Submarine Base New London Tears Down to Build Up
Navy NewsStand
Story Number: NNS090319-08
Release Date: 3/19/2009 9:25:00 AM
By Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Peter D. Blair, Naval Submarine Base New London Public Affairs
GROTON, Conn. (NNS) -- Naval Submarine Base (SUBASE) New London held a double ceremony March 13, opening a new crane maintenance facility (CMF) and beginning the deconstruction of two former barracks buildings, as elements of the Navy's Shore Vision 2035 plan continue to transform the base.
Shore Vision 2035 is the Navy's new vision for shore basing. It includes a substantial reduction of base infrastructure and a model of base layout that zones infrastructure along functional lines.
Certainly the function of the base's waterfront is to support its homeported submarines, and the new CMF will make an immediate impact.
"A lot of people here today may believe that submarine support at SUBASE begins and ends with modern piers," said base Commanding Officer Capt. Mark S. Ginda at the crane facility's ribbon cutting. "We drove by one of those new modern, double-wide piers, Pier 6, to get here… But if submarines are the heart of the base, and the piers its bones, then cranes are the life blood."
The base's mobile cranes are used for evolutions ranging from weapons and stores loading, to periscope and mast maintenance, and battery change outs.
A nearly four million dollar design and build project by the M.A. Mortenson Company, the new CMF allows the mobile cranes to be stored and maintained indoors, protected from harsh New England winters. The 10,000 square-foot facility will enhance reliable crane availability, extend crane life, and provide a safe environment for maintenance work.
Neither the day's date nor the nature of the day's second ceremony would prove "safe" for two of the base's former barracks, buildings 442 and 447.
"Friday the thirteenth…The only unlucky thing about this day is if you're an old excess building on the base, because you will no longer exist," Ginda jokingly told the group travelling with him to the ceremony.
Pointing out that equally important to construction in Shore Vision 2035 is demolition, Ginda explained that reducing unneeded and excess infrastructure reduces financial drains and allows for the Navy's recapitalization.
SUBASE's demolition of the two buildings is part of one of the most ambitious demolition undertakings in the Navy. SUBASE has plans to raze more than 35 buildings and structures through efforts totaling more than $18 million and resulting in an infrastructure footprint reduction of more than 470,000 square feet.
Building 429, a former barracks, has undergone a major repurposing and now has new life as an innovative retail, recreation, and lodging facility. The building is not only home to base's Officers Club and Chiefs Club, but also to a newly relocated branch of the Navy Federal Credit Union. Moreover, SUBASE's temporary lodging facility for visitors, Navy Gateway Inns and Suites, will be moving their operation to the building by this summer.
With the clearing of Buildings 442 and 447, their 4 acre site will become another step closer to becoming a retail facility or restaurant that may not only benefit the young Sailor population living on the base but also the community. That step is possible through the Enhanced Use Lease program that allows underutilized, non-excess real property to be leased; and in return, the Navy can obtain consideration in cash or in-kind services.
Before Ginda boarded an excavator to assist prime contractor P and S Construction with tearing down the two buildings, he summed up his enthusiasm for the on-going transformations at SUBASE.
"This is part of the continuing effort to put some shine back on the crown jewel of the submarine capital of the world," said Ginda.
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