Photo By Scott Sturkol | Contractors complete work Dec. 23, 2025, for the fiscal year 2024-funded $55.75...... read more read more
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Throughout most of 2025, Fort McCoy has had at least three large construction projects dominating the new military construction on the post — injecting millions of dollars into the local economy while at the same time transforming the 1600 block of the installation’s cantonment area.
Those three projects include the $28.08 million South Barracks Project, $27.3 million East Barracks Project, and the $55.75 million Collective Training Officers Quarters Project. Combined this ongoing work made for some of the busiest construction operations on post perhaps since the cantonment area was built in 1942.
South Barracks Project
With the South Barracks Project, which was completed in October 2025, the contractor for the project, BlindermanPower (Construction), received the notice to proceed with construction on Sept. 26, 2023, and had 780 calendar days to complete the project.
The project required building a four-story, 60,000-square-foot barracks that could house 400 people, according to the project’s specifications. Two other barracks of the same specifications were already built in the same block at the installation since 2019.
Nathan Butts with the Resident Office of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said Fort McCoy’s South Barracks Project was essentially complete in his Sept. 12, 2025, update about the project. In the Sept. 12 update, Butts also wrote everything that was being finalized.
“Contractor continues final cleaning and working on punch-list items,” Butts wrote in the update. “Exterior site work continues around the USO building. USO temporary parking lot removed. Topsoil elevations were addressed and seeding followed. Parking lot concrete sealant and striping is complete.”
The building was then turned over to Fort McCoy’s Directorate of Public Works where eventually it will be opened for troops to start using it during 2026.
East Barracks Project
Contractors working on Fort McCoy’s East Barracks Project were greeted with a healthy amount of snow on the ground as December began after the area received just under a foot of snow during the Thanksgiving weekend.
In his Dec. 19, 2025, update, Butts said the contractor, L.S. Black Constructors, was steadily making progress on the project. And as of Dec. 19, the project was at 90 percent complete, and work was scheduled to be 86 percent finished at this time.
Butts wrote in the update, “Testing, adjusting, and balancing (of heating, ventilation, and air conditioning) continues. Bathroom shower and toilet partition installation continued. Floor tile setting continued, waxing preparation continued. Ceiling tile installation continued.
“Mechanical, electrical, and plumbing rough-in continued on all floors,” he wrote. “Drywall painting continues throughout the building.”
Since its initial construction phase in May 2024, construction of this barracks have been nonstop by the contractor who was awarded the project in February 2024. The exact contract amount for the project when it was awarded was $27,287,735.
As the workers with L.S. Black Constructors work on this project, they can look over to the two other barracks they constructed in the same block. They are a familiar name in the construction history at Fort McCoy, having not only built the first two of the 60,000-square-foot transient training troops barracks, but they also built the new brigade headquarters building located in the same block as the barracks buildings.
The contract duration is scheduled for completion in 780 calendar days, which makes the current contract completion date as April 24, 2026. From the building description, when complete, the building will be able to house up to 400 people like the other completed barracks in the same block. According to the scope of work, it’s like the South Barracks Project and going to 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.”
Collective Training Officers Quarters Project
December 2025 saw a fair amount of extreme cold weather and snow, but the contractors for the $55.75 million Collective Training Officers Quarters Project at Fort McCoy kept building and moving forward.
On Nov. 21, the project was 33 percent complete, according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. As of Dec. 19, that progress increased to 38 percent completed.
The project includes two buildings being constructed in a sizeable construction space of the installation’s 1600 block of the cantonment area. On the west building, the contractor has been busy finishing framing so they can then fully cover the building. On the east building, more of the exterior walls were receiving brick placement.
The contractor for the project, BlindermanPower (Construction), which has also completed another major project at Fort McCoy — the fiscal year-2022 funded South Barracks Project, was awarded a contract totaling $55,759,100, according to the Army Corps of Engineers. The notice to proceed was acknowledged on July 19, 2024. The contract duration is scheduled for completion in 1,260 calendar days.
In 2024, for numerous months, actual full construction of the new buildings had to wait for another contractor to move five World War II-era barracks buildings. Those are destined for a separate future project, Fort McCoy Directorate of Public Works (DPW) officials said.
The project description in the contract states the plan is to build the two buildings based on the standard layout depicted in the Operational Readiness Training Complex.
“This facility is required to replace antiquated World War II-era wood transient training officer quarters currently being utilized to train Soldiers during major exercises, annual training, battle assembly, and mobilization at Fort McCoy,” the description states. “This facility will be designed with the ability to be winterized or deactivated during the winter months.”
Ken Green with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Resident Office at Fort McCoy said with the project now being 38 percent complete, the contractor hasn’t let weather slow them down.
In his Dec. 19 update, Green gave the latest actions.
“In the west building, exterior wall framing continued,” Green wrote in the update. “Mechanical, electrical, and plumbing rough-in continued. Interior and exterior spray foam continued. Interior rough-in framing and sheet rocking continued. Masonry continued on the west side section. Fluid applied air barrier completed. Standing seam roof panels staged.
