News Releases

Army Holds Blessing Ceremony for South Range Training Campus

Published Nov. 23, 2011
A ground blessing ceremony was held November 18 for the
new Unit Operations Facilities campus at South Range, Schofield Barracks. The campus is part of a $279 million program at Schofield and was authorized in the FY09 Military Construction, Army program.

A ground blessing ceremony was held November 18 for the new Unit Operations Facilities campus at South Range, Schofield Barracks. The campus is part of a $279 million program at Schofield and was authorized in the FY09 Military Construction, Army program.

By Dino W. Buchanan,
Honolulu District Public Affairs

FORT SHAFTER, HI -- A ground blessing ceremony was held November 18 for the new Unit Operations Facilities campus at South Range, Schofield Barracks. The campus is part of a $279 million program at Schofield and was authorized in the FY09 Military Construction, Army program.

The $127,965,000 contract was awarded in March 2011 to Joint Venture dck-ECC Pacific LLC for the South Range campus, the largest single construction contract in Honolulu District's recent history. Completion for the campus is scheduled for March 2014.

“We’re building this campus to put world-class facilities on the ground for world-class Soldiers, so they can fulfill their mission in Hawaii and around the world,” said Honolulu District Commander Lt. Col. Douglas B. Guttormsen to the more than 70 guests in attendance.

The planned South Range complex projects are important to the Schofield military community as many units are presently scattered in overcrowded and inadequate (aging) facilities throughout the post. With the completion of the South Range facilities, the Army will have more ease in training and maintaining the unit readiness, which equates to more productivity and higher morale. The infrastructure project establishes a utilities backbone structure for various vertical buildings, a training support center and many future military construction building projects for the next 20 to 30 years.

The contract includes one Engineer Unit Operations Facility for $26.7 million, one Unit Military Police (MP) Operations Facility for $31.1 million, an Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) complex for $9.8 million and infrastructure for $60.4 million.

Joint Venture dck-ECC will provide the site improvements and utilities necessary to access and support the new South Range Campus including the complete design and construction of the campus. Four projects for the campus were consolidated into one solicitation contract package because of the remoteness of the construction area, requirement to incorporate all utilities and infrastructure, common campus architecture, efficiency and economy of scale. 

The Army is also working cooperatively and in partnership with Hawaiian Electric Company (HECO) to coordinate the relocation of a 46 kilovolt electrical line within the property that will be connected to a new Army-owned substation on South Range. To move the line, HECO rules state the action needs to be requested via a Public Utilities Commission hearing.

The South Range location is ideal as there is no need for demolition work of any buildings prior to construction as the property was previously used for farming pineapple and has no utilities or infrastructure. As with all projects within Hawaii, protecting the aina will be a priority.  Although the landscape has tall, overgrown shrubbery vigilance for cultural sensitivities is being prioritized for the complex projects. South Range encompasses a total of 1,402 acres, only a small portion of which is considered area suitable for site and building development due to deep gulches and steep hilly terrain. The project plateau consists of 172 acres and is divided among the four projects (43 acres), future military construction projects (57 acres) and training sites (72 acres).

Also attending the ceremonies were Soldier representatives from potential future tenants within the campus, Hawaiian Electric Company, architectural and design contractors, Corps project managers and staff and JV dck-ECC workers. 

 


Contact
Joseph Bonfiglio
or
or Dino Buchanan
808-438-9862
cepoh-pa@usace.army.mil

Release no. 27-11