Missouri National Guard eyes $140M Springfield expansion

Dignitaries such as Sen. Kit Bond, R-Mo., and Rep. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., were on hand for a January groundbreaking for Phase I, which Springfield contractor Carson-Mitchell Inc. has slated for completion in October.

The initial phase includes excavation, utility extensions, a service road and four support buildings at the Army Aviation Classification Repair Activity Depot, or AVCRAD.

Federal funding

Aircraft painting, washing and repair buildings are planned for future phases, which currently don’t have congressional funding.

“Our adjutant general has been asking for any congressional support that we can get to try to get some early funding so we can continue on with the work and not have some delays between phases,” said Lt. Col. Brent Beckley, construction and facilities manager for the Missouri Army National Guard. “That’s a process that he continues almost daily.”

Spokesmen for Bond and Blunt didn’t have any information on when funding would arrive for future phases of AVCRAD.

“The sooner, the better,” said Thomas Hickey, project manager at the St. Louis office of Jacobs Engineering Group Inc., which designed and engineered the project.

Hickey said funding delays could increase the project’s cost by 3 percent to 5 percent annually due to inflation. However, he said there isn’t a worry that early phases would become outdated technologically if the project drags out.

One of four

The construction is an expansion of Springfield’s current AVCRAD unit, which opened in 1981. The unit repairs about 370 National Guard helicopters throughout a 14-state region. The facility is one of four in the country; others are in Connecticut, Mississippi and California, where a 323,000-square-foot AVCRAD expansion is under way in three phases in Fresno.

Springfield’s AVCRAD employs more than 300, including 220 full-time workers, and it is part of a $111 million economic impact the National Guard has on the region, according to the 2006 Missouri National Guard Annual Report. The report credits that figure to supplies, pay and construction; statewide, the report said the economic impact is $777 million.

Talks about expanding Springfield’s 116,000-square-foot facility began in 2001. Within a couple of years, discussions had evolved into the 420,000-square-foot development under way, Buckley said.

The current facility will continue operations after the expansion is finished, according to Capt. Tamara Spicer, public affairs officer for Missouri National Guard. She said the National Guard hasn’t projected employment for the new facility.

When funding for future phases does arrive, the National Guard will open bidding for firms interested in serving as general contractor of each phase.

The Four Phases of AVCRAD

Missouri National Guard’s AVCRAD – Army Aviation Classification Repair Activity Depot – unit repairs about 370 military helicopters within a 14-state region. A 420,000-square-foot, $140 million complex is being constructed on 107 acres at Springfield-Branson National Airport to supplement the 26-year-old 116,000-square-foot facility.

Phase I

$8.5 million, completion scheduled for October

Features: storm-water system; heated, covered and bulk storage buildings; ground support equipment building; and fuel dispensing system.

Phase II

$54 million (awaiting funding)

Features: aircraft paint stripping, painting, chemical treatment and X-ray bays; blade shop; aircraft wash facility; aircraft taxiways; and parking.

Phase III

$43.8 million (awaiting funding)

Features: supply activity warehouse; administrative office space; allied trades support shops; and road extensions.

Phase IV

$33.1 million (awaiting funding)

Features: 12 aircraft maintenance bays; and aircraft parking/tie down pads and taxiways.[[In-content Ad]]