Quinlan Castle demolition begins: Iconic Birmingham apartments coming down after 95 years

It opened as an apartment complex with 72 one-bedroom units in two four-story buildings with a courtyard. It’s been sitting empty for three decades. Engineers say it is an unusable, dangerous structure.

Southern Research, which bought Quinlan in 2008 from the City of Birmingham for $400,000, will demolish the building and incorporate it into its 22-acre campus

“While the castle’s demolition is a bittersweet moment, we are excited about our plans for this site and what they mean for the future of Southern Research and for Alabama,” said Josh Carpenter, the president and CEO of Southern Research. “We are building a new biotech center that will greatly expand our research in infectious diseases like COVID-19 and the chronic health conditions that put our family, friends and communities at risk”