JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-FORT SAM HOUSTON, Texas –
Construction of a new $54 million exchange shopping center at Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston is progressing as project officials anticipate the laying of the building’s foundation in the summer.
The new 210,000-square-foot Army and Air Force Exchange Service Center is being constructed across from the current exchange center at Henry Allen and Winfield Scott roads, which was built in 1971. The new exchange center is expected to be completed in spring 2020, replacing the current exchange building that will be demolished.
Abraham Goodwin, 502nd Civil Engineer Squadron/Civil Engineering Management project manager at JBSA-Fort Sam Houston, said work crews are laying down the infrastructure for the new exchange center, including putting in and rerouting of utility lines, the installation of water mains and storm and sewer drains and soil preparation.
“We are moving right along,” Goodwin said.
Already approximately 130,000 cubic yards of soil has been removed from the 23-acre exchange center project site. Goodwin said the soil that was removed contained many clays, making it expansive and not suitable for supporting the foundation of the new exchange building. A more compacted soil will be brought in at the site.
If everything stays on schedule and weather permitting, Goodwin said work on the exchange center’s foundation should begin in June or July.
Other site work includes installation of new power lines by CPS Energy. The new lines are being put in to support the additional electrical loads and the reroutes of the electrical power that will come from the new exchange center.
A Burger King restaurant, which is located at the site of the new exchange center, closed March 2 so that workers could dig underneath the restaurant’s parking lot to lay and reroute electrical and communication lines for the new exchange center. The site of the former Burger King will include a portion of the parking lot and the loading area for the new exchange building.
The restaurant had been scheduled to close in late April, but circumstances related to the construction of new exchange center changed those plans.
“Because the soil was so unstable underneath the Burger King parking lot, it didn’t allow for normal trenching for the lines,” Goodwin said. “We had to do slope trenching which took up basically the entire parking lot. Now that Burger King is closed, we can get in there and get to those utilities.”
The former Burger King is expected to be demolished next month once all the equipment is taken out of it and salvaged.
Goodwin said Burger King will relocate to a multi-fast food restaurant building that will be built on post and is scheduled to open in June 2019.
The new restaurant facility will be constructed at the site of the current Popeye’s, located across from the PXtra store. To make room for the multi-fast food restaurant, Popeye’s will close in May or June and be demolished. Along with Burger King, Popeye’s will move into the multi-fast food building upon its completion next year.
Workers have had to overcome some challenges along the way during construction. On Feb. 12, workers inadvertently hit two water lines in separate incidents that occurred four hours apart. In both incidents, it took crews hours to repair, fix and put the lines back into operation. The first accident caused water to be cutoff to the current exchange center, while the second forced the shutdown of water to the both the current exchange center and commissary.
“The main issues that we have run across, and that is typically with any new construction on post, is the existence of utilities that are not accurately shown on existing utility drawings,” Goodwin said. “Some aren’t shown on the drawings period. Every now and again the contractors run into them.”
As construction continues, Goodwin is warning people not to go through the construction zone. He said there have been instances in which people have entered the construction area through an access gate, which is open when workers are hauling dirt, to take a short cut to the current exchange or commissary.
“We still have folks entering the construction site,” he said. “They need not to do that because it’s dangerous and we don’t want anyone hurt because my number one priority is safety for the residents, service members and workers.”
Once it is completed, the new shopping center will be twice the size of the current one and include a main exchange, mall, expanded food court and a PXtra store. Included in the mall will be a dental clinic and pharmacy, 10 kiosks and 12 convenient services.