Twitter
Facebook
The pace of construction on the Kaiserslautern Military Community Center has picked up enough in the past four months that German government officials and U.S. Air Forces in Europe personnel have intensified turn over planning in anticipation of hotel and mall operations next year.
***image1***While senior USAFE project leaders are cautious about an estimated completion date, they do agree that the increase in workers on the site and ongoing rework of identified problem areas is progressing well enough that a hotel opening in Spring 2009, followed by the mall opening later in 2009, is possible.
“We’re cautiously planning to receive parts of the facility by the end of January 2009,” said Col. David Reynolds, USAFE resident director of the KMCC Program. “We had planned on receiving the entire facility by late January 2009, but on-going work indicates some portions of the building may slip a little longer. We’ll have a better idea of the timeline following an in-depth schedule review with the German government contracting agency in the next month.”
Maj. Gen. Marc Rogers, USAFE vice commander, testified June 25 before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on the construction progress since last summer, when a Government Accountability Office report identified a number of issues that have caused delays on the project.
In the latest hearing, the GAO inspectors complimented the Air Force “for our efforts in the last year in terms of oversight and progress and acknowledged that the Air Force has done everything it can to move the project forward,” Colonel Reynolds said.
Significant progress has taken place since last summer’s congressional hearing. According to Colonel Reynolds, “the current on-site leadership for the German government agency in charge of construction, Landesbetrieb Liegenschafts- und Baubetreuung, has worked tirelessly to facilitate completion of the facility.”
After a work force reduction last year, key contractors have been brought back to the site and major electrical, mechanical and architectural work is underway again. Areas such as Outdoor Recreation, Ramstein Tickets and Tours and hotel guest rooms are approaching completion. Theater complex completion is on the horizon and massive amounts of stone flooring throughout the complex are nearly finished.
Additionally, LBB and the staff in Colonel Reynolds’ office have made progress on several lingering issues from the past. The complex’s roof repairs have been completely designed and three of four phases of roof work are now underway. The fourth phase of roofing is planned to start in the next 60 days. Additionally, kitchen exhaust ducts which did not meet German or United States code requirements have all been removed and a contract is in place to install new code-compliant ducting.
Finally, hotel room walls that were vandalized in 2006 have been largely repaired with final touches underway. According to Colonel Reynolds, “many past challenges are being overcome but much hard work remains for the on-site team. The German government is working feverishly on contractor coordination and remaining quality issues.”
“The bottom line is quality,” explained Colonel Reynolds, “and we remain committed to delivering a quality facility to our community.”
