Armed Forces Reserve Center's Construction Ahead of Schedule
By M. Scott Carter
The Norman Transcript
Construction on a $43 million Armed Forces Reserve Center on Norman's north side is ahead of scheduled several officials with project confirmed this week.
Sitting on a 70-acre plot of land, the center is being built along Tecumseh Road between Interstate 35 and State Highway 77. The 243,000 square foot facility is the first of seven reserve centers to be built in the state. More than $240 million in federal funds are expected to be spent on construction.
"Our construction deadline is in Januay 2010," said Brett Droy, the project superintendent for Korte Construction. "But, honestly we are ahead of that."
Already most of the building's walls have been poured and moved into place, along with the structure's metal roof.
When complete the reserve center will look similar to stone armories built during the '30s and '40s.
"I wanted to harken back to those older days, when amories looked like armories," said Lt. Col Andrew J. Carison, director of engineering for the Oklahoma Army National Guard. "For a while they were looking like schools."
In addititon to its retro look and cavernous storage space, Carison said the facility would also be LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Silver certified.
The process, developed by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), provides a suite of standards for environmentally sustainable construction projects.
Larry Stubblefield, who is overseeing the project for LWPB Architecture, said the facility is designed to use less water, take advantage of natural light and incorporates "a great deal" of recycled materials.
As an example, Stubblefield said, the waste from concrete used on site to form a building's eight-inch-thick walls is ground-up and reused for future projects.
Additionally, the structure will use low-flow faucets, toilets and water fixtures and some of the structure's walls (those exposed to the elements) incorporate foam insulation into the concrete mix.
"When we're finished this will be one of the first LEED Certified Silver buildings in the state," he said.
Along with office space for more than 150 full time employees, the building will serve as headquarters for the 45th Infantry. Other features include blast-resistant windows, a weapons armory and area designed to showcase many historic military artifacts.
State officials said the structure would be one of the most advanced in the country.
"These are going to be the finest, state-of-the-art training facilities in the country," Oklahoma Gov. Brad Henry said, during last year's ground-breaking ceremony.
Along with the main building, framing is up on the center's motorpool building -- a 33,000 square foot sctucture located to the west of the main building. That stucture, Carison said, would be used for repair and maintence of military vehicles.
Copyright 1999-2008 cnhi.inc.
The Norman Transcript
Construction on a $43 million Armed Forces Reserve Center on Norman's north side is ahead of scheduled several officials with project confirmed this week.
Sitting on a 70-acre plot of land, the center is being built along Tecumseh Road between Interstate 35 and State Highway 77. The 243,000 square foot facility is the first of seven reserve centers to be built in the state. More than $240 million in federal funds are expected to be spent on construction.
"Our construction deadline is in Januay 2010," said Brett Droy, the project superintendent for Korte Construction. "But, honestly we are ahead of that."
Already most of the building's walls have been poured and moved into place, along with the structure's metal roof.
When complete the reserve center will look similar to stone armories built during the '30s and '40s.
"I wanted to harken back to those older days, when amories looked like armories," said Lt. Col Andrew J. Carison, director of engineering for the Oklahoma Army National Guard. "For a while they were looking like schools."
In addititon to its retro look and cavernous storage space, Carison said the facility would also be LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Silver certified.
The process, developed by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), provides a suite of standards for environmentally sustainable construction projects.
Larry Stubblefield, who is overseeing the project for LWPB Architecture, said the facility is designed to use less water, take advantage of natural light and incorporates "a great deal" of recycled materials.
As an example, Stubblefield said, the waste from concrete used on site to form a building's eight-inch-thick walls is ground-up and reused for future projects.
Additionally, the structure will use low-flow faucets, toilets and water fixtures and some of the structure's walls (those exposed to the elements) incorporate foam insulation into the concrete mix.
"When we're finished this will be one of the first LEED Certified Silver buildings in the state," he said.
Along with office space for more than 150 full time employees, the building will serve as headquarters for the 45th Infantry. Other features include blast-resistant windows, a weapons armory and area designed to showcase many historic military artifacts.
State officials said the structure would be one of the most advanced in the country.
"These are going to be the finest, state-of-the-art training facilities in the country," Oklahoma Gov. Brad Henry said, during last year's ground-breaking ceremony.
Along with the main building, framing is up on the center's motorpool building -- a 33,000 square foot sctucture located to the west of the main building. That stucture, Carison said, would be used for repair and maintence of military vehicles.
Copyright 1999-2008 cnhi.inc.
