NEWS July 9, 2007
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Jerome Saintjones
A&M Alumnus to Build King Monument
Huntsville, Ala. ---- An Alabama A&M University alumnus and Washington, D.C.-area general contractor has been accorded one of the most coveted projects in American history.
The company headed by Louis Henry Gilford, a 1968 AAMU graduate and native of Ozark, Ala., is part of the four-company design-build team selected to construct the Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial in Washington, D.C.
Gilford heads the Gilford Corporation, established in 1984 as a civil engineering firm under the banner of Gilford and Chase. In 1995, the firm’s focus shifted to construction and changed its name to Gilford Corporation. Over the years, the company has experienced significant growth and has completed over 350 projects with an aggregate value of over $180 million, excluding joint ventures.
“It means a great deal for my wife, Ollie, and me to be a part of this historical undertaking,” commented Gilford. “Both of us grew up in Alabama during the height of the civil rights movement. We experienced the inequities of segregation and also participated in the struggle by taking part in the demonstrations and Dr. King’s voter registration efforts.”
Gilford Corporation currently employs an ethnically and culturally diverse staff of more than 150 people and offers multi-disciplinary services that include 1) general contracting and construction management; 2) demolition and environmental services; 3) information technology and network services; and 4) international construction and network services.
In addition to the Gilford Corporation, the design-build team selected by the Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial Foundation includes partners Turner Construction Company, McKissack and McKissack, and Tompkins Builders, Inc.
The memorial honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. will be built on the National Mall in Washington adjacent to the Franklin D. Roosevelt Memorial and in a direct line between the Lincoln and Jefferson Memorials. The Memorial Foundation has raised about $79.5 million of the needed $100 million to build and maintain the memorial, which is scheduled for completion in 2008.
For more information about the memorial, visit
www.buildthedream.org or
www.gilfordcorp.com.
Posted By: Jehan Bunch
Monday, July 9th 2007 at 1:41PM
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