Construction starts on Boulevard Border Patrol Station

Photo By Gregory Fuderer | This artist's rendering depicts the completed Border Patrol Station at Boulevard, Calif. Construction on the station is scheduled for completion in early 2013.  

BOULEVARD, CA, UNITED STATES

09.15.2011

Story by Gregory Fuderer 

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Los Angeles District

BOULEVARD, Calif. – Representatives from the U.S. Border Patrol and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers broke ground Sept. 15 on construction of a new Border Patrol Station in Boulevard, Calif., a rural area about 65 miles east of San Diego.

“Today we celebrate the vision, planning and preparation that have spanned several years and will now take shape on this site as a highly efficient, state of the art complex, that will allow the Border Patrol to effectively conduct the mission of securing our nation’s border,” said Lt. Col. Steve Sigloch, deputy commander for the Corps’ Los Angeles District.

When complete, the station will include a main station building for 250 Border Patrol agents and support staff, a vehicle and facility maintenance building, an equestrian compound with a stable and an arena, a 160-foot communications tower, a vehicle wash rack with re-circulating water system, a fueling station, a 10-lane 50-meter indoor firing range, a backup generator, an emergency helipad, as well as access roads, parking, fencing, security lights and other site support.

The main station building will be environmentally efficient, planned to achieve Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Silver level certification upon completion. In keeping with federal sustainability goals, the new station will include many green features, such as reduced energy usage, water-efficient fixtures and landscaping, photo-voltaic panels for solar energy, and other features designed to make it a healthier place to work.

The only utility services will be electricity and communications lines. Water will be provided from new wells drilled as part of the project, and waste water will feed to an on-site septic system and leach field. A 30,000 gallon propane tank will supply heating fuel.

Michael Doolittle, the patrol agent in charge at the Boulevard station, told attendees about the station’s modest beginnings in 1976, when three agents worked from their homes. Ten years later, the station received its first structures, when agents themselves delivered and installed a double-wide trailer and the necessary utilities.

“We now have 200 agents, doing an outstanding job, twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week,” Doolittle said. “While we’re home in bed, they’re out here doing their job, protecting our nation. Now we’re going to have a facility that they deserve.”

The new $29 million Border Patrol compound sits on a 31-acre rural site just off Interstate 8. The schedule calls for completion of construction in February 2013.

• Date Taken: 09.15.2011
• Date Posted: 09.21.2011 18:15
• Story ID: 77388
• Location: BOULEVARD, CA, US