JACKSONVILLE: Base uses gift to expand education center plans

By Amy Widner

LITTLE ROCK — Floor plans for a $14.8 million shared Little Rock Air Force Base/community education center are being adjusted in light of a $5 million gift from the city of Jacksonville, said James McKinnie, LRAFB chief of the programs flight in the 19th Civil Engineer Squadron.

“The facility is authorized for approximately 44,000 square feet and that is our design target, subject to costs,” McKinnie said in an e-mail. “The building will be a single story, with brick walls and a standing seam metal roof. The floor plan includes offices for the Air Force staff and six colleges/universities, two science labs, a half dozen or so computer labs and many general-purpose classrooms ranging in size from 16 to 40 students.”

McKinnie said the facility is being built to meet energy-efficiency codes and has some additional features that meet Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design standards.

“Overall this will be a tremendous improvement over the converted dormitories currently being used,” McKinnie said. “We are thankful for the assistance of the Arkansas congressional delegation for making the government funds for this project available.”

The government funds, $9.8 million, were approved last year as part of the national military construction budget, but the project was held up by the $5 million city of Jacksonville gift. No shared Air Force/community education center has been built before, according to statements from its proponents like Congressman Vic Snyder, Jacksonville Mayor Tommy Swaim and LRAFB commander Brig. Gen. Rowayne Schatz, so some bureaucratic work had to be done to make sure the base could legally receive money from the city. Gifts from individuals and municipalities have strict guidelines to shield the base from requests for tit-for-tat favoritism.

The gift drew a lot of attention because of the amount and its uniqueness. Snyder called the project unprecedented in a Nov. 1 Arkansas Democrat-Gazette article. The $5 million came from a sales tax that Jacksonville voters approved in 2003. Swaim said he was glad the gift worked out.

“So much has been said aboutit,” Swaim said. “Now we’re just excited that it has finally come to this stage and that we soon will be starting the facility.”

The building will be located at Vandenberg and John Harden drives off U.S. 67/167, exit 11. It will be behind the LRAFB sign and flagpoles, McKinnie said. The current timetable is: start clearing trees after Thanksgiving; release a request for proposals through the contracting agent, the Corps of Engineers Little Rock District, in early 2009 soliciting contractor bids; award the construction contract by about April 2009; begin construction by about May 2009; and finish construction sometime during fall 2010.

McKinnie said he does not expect any disruptions to Air Force operations during construction and expects limited disruptions to traffic flow.

“Occasionally there will be some additional truck traffic in the area as the contractor accepts material deliveries, but we don’t expect that to be a significant disruption,” McKinnie said. “We are looking at extending the left turn lane from Vandenberg onto John Harden as part of this project to improve traffic flow, and that would temporarily cause some inconvenience as it’s built.”

Vanessa Dale of LRAFB Public Affairs said the entrance to the center will be built on John Harden Drive. There will not be a check point to enter the facility, and information on security concerns was unavailable at press time.

Dale said in an e-mail that classes will be open to the military first, then Department of Defense personnel and retirees, dependents and finally civilians. Six institutions will offer classes (the same now offering classes on base): Arkansas State University-Beebe, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Southern Illinois University, Webster University, Park University and the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville. Tuition is the same for each class as if the student were attending the institution’s home campus.

McKinnie oversees a staff of engineers, architects and inspectors who are part of the team that developed the project concepts, advocated for the government funding and are now designing and preparing to construct the facility. Others who are contributing the project include education center staff and their associated universities; the Little Rock District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; and the Air Force Center for Engineering and the Environment in San Antonio, Texas, McKinnie said.

The 2003 Jacksonville sales tax was approved to pay for the education center, an aquatic center and a police training facility. The aquatic center was completed two years ago, and Swaim said an architect is working on a design for the training facility, but there is no projected completion date for the project yet.

Swaim said the city has no plans to cancel the tax after the projects are built. It will be used for operating these facilities and for other projects.

“The problem is, too many times cities use the tax to starta program or facility and then end it without making plans to run what they’ve just created,” Swaim said. “We’re not going to do that.” - awidner@ arkansasonline.com

Three Rivers, Pages 47, 52 on 11/20/2008