SA Military Major Expansion Construction

BRAC projects to increase S.A. military construction tenfold(Public Facilities : San Antonio) 1/16/2008

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is ready to bid out local projects set in motion as a result of the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure decision. The Corps will award 12 to 15 projects, for a total of $1 billion in construction, as part of the BRAC action during fiscal year 2008. The average yearly amount of military construction in San Antonio is between $65 million and $100 million. The BRAC construction will increase that tenfold. The BRAC action encompasses about 78 new and renovated primary facilities, which will total about 6 million sf and entail more than $2 billion in construction-related spending. The facilities will be located at Fort Sam Houston, Camp Bullis, Lackland Air Force Base and Randolph Air Force Base. The construction for all the projects is scheduled to be completed by September 2011. The main projects taking place in San Antonio will be the renovation of Brooke Army Medical Center (BAMC) to handle all in-patient hospital care and civilian trauma care and the conversion of Wilford Hall Medical Center into an ambulatory care clinic that will focus on outpatient care. Additions to BAMC will include a tower to house emergency rooms, operating room and clinical and administrative space. An additional 250,000 sf of the hospital will be renovated. Brooke Army Medical Center will be renamed the San Antonio Military Medical Center North, and Wilford Hall Medical Center will be renamed the San Antonio Military Medical Center South. Another large piece of the BRAC puzzle includes the consolidation of all medical training programs for all military branches to Fort Sam Houston. That will involve the construction of the Medical Education and Training Campus which will include 2 million sf of dorms, classrooms, labs, training areas and dining facilities to accommodate an average daily student enrollment of more than 9,000. (Reprinted from 12/21/2007)[San Antonio Business Journal]