Entering June 2024, Fort McCoy's fiscal year 2022-funded barracks construction project stands at 22 percent complete

Photo By Scott Sturkol | The construction area for a new $28.08 million barracks building is shown May 28, 2024, at Fort McCoy, Wis., as framing and wall installation of the building continues to take place. The contractor for the project, BlindermanPower (Construction), received the notice to proceed with construction on Sept. 26, 2023, and has 780 calendar days to complete the project. The project requires building a four-story, 60,000-square-foot barracks about to house 400 people. Two other barracks of the same specifications have already been built in the same block at the installation since 2019. Overall, it is part of a big transformation taking place at the 1600 block that includes the building of four barracks — two of which are already done, three brigade headquarters buildings, and two planned transient training officer quarters, according to the Fort McCoy Directorate of Public Works. This project is managed by the Army Corps of Engineers. (U.S. Army Photo by Scott T. Sturkol, Public Affairs Office, Fort McCoy, Wis.)  

FORT MCCOY, WISCONSIN, UNITED STATES

06.03.2024

Story by Scott Sturkol                                                                                                   

Fort McCoy Public Affairs Office           

As June 2024 begins, the third four-story, 60,000-square-foot barracks project at Fort McCoy — funded in fiscal year 2022, stands at 22 percent complete.

According to a May 31 update from Ken Green with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Resident Office at Fort McCoy, construction remained steady and lots of work is getting completed.

Initial framing on the new building started Jan. 31. As of the latest update from Green, structural steel installation currently continues as well as rebar installation. Other work includes slab-on grade completion, steel stud/exterior sheeting installation, slab-on grade vapor barrier installation, and rebar and concrete placements continuing to be placed.

Also, mechanical, electrical, and plumbing rough-in continues; and roof truss installation was continuing.

All this work continues even as the start of a fourth barracks project by a different contractor begins nearby.

Previous news articles have stated this barracks project was awarded in June 2023 to BlindermanPower (Construction) at just over $28 million. A notice to proceed with construction was given on in late September 2023.

Overall, the statement of work for the project states the contractor will make the building be made of “permanent construction with reinforced concrete foundations; concrete floor slabs; structural steel frames; steel stud infill; masonry veneer walls; prefinished standing seam metal roofing; heating, ventilation, and air conditioning capabilities; plumbing; mechanical systems; and electrical systems. Supporting facilities include land clearing, concrete sidewalk paving, general site improvements, and utility connections.”

The building also is being built with the latest in construction materials and include state-of-the-art physical security and energy-saving measures. The contract duration is scheduled for completion in 780 calendar days, Green said.

“The current contract completion date is Oct. 2, 2025,” Green also wrote in the May 31 update.

As it shows in the 2024-25 Fort McCoy Guide, available at https://www.dvidshub.net/publication/issues/71107, Fort McCoy is one of the largest area employers with more than 1,200 civilian employees, and the installation provided "more than $1.38 billion annual economic impact to the region in fiscal year 2023." That economic impact included construction projects like this.

The Fort McCoy Guide also states how it's important to have improved facilities like these to meet the needs and mission of the Army and the Army Reserve of the future. And it shows how Fort McCoy is doing that mission today.

"Today, Fort McCoy’s primary mission is to support the readiness of the force by serving as a training center, mobilization force generation installation, and strategic support area," the history section in the Guide states. "The post provides full-scale support to its customers at each juncture of its training triad — transient, institutional, and exercise."

Fort McCoy’s motto is to be the “Total Force Training Center.”

Located in the heart of the upper Midwest, Fort McCoy is the only U.S. Army installation in Wisconsin.

The installation has provided support and facilities for the field and classroom training of more than 100,000 military personnel from all services nearly every year since 1984.

Learn more about Fort McCoy online at https://home.army.mil/mccoy, on Facebook by searching “ftmccoy,” and on Twitter by searching “usagmccoy.”

Also try downloading the Digital Garrison app to your smartphone and set “Fort McCoy” or another installation as your preferred base. Fort McCoy is also part of Army’s Installation Management Command where “We Are The Army’s Home.”

• Date Taken: 06.03.2024
• Date Posted: 06.03.2024 12:40
• Story ID: 472874
• Location: FORT MCCOY, WISCONSIN, US