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JBSA News
NEWS | Sept. 8, 2009

Massive BMT construction project begins this fall

By Mike Joseph 37th Training Wing Public Affairs

Change is coming to the Lackland skyline this fall.

What will be the largest military construction program in the Air Force begins next month when work starts on the first of 13 new basic military training facilities.

With a price tag of nearly $900 million, the eight Airmen Training Complexes and four associated dining-classroom facilities will be located on two campuses. The campuses replace existing 1,000-man Recruit Housing and Training buildings currently scattered around the base. The RH and Ts were built in the late 1960s and early 1970s to replace the World War II-era military open-bay barracks.

Each ATC is projected to cost $75 million and accommodate 1,200 basic trainees. The dining-classroom facilities are estimated to cost $32 million each. Merrick & Company is the designer of state-of-the art buildings. 

The renovation of existing facilities to relocate offices out of the construction area is nearly complete, said Howard Steck, a program manager assigned to the 37th Civil Engineer Squadron, about the immense project. 

"It's one monster project. It will be one of the biggest (military construction projects) we've seen on base in many years," explained 37th CES Project Manager Camilo Morales.

Construction of the two new campuses will be phased in over nine years. Building on the east campus begins first and when completed, Luke Boulevard and Connally Street will border it from north to south, Gary and Carswell Avenues from east to west. Construction on the west campus, which replaces the four RH and Ts on the southwest corner of Truemper Street and Carswell, is scheduled to begin in February 2013.

Each ATC will have its own running track, drill pad, a war skills area and utility infrastructure.

Only one military open bay dormitory, Bldg. 6351, remains on base, located in the upcoming construction zone. The History and Traditions Museum has procured the building and it will be moved behind the museum in September.

In addition to the campuses, a new $20 million BMT processing and information center is on the drawing board for the southeast corner of Truemper and Carswell, directly across from the west campus.

Mr. Steck said the contractor will begin erecting construction fences for the east campus sometime in mid-October. Work on the ATC begins in November with a projected October-November 2011 completion date. 

An adjacent dining-classroom facility will serve two ATCs; work is slated to start in February 2010 and should be completed at the same time as the first ATC.

By staggering construction, Mr. Steck said work on a new ATC building should begin every 12 months. According to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, 18 months into the project, an estimated 500-750 construction workers will be on the east campus daily.

"It's going to be incredible, how many people we're going to have out there," said Mr. Morales. 

Road closures in the east campus area begin in October. 

Gary, George, Barnes and Walker Avenues all will be closed between Connally and Kirtland Streets during the next four years. Carswell becomes the only north-south travel option on the BMT side during the peak of construction.