McConnell launches 5-year project to revamp base housing
Work began this week at McConnell Air Force Base on a five-year-long housing project that includes construction of 157 housing units and renovation of 207 existing units.
Corvias Military Living, the military housing division of Corvias Group, held a groundbreaking ceremony Thursday for the project, which also includes the construction of an 8,000-square-foot community center, the privately held, Rhode Island-based company said in a news release Friday.
John Pearsall, business director for Corvias Military who is overseeing the project, said in an interview that the work will involve hiring numerous subcontractors in the area including for excavation, site preparation, framing, plumbing and wiring.
He said the company is in the process of determining how many local subcontractors it will use, but Corvias Military is “trying to keep (local) as much work as we can.”
“At the moment we’re still working through the numbers,” Pearsall said.
The new-construction portion of the project includes housing units built in a mix of single-family dwellings and duplexes. He said to make way for the new construction, the company will over time raze 194 single-family houses and duplexes, all of which were built in the late 1950s.
The last new home construction at McConnell occurred in 1998.
The McConnell project also encompasses installation of a ballpark, community parks and walking trails. The community center project includes a swimming pool, fitness center and a game room.
Pearsall said the McConnell project is one of six similar projects the company is working on at Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska; Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, N.C.; Edwards Air Force Base, Calif.; and Eglin Air Force Base and Hurlburt Field, both in Florida.
They are part of a $453 million contract awarded to Corvias Military in 2011, he said.
At McConnell, the company also provides management and operation of base housing. It began that work in September 2013, Pearsall said.
Reach Jerry Siebenmark at 316-268-6576 or jsiebenmark@wichitaeagle.com. Follow him on Twitter: @jsiebenmark.
This story was originally published March 6, 2015 at 10:13 AM with the headline "McConnell launches 5-year project to revamp base housing."