“In the east building, structural steel erection continued for section B,” Green wrote. “Winterization continues. Exterior stud framing continued in section A and B. Interior stairs section A concrete placed. Exterior spray foam started on structural steel in-fills.”
The project description, also as stated in previous news articles, gives more information about how the project will continue to grow. The contract requirements also show that work includes building a standing seam metal roof over rigid insulation on steel deck on structural trusses; using utility brick veneer over rigid insulation on steel studs with exterior glass mat gypsum sheathing; building a concrete floor on metal deck and on-grade; installing and elevator, aluminum doors and windows, gypsum board and metal frame partitions, steel door frames and steel doors, and acoustical ceilings; installing heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems; completing plumbing, security, and electrical systems; and more.
Other work
During 2025, besides the three major Army Corps of Engineers-managed projects, smaller construction/infrastructure projects also took place.
All of the garrison staff moved out of building 100 at Fort McCoy in late September 2025 to make way for a full renovation of the building that has been the U.S. Army Garrison-Fort McCoy Headquarters for decades.
DPW Engineering Division Chief Dan Coburn said renovation construction began on Oct. 1 and continues now. The contract to complete the renovation was awarded to R.J. Jurowski Construction, headquartered in Whitehall, Wis., for $5.4 million.
“It is a complete gut and repair of the entire facility,” Coburn said. “Construction … is expected to take one year.”
Also, workers with the installation grounds contractor, Kaiyuh Services LLC, completed work to clear out ditches Sept. 25, 2025, at Fort McCoy. The contractor also completed similar work previously throughout the year and will continue to update areas, according to Fort McCoy DPW officials.
And throughout the year, dozens of troop projects were completed by Army engineer units on post. One of the biggest was the completion of a three-years-long sidewalk project on the cantonment area.
Soldiers with the 279th Engineer Utilities Detachment, an Army Reserve unit out of Weldon Spring, Mo., worked on a troop project replacing broken sidewalk sections on J Street during their annual training with the 78th Training Division’s Combat Support Training Exercise (CSTX) 25-02 in August 2025 at Fort McCoy.
The 279th Soldiers worked for several days to prepare the area as well as manage the concrete pours to set in the new sidewalk. Through this work, engineer troops get the training they need, and the installation benefits from the work they do to improve Fort McCoy training ranges and quality-of-life programs, post officials said.
This was one of many projects the 279th Soldiers participated in. On a Facebook post for the 279th at https://www.facebook.com/279EUD/posts/pfbid025m3hJBeBz4JQxFJhDxcpv9HvEJAi2rbbxmjxfLeGSCoERBq2yY2uUKMnV5CnAfQAl, it states the Soldiers did well.
“The 279th Engineer Utility Detachment put their skills to work during CSTX 25-02, building a new sidewalk to improve accessibility and infrastructure,” the post states. “Mission complete, one concrete step at a time!”
What does it all mean?
Construction work, especially on two of the 1600 block projects, will continue into 2026. However, looking back at 2025, it shows a continuing effort by the Army to invest in Fort McCoy, contributions to the local economic impact are significant, and it attracts more troops to train at Fort McCoy.
For example, Fort McCoy’s total economic impact for fiscal year (FY) 2024 was an estimated $1.6 billion, Fort McCoy Garrison officials announced, which was up from FY 2023’s total impact of $1.38 billion. The data was compiled by Fort McCoy’s Plans, Analysis and Integration Office.
FY 2024 operating costs of $170 million included utilities, physical plant maintenance, repair and improvements, new construction projects, purchases of supplies and services, as well as salaries for civilian contract personnel working at Fort McCoy.
During FY 2025, also, Fort McCoy completed another busy year supporting troop training with 109,962 troops training at the installation in fiscal year.
The FY 2025 number is more than the 73,991 troops who trained on post during FY 2024 and the 86,090 troops who trained at the installation in FY 2023, said Brooks Lundeen, range officer for the Fort McCoy Directorate of Plans, Training, Mobilization and Security.
“The increase in numbers was from the addition of the strength report for units that utilized facilities in cantonment,” Lundeen said. Training support by Fort McCoy included not just ranges and training areas but also use of barracks, food, buildings, and more. “Overall, a very successful year,” Lundeen said.
Post leaders can see a future of strong continued training operations on post and continued improvements of installation training areas, facilities, and infrastructure. Calendar year 2025 was another positive year in contributing to those areas, officials said.
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,” on Flickr at https://www.flickr.com/photos/fortmccoywi, and on X (formerly Twitter) by searching “usagmccoy.”
Also try downloading the My Army Post 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: | 12.27.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 12.29.2025 01:15 |
| Story ID: | 555289 |
| Location: | FORT MCCOY, WISCONSIN, US |
| Web Views: | 329 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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