A building undergoing construction on Fifth Avenue in Clanton will serve as the new headquarters of a local contracting company later this summer.

Chilton Contractors will move its operations from an office on County Road 29 in Jemison to the newly renovated building on Fifth Avenue near Highway 31, most likely in September.

“We’re glad to be moving to Clanton,” Chilton Contractors President Allen Payton said. “We needed room, and we’re thankful we were able to do that.”

Chilton Contractors purchased the building more than a year ago from J.O. Mims, who leased the building to Alabama Power Company for about 30 years.

Chilton Contractors started the design phase of the project with an architect in Fall 2013 and began demolition to construct in February or March this year.

Work crews are currently installing underground utilities, constructing a new parking lot, curb and gutter, and hanging drywall inside the building.

The next step is assessing the office layout and choosing interior furnishings.

Chilton Contractors is performing much of the work, along with Central Heating and Cooling LLC, E & E Acoustical & Drywall Inc., Concrete Plus Construction and electrician Jack Green.

Chilton Contractors has two sister companies under its umbrella, Premiere Paving LLC and Straight Line Engineering and Consulting LLC.

Payton’s son, Rodney Payton, is president of Premiere Paving, and Allen serves as president of Straight Line Engineering alongside engineer Kyle Tigner.

Chilton Contractors does site work, municipal work with utilities and is a heavy highway contractor concerning interstate systems.

The company is comprised of nearly 70 employees, including six people on the administrative staff and three project managers.

Payton said most of the employees are from Chilton County.

“We have a really good staff,” Payton said. “We have 70 employees, and we want every one of them to feel like they have some ownership here.”

Payton and his wife Melanie started the company as Payton Excavating in 1984 and changed the name to Chilton Contractors in 1986.

“I didn’t want it to be about me,” Payton said. “It’s other people that have made who we are.”

Chilton Contractors is involved in various local and state projects, such as the Chilton County Airport runway expansion project; U.S. Highway 31 and Alabama Highway 22 intersection upgrades in Clanton; U.S. Highway 82 bypass project in Centreville; Outer Loop in Montgomery; and the collaborative rebuilding of U.S. Highway 280.

“We’re thankful for the employment out of Chilton County and the central location for sure,” Payton said. “The city of Clanton has been really good to us over the years. We want to be down there.”