It’s an older building that has served once as a local bank branch and more recently as the home of the Orange Beach Finance Department and named the Al Bradley Finance Building.
Orange Beach …
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It’s an older building that has served once as a local bank branch and more recently as the home of the Orange Beach Finance Department and named the Al Bradley Finance Building.
Orange Beach is now looking to repurpose that building to help with a budding medical district the city wants to foster on Orange Beach Boulevard, or State Route 161, just north of city hall.
“The goal of the renovation is to turn the building into a functional medical office to enhance the medical offerings for Orange Beach residents and visitors,” City Administrator and Finance Director Ford Handley said. “This building will bring additional doctors and specialists to our area.”
Orange Beach officials have always had a stated goal of bringing more medical service options to town for the convenience of residents and the millions of visitors who vacation here.
In September, the city accepted a bid of $1.4 million from Langan Development for the project to remove and replace sheathing and wood studs for $175 per sheet. A first step to start that project is to hire GeoCon Engineering and Materials Testing to provide special inspections and construction materials testing for renovation of the Old Finance Building for $10,000. The city council approved the expenditure at its regular session meeting on Oct. 20.
“The building is being taken down to the studs,” Handley said. “We had significant water and roof damage dating back to Hurricane Sally and the hailstorm.”
Just north of this site is the Orange Beach Medical Arts Building where some medical services are available. In between the old finance building and the medical arts facility is an empty lot the city now uses for overflow parking. In the future, this lot could contribute to more growth to further enhance the effort for an established medical district.
“The long-term goal is another medical building to provide additional healthcare options for Orange Beach,” Handley said.
Orange Beach added on to the south wing of city hall to relocate the Finance Department and kept the name of Al Bradley on the new addition. Bradley, who volunteered as the finance committee chairman and eventually served as a city councilman, played a big role in developing the city’s huge financial surplus and guiding spending of city funds.
Bradley, who passed away in July of 2014, was also Handley’s stepfather.
“Al was a major supporter of purchasing the building originally,” Handley said. “We have renamed the new Finance Department in honor of Al. Our family is very honored to still have his name attached to the new building. He spent a lot of time and energy helping the mayor and council set the stage for the city's current financial position.”
The city announced on Oct. 5 it was looking to hire an executive finance director. Handley is currently serving as both the city administrator and finance director, a dual role he has held since 2022. Handley was first hired as the finance director in 2017. Applications will be taken until Oct. 23. Apply at https://tinyurl.com/bd2tvke8.
