University of Alabama, Gov. Kay Ivey announced.
The funds are from a bond issue for educational projects proposed by Ivey and approved by the Legislature last year.
The PSCA includes Ivey, Finance Director Kelly Butler, and State Superintendent Eric Mackey.
The authority is providing $16.5 million for the University of Alabama Smart Communities & Innovation Building.
The governor’s office said in a press release that the project will provide critical research infrastructure for the transportation industry in Alabama.
Alabama Sens. Greg Reed, Bobby Singleton, and Gerald Allen said in a separate press release that the facility will be for research to transform the transportation industry in Alabama and “making the state a national leader in innovation in the area of 21st century electric vehicle technology, workforce and infrastructure.”
The building will house the the Alabama Transportation Institute, the Alabama Department of Transportation’s West Central Region’s Transportation Systems Management Operations, and the Alabama Mobility and Power Initiative (AMP).
According to the senators, the AMP initiative is a result of a partnership between The Alabama Power Company and Mercedes-Benz U.S. International “to create a world-class research and development hub for creating and sustaining modern mobility and power technologies, developing a charging infrastructure, and managing power delivery to support large scale growth in electric vehicles.”
The other PSCA projects announced today:
- $4 million for Snead State Community College to help establish a regional workforce training center in Marshall County.
- $1.75 million for Talladega County Schools to create the East Alabama Rural Innovation and Training Hub.
- $508,754 for Alabama A&M University for capital improvements and deferred maintenance.
- $763,600 for Alabama State University for the Southern Normal School in Brewton, the oldest African-American boarding school in Alabama. It will provide improvements to seven buildings on the campus in Escambia County.
“These remaining PSCA funds will make needed improvements to our public educational facilities, which will have a lasting impact on future generations of Alabamians,” Ivey said in a press release.
The PSCA awarded $298 million in projects in November.
