Much of January 2026 at Fort McCoy has seen extreme cold temperatures as well as snow, yet the contractors working on the post’s East Barracks Project keep making project on this fourth four-story barracks project, said Nathan Butts with the Resident Office of the Army Corps of Engineers at Fort McCoy.
In his Jan. 23 update, Butts said the contractor, L.S. Black Constructors, was steadily making progress on the project. And as of Jan. 23, the project was at 93 percent complete, and work was scheduled to be 89 percent finished at this time.
Butts wrote in the update, “Testing, adjusting, and balancing continues. Commissioning testing. Bathroom sinks and mirror installation continued. Floor tile setting continued … along with waxing. Ceiling tile installation continued.
“Mechanical, electrical, and plumbing finishing continues,” he wrote. “Drywall painting and touchups continues throughout the building. Two-part exterior door modification was issued to the contractor. Two-part interior hardware modification is getting final signatures then will be sent to the contractor.”
During the last week of January, contractors are working on the front entrance of the building with the site wrapped in plasted to allow for heating and bearable work conditions with outside weather getting as low as -20 degrees Fahrenheit at times.
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 — the first two erected — 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, Army Corps of Engineer contract documents show.
From the building description, when completed, 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 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.”
Work also continues in 2026 by contractors to prepare a large swath of the 1600 block on Fort McCoy’s cantonment area to construct the fiscal year 2024-funded $55.75 million Collective Training Officers Quarters Project by contractor BlindermanPower (Construction).
Fort McCoy Directorate of Public Works planning officials said all the construction is done with projects on this part of Fort McCoy, it will demonstrate a major transformation of the block and hold lots of barracks space for troops training at the installation.
This project and others like it also have in economic impact on local economies.
For the past six years, and even before that, millions of dollars in construction dollars have been counted by the Fort McCoy Plans, Analysis, and Integration Office as a key factor and contributor to the installation’s annual economic impact each fiscal year. Since fiscal year (FY) 2019, more than $310 million has been calculated in new construction of buildings and ranges alone, reports show.
Projects at Fort McCoy like the current $27.3 million East Barracks Project, $28.08 million South Barracks Project, and the $55.75 million Collective Training Officers Quarters Project, are among those projects adding to the economic impact currently.
These projects are on top of recently completed projects like the $20.6 million and $18.8 million barracks projects as well as the $11.96 million brigade headquarters building that was fully completed in 2024.
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