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FORT DRUM, N.Y. - A U.S. congressman, a two-star general and other leaders gripping gold-plated shovels broke ground on the future site of family housing here Friday.
U.S. Representative John M. McHugh (R, NY); Maj. Gen. Lloyd J. Austin III, 10th Mountain Division (LI) and Fort Drum commander; and others officially kicked off the Residential Communities Initiative project to modernize post housing here in a ground-breaking ceremony at the future of site of Crescent Woods, a planned 115-acre neighborhood for all Army ranks.
The mammoth undertaking of building 845 new dwellings and remodeling about 2200 others in five communities on Fort Drum has been in the planning stages since early 2003, when Col. Ray Helton took over as garrison commander here.
“The very first thing I did (as garrison commander) was make a briefing about this project,” Helton said. Three years later, Helton said he was overjoyed to see construction finally started.
Fort Drum’s RCI partner, Actus Lend Lease, took over the management of the post’s existing quarters May 1, calling itself Fort Drum Mountain Community Homes.
So far the results have been good, Helton said. “We look forward to the next 50 years.”
Actus President Mark Menhinnitt said his company will do its best to service its customers.
The new and remodeled units are “designed for highly mobile families that require a high quality of life,” Menhinnitt said. “They will address the specific needs of families of the most deployed Soldiers in the U.S. Army.”
“Providing housing for Soldiers who defend our freedom is something that is very important to us and we don’t take it lightly,” he said.
Austin agreed. “You would not find anything that compares to what our partner will do at Fort Drum,” he said, adding that the new and improved housing is really a tribute to family members.
“The burdens they bare are immense,” Austin said. “This housing is a sign of our commitment to our family members. We owe them no less than that.”
McHugh offered similar sentiments during his remarks in the ceremony.
“I am confident that the most modern military installation on the face of this planet (will give) the men and women of the 10th Mountain Division more than a place to live, but a home,” the congressman said. “And not just during base closure years, when some places have tried to create a welcoming environment overnight. That environment has been here at least since 1984,” when Fort Drum became a candidate to host the soon to be reactivated 10th Mountain Division.
McHugh was the first to tell ceremony guests that Fort Drum was left off the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure list of recommendations released by the Pentagon moments earlier. The approximately 250 ceremony guests erupted in cheers for the post.
McHugh said much of Fort Drum’s value goes beyond money. The surrounding community makes the post indispensable to the Army and kept it off the BRAC list.
“Build some buildings and put a fence around it and you’ve got a post,” he said. But the North Country has “a desire to give our (Fort Drum) neighbor the best – the best schools, the best communities free of drugs and crime.”
Construction of Crescent Woods will take about a year, said Don Spigelmyer, RCI program director. The remaining four planned communities should be completed within five years, he said. The project will cost about $300 million in the first 52 months.
When completed, Spigelmyer said Fort Drum’s housing, already among the best in the Army’s stock, will be the best the service has to offer.
| Date Taken: | 05.19.2005 |
| Date Posted: | 01.08.2016 13:23 |
| Story ID: | 185885 |
| Location: | FORT DRUM, NEW YORK, US |
| Web Views: | 24 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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