City of Tuscaloosa Holds Renaming Ceremony for Almon Avenue
October 27, 2023
The City of Tuscaloosa held a street renaming for Almon Ave. on Friday, October 27 at 11 a.m. at the Almon Building.
Tuscaloosa Mayor Walt Maddox, former City Engineer Joe Robinson, Interim City Engineer Mike Gardiner, TTL CEO Jason Walker and the Almon Family spoke during the ceremony.
“What you see on our riverfront and what you see downtown, the genesis of that belongs to Bob Almon,” said Mayor Walt Maddox. “Those were Bob Almon’s ideas and vision that made the Amphitheater, the River Market, the Riverwalk, Government Plaza, the Federal Courthouse. All of those things that you see is because Bob Almon had a vision to make it happen.”
The street, currently 21st Avenue, will now be known as Almon Avenue after Robert N. Almon Sr.
“He was always looking ahead,” said TTL CEO Jason Walker. “As you start from the river and you come all the way up to the Almon Building, a lot of worthy people and City forefathers had things named after them, but I can’t think of one more appropriate than this street named after someone who was able to plan and design everything along 21st.”
Robert N. Almon Sr. was born on May 3, 1933 in Selma, Alabama. Almon received his B.S. and M.S. in Civil Engineering from The University of Alabama. He was a Registered Professional Engineer and served in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, retiring as a Lieutenant Colonel. Almon founded Almon Associates, Inc. and the Tuscaloosa Testing Laboratory, now named TTL. He was later inducted as a 150th Anniversary Distinguished Fellow of The University of Alabama’s College of Engineering. Almon actively worked on the planning and implementation of several projects around Tuscaloosa including the Tuscaloosa Riverwalk, the Tuscaloosa Downtown Revitalization Project and the NorthRiver Water Supply Project (Lake Tuscaloosa). Robert N. Almon passed away on November 19, 2014.
“He was proud of his employees, he was proud of his company and proud of his engineering profession,” said former City Engineer Job Robinson.
“I can’t tell you how much my father loved the City of Tuscaloosa,” said Robert Almon. “Every morning, people wake up in this City, turn the water on, use the restroom, cross one of the bridges or drive down Jack Warner or Rice Mine Road, he really made an impact and I'm proud of that.”