Space

MDA Commissions New Building at Redstone Arsenal

07-NEWS-0042
30 July 2007

Air Force Lt. General Henry "Trey" Obering III, Missile Defense Agency director, officiated at the commissioning of a new MDA building today in a ceremony at the von Braun Complex on Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Ala. Also in attendance at the ceremony were U.S. Senators Richard Shelby and Jeff Sessions and U.S. Representatives Bud Cramer and Robert Aderholt.

"This is the physical manifestation of the first major milestone of MDA's move to the Tennessee Valley," Obering said, noting that through the latest round of Base Realignment and Closure activities a total of 2,500 MDA workers are set to move to the area.

While not specifically built to support BRAC, the 240,000-square-foot building will be occupied by MDA workers who are moving to Huntsville as part of BRAC, as well as those who are moving as part of MDA's internal reengineering initiative. These workers will join several hundred other MDA employees and support contractors who have lived and worked in Huntsville since the beginning of the Strategic Defense Initiative Organization, MDA's legacy organization. The total occupancy for the building will be around 1,000.

The building was constructed by Turner Universal Construction of Huntsville. Total construction time was approximately two years. Cost for the building is $44.4 million. It is similar in size and style to the U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command Headquarters, which was the first building constructed in the von Braun Complex.

Contact: Pam Rogers, MDA Public Affairs, at (256) 955-2952 or [email protected]