Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship
The Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship is being developed on the grounds of Fairhope’s first high school in a historic building that has sat vacant for over 10 years.
Watershed is working with Thompson Engineering and Watermark to revitalize and strengthen the historic school building.
The program includes flexible work space, assembly, offices, meeting rooms, and a cafe and teaching kitchen. The project includes significant work to strengthen the historic building and bring it up to modern standards for health safety and energy efficiency.
The site design will strengthen connections to the adjacent NEST campus, central business district, and park. It will enhance and extend the green infrastructure that manages stormwater at the NEST to serve the Center.
After years of negotiations, the city of Fairhope acquired the building from the Baldwin County Board of Education, and has full ownership. The center is being development in collaboration with the NEST project, and supports the COF vision for a Center for Innovation, Education, and the Arts on the historic school campus.
Project type: civic/educational historic revitalization
Location: Fairhope, AL