NAF Key West Breaks Ground for New Tower
Navy Newsstand
Release Date: 10/23/2002 1:22:00 PM
By Journalist 2nd Class Mark Schultz
KEY WEST, Fla. (NNS) -- Naval Air Facility Key West held a groundbreaking ceremony for a new air traffic control tower and operations facility Friday. This military construction (MILCON) was awarded as a design and build project replacing the 50-year-old structures at the facilities Boca Chica airfield.
"The buildings look nice on the inside thanks to the Seabees," said Capt. Lawrence S. Cotton, commanding officer, NAF Key West. "But the climate here in the Lower Keys, while kind to the body, is extremely unkind to buildings."
More than 8,000 air traffic controllers have conducted approximately 5 million aircraft operations since the current tower was built in 1952.
At 3,500 square feet and six stories high, the new air-traffic control tower will be a major asset towards mission accomplishment. The addition of a 14,600 square-foot and two-story high combined air operations/passenger terminal facility is an added bonus for operations and squadron personnel.
"The numerous renovations and construction of new operational facilities will keep NAF Key West as a leader in tactical aviation training," said Cotton.
At $9.16 million, this MILCON project, awarded by Naval Facilities Engineering Command Southern Division, includes the demolition and removal of the existing facilities by Sauer Inc. and is scheduled to start late this year to early next year.
Thomas Matske, Vice President of VOA Assoicates, a subcontractor hired to design the new facilities, told ceremony guests "the design is almost 100 percent complete."
The Navy awarded more than $75 million in military construction and services contracts at Naval Air Facility Key West last year.
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