The general contractor was Huber, Hunt & Nichols of Indianapolis, the 14th largest contractor in the nation in 1993.  HH&N thought it could run roughshod over the small town hicks, and to a large extent it did.  As you will see, the plethora of problems they created were exacerbated by internal turmoil which began within that company just about the time our construction got underway, by the RSA’s “Owner’s Representative” (who was a former employee of Huber-Hunt), and by the fact that the job was bid entirely too low to withstand the rapidly increasing construction costs of ‘93, ‘94, and ‘95.  Thus the poor Tower project suffered incompetent management and supervision, an owner’s rep who bent over backwards showing gross favoritism to the contractor, and a contractor who faced a money-losing proposition from the outset.  These factors combined to produce a dire combination of job strife and abominable workmanship.

Shortly after the job began, the HH&N home office simply sent word to the job managers to get them out of Montgomery at the earliest possible date and damn the product.  But despite that dictum, it took them 5 ½ years to build the RSA Tower. It’s a wonder that we got it built at all, considering all the handicaps the poor job suffered.  And what little pride I have for the result is negated by all the cover-ups that took place.

The tower construction was done in two phases, same as the previous four RSA office buildings.  The early foundation package was awarded to Parker Building Company of Opelika.  Parker started its work in November of 1992.  Huber, Hunt & Nichols officially assumed care, custody and control of the construction site on June 1, 1993, and their time of completion started on that date.  Under duress,

PH&J officially declared the job “Substantially Completed” five years later in mid-1998.  The 67-months time, from Parker’s start until HH&N’s finish, felt like a lifetime of punishment.

-Charles Humphries (“Peril and Intrigue Within Architecture”)

This is one of many RSA Tower stories. The rest can be found here.