By Vicky Falcón
NAVAIR Public Affairs Office

A fourth level and an elevator will be added to the parking garage behind the RADM William A. Moffett building (2272) this summer, providing additional employee parking spaces and increased convenience for employees.

“We’re adding more than 300 spaces in the garage to compensate for those spaces being lost to the new building,” said Lt. James Alger, Project Manager for the Public Works Department at Patuxent River. “There will be a net gain of approximately 200 spaces to accommodate the additional personnel in the new building.”

That new building, a 49,000 square foot, three story structure, will meet the requirements of two recommendations from the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) law. The parking garage construction is scheduled to begin in May.

Located in the back left side of the parking area behind building 2272, the building will house 205 people from Cost Analysis, AIR-4.2, who are presently working from a leased location on Great Mills Road in Lexington Park. The building will also accommodate Rotary Wing Center of Excellence personnel and equipment from Wright Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio and Lakehurst, N.J.

The first phase of the contract, which was awarded in September (FY06), includes the addition to the parking garage and some utility work in the building site area. Though part of the utility work includes extending electric, water, communication, and gas lines along the road to reach the new building, Alger says the work will be done at night to minimize effects on personnel.

“We’re going to minimize the impact to parking (at 2272) until after the garage is complete,” said Alger. “However, there will be some restrictions regarding use of the garage during construction.”

According to Alger, garage construction will be done on nights and weekends. Between 7 p.m. and 6 a.m. the area will be a construction zone and off-limits to personnel and vehicles.

In order to accommodate construction equipment, such as cranes, the parking garage and side lot must be cleared by 7 p.m. Vehicles left in the direct construction path could be towed at the owner’s expense and owners will also be liable for any damage or dirt to their vehicles if left in the construction zone during construction hours.

The garage, which was originally designed and structured for a fourth deck, will also have an elevator installed.

“The elevator will be located next to the stairwell closest to the entrance to the building,” said Alger, adding, “The additional parking level and building will be nice additions to the air station but will require coordination and patience during the construction.”

For more information about the new construction or about BRAC recommendations, contact Alger at [email protected].