Recovery Act project for Cincinnati Marines boosts small business

5/20/2009
Headquarters Marine Corps Bill Couch
Naval Facilities Engineering Command Midwest
201 Decatur Ave
Bldg 1A
Great Lakes, IL 60088

(847) 688-2600 Ext. 1-200
william.couch1@navy.mil
GREAT LAKES, Ill. —

Naval Facilities Engineering Command Midwest is using a Willoughby, Ohio,-based small business to make repairs and upgrades at a Marine Corps Reserve facility in Cincinnati, Ohio.

The $2.7-million project, awarded in April to Pinnacle Construction Development Group under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, is building new vehicle maintenance and equipment storage areas for the Communications Company, Headquarters Battalion, 4th Marine Division.


The current facility's buildings are inadequate to support the unit's mission, with too little storage space for electronic equipment and vehicles, and aging vehicle maintenance bays in need of repair. The project will improve the Marines' ability to maintain and store tactical vehicles and communications equipment, as well as train unit members for deployments around the world.


"We are pleased to be able to make these much-needed improvements to the Marines' facilities here while supporting the Recovery Act's broader goal of putting people to work and stimulating the economy" said Navy Lt. Torben Smith, who leads NAVFAC Midwest's Public Works Department Central, which oversees facilities engineering and public works at Navy and Marine Corps reserve facilities throughout the Navy's 16-state Midwest region.


The Marines currently operate in a fenced compound that includes a vehicle maintenance facility, communications gear storage, and a partially paved parking area for Humvees and other military tactical vehicles. The project will add a 2,500-square-foot maintenance bay to support the unit's new seven-ton tactical vehicles, upgrade and repair existing vehicle maintenance bays, expand the paved parking area to fully accommodate the unit's inventory, and install modern, secure, climate-controlled storage buildings for the unit's equipment.


The project is expected to be complete in March 2010.


Additional Recovery Act projects to be awarded by NAVFAC Midwest include construction of a new child development center at Naval Support Activity Mid-South in Tennessee, renovations of Navy Reserve centers in Ohio, Illinois and Tennessee, renovation of a Marine Corps Reserve center in Nebraska, and renovations and repairs to base infrastructure at Naval Support Activity Crane, Ind. In all, NAVFAC Midwest will oversee $36 million in Recovery Act projects.


A full list of Department of Defense projects under the Recovery Act is available at www.defenselink.mil/recovery.

Ellie