BIRMINGHAM, Alabama – Southern Research Institute is putting together a plan to invest up to $10 million to convert the Quinlan Castle into a mixed-use project that could be used to teach children and adults about science.

Art Tipton, chief executive of SRI, said no plans are ready to act on yet, but they have determined an investment of $7 million to $10 million could convert the "castle" into a mixed-use educational facility where the young and old could satisfy scientific curiosity. Tipton made the comments while speaking to the Rotary Club of Birmingham today.

SRI has owned the Birmingham landmark since purchasing it from the city in 2008 for $400,000. It has invested some money repairing the turrets and the roof and securing the building from the homeless who used to illegally live there.

It was built in 1927 as an apartment project with 72 apartments at 2026 Ninth Ave. South. Two doctors who partnered in the original construction were said to have been inspired by seeing castles in Europe during World War I.

The building has been vacant since the 1990s and the city took over the property in 1993 after the owner defaulted on a low-interest loan.

When it sold the building to SRI in 2008, the city stipulated SRI had 10 years to find an alternate use.

Tipton noted while speaking to the Rotary Club that SRI will celebrate its 75th Anniversary in 2016. He did not say the Quinlan Castle renovation would be part of that celebration, only saying SRI is planning to mark the anniversary in a notable way.

As part of his own research on the history of Southern Research, Tipton found where SRI used to hold open houses, attracting thousands of high school children and educators to learn and see things happening at the facility.

Tipton said starting this October, SRI will begin reaching out to high school students in the metro area to bring that kind of interaction back. He did not say what a renovated Quinlan Castle's role in that outreach might be in the future, but it would seem to fit with the plan Tipton said is on the table.

Efforts to reach Tipton after the meeting to elaborate were unsuccessful.

Tipton said he is always prepared to talk about SRI's pharmaceutical research or how it has seven anti-cancer drugs on the market or how 51 percent of its work is not even in the life sciences but in engineering projects like rockets and airplanes and energy.

"But the question I get asked most often is, 'What's going to happen with Quinlan Castle?'," he said.