A half-billion dollars' worth of construction in 17 minutes.
Garrison Commander Col. Robert Bridgford wowed area leaders Friday with a computer-animated video that shows all the construction taking place on Fort Sill. Most of it is related to the 2005 recommendations of the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) Commission, which by law must be in place by Sept. 15, 2011. Some of it is for other reasons, like the Residential Community Initiative (RCI) partnership with Picerne Military Housing or the war effort.
In addition to the 11 buildings that make up the $210 million Air Defense Artillery (ADA) School, there's a $128 million complex for the 31st ADA Brigade, which is part of BRAC but completely separate from the school. Builders are 18 percent of the way into that project, according to Daryl Sweeten, construction manager for the Army Corps of Engineers.
Sweeten said it will take six general contractors to raise the 31 buildings totaling 388,000 square feet on 86 acres of land. "We project that probably by the middle of this summer from 550 to 600 craftsman will be working on this job," Sweeten said. To make the complex more energy-efficient, 266 geothermal wells are being drilled at the site. They will be a little more than 200 feet deep, according to Paul Panter, construction manager for the Corps. "It's all (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design) - type construction, green-type construction," Panter said. Much of the BRAC work consists of renovations of existing buildings. The first floor of Know Hall, south of McNair Hall, has been gutted and refurbished, and Bridgford said that last week, Fort Sill got an unexpected $6 million to redo the second floor. A $3.8 million infusion of capital will allow Fort Sill to turn the old III Corps Artillery headquarters and three adjacent buildings into the new headquarters of 6th ADA Brigade, he added. He expects the $6.8 million renovation of Rinehart Physical Fitness Center to be done about mid-March. Nearby, the capacity of Fort Sill's Child Development Centers will grow by a factor of 3.5, as one new center is done east of Tincher, and site preparation for a third is starting right behind it. Fort Sill is guaranteed to get 432 new homes built under its partnership with Picerne, which will result in a net gain of 238 homes for the post when old housing is phased out. Bridgford made it clear there will be improvements for Field Artillery soldiers as well as ADA soldiers. A $63 million project on the training side will result in two "super-DFACs (dining facilities)" for trainees, and Fort Sill is trying to secure funding for a third. Space occupied by the DFACs inside the starships will be converted to other uses. On the oppisite side of post, there will be a multi-year project starting in 2012 to replace the Field Artillery motor pools. A new fitness center will be going near the Harry S Truman Education Center, and Fort Sill is working on getting another for the training side. In addition to augmented entries going in at Fort Sill this year, to improve force protection at access control points, Bridgford took stock of additions to the ADA School scheduled for as far out as 2015.
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