When the walls come tumblin' down

By Julia LeDouxAugust 1, 2014

When the walls come tumblin' down
1 / 2 Show Caption + Hide Caption – (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
When the walls come tumblin' down
2 / 2 Show Caption + Hide Caption – (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

JOINT BASE MYER-HENDERSON HALL, Va. - Demolition of Building 406 on the Fort Myer portion of Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall is under way and on schedule, according to officials.

"We're about 25 to 30 percent right now," Ramon Nieves, Directorate of Public Works project management branch chief, said as he looked over the site July 25. "We're getting there."

The building had four wings and was H-shaped prior to demolition, he said. Rubble from what had been the southeast section of the building is on the ground behind a chain-link security fence.

The southwest portion of the building is scheduled to be the next section to come down, said Nieves.

"The center corridor will stay there for utilities and support of the people doing the demolition," he added.

The demolition of the 179,444 square foot, four-story former barracks began the third week of March and is expected to be completed by the end of September. Located on McNair Road between Spates Community Club and the Bowling Center, the building once housed Soldiers and emergency and recovery teams after the Sept. 11, 2001, attack on the Pentagon. The 50-year-old structure has been vacant since 2011. The last groups to use it included a security guard contractor and the joint base tax center.

Building 406 was the second largest building on the joint base, and the largest on Fort Myer.

The site will become a 5-acre, grassy area and every effort is being made to save the older, larger trees already there, said officials.

Nieves said people are welcome to come by and take a look at the site as the demolition work is being done, but stressed that rules posted on signs that hang on the fence must be obeyed not only for the public's safety but also for the safety of workers.

"It's a controlled construction site and the OSHA [Occupational Safety and Health Administration] rules have to be complied with," he said.