LACKLAND AIR FORCE BASE, Texas –
With an eye cast toward the future, Team Lackland, the city of San Antonio and the Port San Antonio Authority are joining forces on a study involving the Lackland Growth Management Plan.
The San Antonio City Council, through the Office of Economic Adjustment, recently approved a $685,000 grant to conduct a growth study.
It will address how Lackland's growth is impacting the city of San Antonio. The study will identify transportation and infrastructure issues and provide recommendations that would benefit the future growth of Lackland and Port San Antonio.
"It's important to get ahead of issues before we have an impact," said James Henderson, Office of Military Affairs deputy director for the city of San Antonio. "We will have a document that provides a strategic plan down the road that we can work for years to come.
"What happens at Lackland and Port San Antonio does not stay within just those confines; it impacts the whole community. The study will give us a nice roadmap to see the big picture and figure things out."
When Kelly Field was targeted for closure by 1995 Base Realignment and Closure (Kelly was closed in 2001), it eventually evolved into Port San Antonio as an economic engine for the local economy.
Lackland and Port San Antonio share a common runway. While there are still Lackland missions at Port San Antonio, the long-term plan is to move them to the base proper, with the exception of those to be located in Bldg. 171.
Bldg. 171, one of the largest buildings in the city at 460,000 square feet, is undergoing more than $75 million in renovations. The building will house nearly 3,000 people from various Air Force agencies by August 2010 per 2005 BRAC.
"The growth of Bldg. 171 is part of the catalyst," said George DeCoux, 37th Mission Support Group deputy. "We have 3,000 new friends that are going to need support and services."
Focus areas of the study include traffic, storm water drainage, runway repair and future expansion, Lackland's growth at Port San Antonio and its plan to move missions, Port San Antonio air cargo operations, and neighborhood planning.
The purpose of the Lackland Growth Management Plan is to prepare the community for the impact of Port San Antonio to successfully redevelop Kelly properties, and to identify transportation and infrastructure issues and provide recommendations that would support the Lackland mission and the successful development of Port San Antonio.
"One aspect of the study addresses how we provide all these services," said Terry Britton, senior vice president of real estate development for Port San Antonio. "It helps to know what Port San Antonio will have to provide. We'll have to change our business model to focus on the growth."
2005 BRAC actions, multiple Air Force mission consolations that account for 60 percent of the growth and a new Cyber Numbered Air Force at Lackland will mean the addition of 2,000 new base personnel that will push the daily base population over 50,000, yet another impact on the community.
"You have to take these steps (the study) to understand the impact," said Mr. DeCoux. "Once we get the information, we'll decide what our next steps are to mitigate the challenges that will occur with this massive growth."
The study could take a year or more to complete; a similar study at Fort Sam Houston took eight months, Mr. Henderson said.
Mr. DeCoux also said it's a unique situation for the study because of the commercial, city and military entities involved. Looking ahead will be beneficial to all, he added.
"We're setting ourselves up for the future," he said. "It could be 10 years before we begin to see a lot of things that are going to take hold in some cases. The study gives us the right steps to take."