First look: Restored east wing rises at UA's historic Bryce Main building

Renovations at the historic Bryce Main building entered a new phase with construction on the building's east wing now underway on the University of Alabama campus. The stair and elevator towers have been erected and the steel beams and girders will begin going up soon.

The east wing was so badly damaged because of time and exposure to the elements that it had become structurally unsound and had to be torn down. According to project manager Ashton Fisher and Tim Leopard, senior associate vice-president of campus development, the work is going well on the $83,750,000 Bryce Main renovation project.

"The building will open up at the end of 2023. The first floor, the welcome center, and the second floor where the Alabama Department of Mental Health Museum will be in the central pavilion will be open then," Fisher said.

The second and third floors of both the east and west wing will house the school of theater and dance. Leopard said he expects to move those schools into the building by around September 2026. The building will have 117,352 square feet of space when it is completed.

"The east wing, we are replicating what was there and putting it back precisely as it was. The team took detailed drawings and photographs and measurements. We are putting it back exactly like it was on the exterior so the east wing will match the west wing with respect to the window openings and the finish materials and all that," Leopard said.

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The exterior will be bricked just like the other portions of the historic building. Leopard said it is possible that some of the brick salvaged from the original east wing could be used in the new construction if the bricks are in good enough condition to be incorporated in the building.

The east wing is going up while renovation work continues on the west wing, including a partial demolition of the northwest corner of the west wing, where structural instability demanded some extra work to make the building sound.

"The building used to be several more wings going that way (west). There were six wings going that way. At that tie in point between the original three wings, the building was not sound at all, so we elected to take it down. There is a stair that goes in that corner anyway, so we wanted to redo the structure and make sure the building was appropriately structured," Leopard said.

The old roof on both wings is being replaced with a steel truss roof. On the west wing, that roof will be put on top of the existing walls, which have received some extra bracing to help make them stronger. Leopard said that builders are matching every detail of the old roof structures in the new construction.

"The geometry of the roof, the pitch of it, the doghouse dormers that were on there, we will put all that back exactly like it was. There was some really elegant tall slender spires, and we will put those back up there," Leopard said.

The central building has had its portico stripped away. Damage to structural elements from weathering and the need to update the portico to meet current building codes required replacement rather than repairs.

"This building, the history of it is incredible. The portico was not original to the building. It was built in the 1880s or 1890s. We believe it was designed by Dr. (Peter) Bryce himself, but the construction materials and methods, a lot of the wood had rotted away, but it was brick and for it to be stacked up that tall, it really wasn’t as strong as it should be," Leopard said.

The portico will be replicated in every detail so that the renovated building will retain the historical look even if it will be redone with modern construction methods.

One element that no one will see in the finished building is the bluish stone used to make all the lentils for every doorway on the first floor. The stone was quarried from the banks of the Black Warrior River, giving the building a direct connection to the land upon which it is constructed. Leopard said many of Tuscaloosa's old buildings have that same stone used in their foundations.

One thing the construction crews have not encountered during their work is the ghosts said by some to inhabit the old mental health hospital.

"I’ve been in this building all hours of the day and night and I have never seen anything, but Steve Davis with the Alabama Department of Mental Health may differ with me," Leopard said, smiling at the notion of the legendary apparitions.

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What Leopard is certain of is the quality of the finished product and its impact upon the campus.

"This is an incredibly important building for the state of Alabama and the University of Alabama. The board of trustees has really taken a leadership position to make this a special project and to engage the Peter Bryce Preserve. When this thing is done, it’s going to be one of the most beautiful buildings in America, in one of the best cities in America," Leopard said.

This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: First look: Restored east wing rises at UA's historic Bryce Main building