Redstone’s construction trend continues rising after an understandable downturn during the pandemic.
“Construction is booming on Redstone Arsenal,” Kris Leatherman, construction branch chief in the engineering division at the Garrison’s Directorate of Public Works, said. “There are a lot of new missions and programs moving to Redstone. And as a result, we have seen a large uptick in the amount of construction activity around post.
“While it’s not all directly tied to projects associated with DPW, we are certainly affected by it and see ripple effects from it,” he said. “There are many tenant organizations that are directly involved with some of the larger changes. And we are helping them to modernize and scale up to support those missions.”
Construction through DPW engineering division for fiscal 2025 totaled $125 million, which includes $35 million in Sustainment, Revitalization and Modernization funds and $90 million in customer-funded or tenant-funded projects. This represents the steady annual trend except for fiscal 2021.
“The customer-funded projects are definitely trending up,” Leatherman said. “The total number of projects as well as the total dollar amount of projects are increasing.”
The amount of SRM or Operations and Maintenance Army funded projects fluctuates annually because many of those allocated dollars are needed for roads, HVAC systems,
roofs, basic building requirements and utilities.
The $90 million in customer-funded projects reflects a myriad of tenants at Redstone including Army, NASA, FBI, ATF and others.
“That’s about a 20% increase in customer funds from last year,” Leatherman said. “It’s about an 8% increase over the past five years.”
The Space Command headquarters move from Colorado Springs, Colorado, is impacting Redstone’s construction numbers.
“There are a substantial portion of the customer funds that are directly involved or significantly support missions associated with Space Command moving to Redstone,” Leatherman said.
Among Redstone’s ongoing projects are multiple Space Development Agency space operations facilities. The Garrison has done several projects with SDA over the past two years.
NASA building 4306 is undergoing renovation to become a training facility for Marshall Space Flight Center. The 3,000-square foot building will be used for training and classrooms under the $2.5 million renovation expected to finish by spring 2027.
Under the Army’s Laboratory Revitalization Program, building 6272 has an operations and administrative project on 4,000 square feet for the Combat Capabilities Development Command Aviation & Missile Center or DEVCOM AvMC. The $6.3 million project should finish by spring 2027.
A multiphase, multiyear effort continues to replace the decades-old industrial water line across Redstone Arsenal.
“There will still be a few major water outages throughout the year as the project progresses,” Leatherman said. “And those outages will be communicated throughout all affected channels.”
Rickey Hammond, engineering division chief at DPW, shared his thoughts on Redstone Arsenal construction.
“Minor military construction and Sustainment, Revitalization and Modernization on Redstone averages about $125 million a year,” Hammond said, “and has been very consistent over the last five years and into the foreseeable future.”
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