Public Affairs Specialist Naval Facilities Engineering Command — OICC Bethesda
(photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Marcus Suorez)
Officials broke ground Friday to begin Phase II of the BRAC process. From left: Lt. Col. Benjamin Hermantin, officer in charge of the NNMC Marine Corps Liaison Office; Capt. John Korka, officer in charge of construction, Bethesda; Maj. Gen. Gar Graham, commander of the 79th medical wing at Andrews Air Force Base; Hospital Corpsman 2nd Class Stephen Albright; Vice Adm. John Mateczun, commander of the Joint Task Force National Capital Region — Medical; Capt. Michael Malanoski, commanding officer of NSA Bethesda; Marine Sgt. Owen McNamara; Maj. Gen. Carla Hawley-Bowland, commander of Walter Reed Army Medical Center; Air Force Master Sgt. Christian MacKenzie; Rear Adm. Matthew Nathan, commander of the National Naval Medical Center; and Daniel White, vice president of Whitting⁄Turner construction.
When 11 shovels pierced sand in a trough Friday, work officially began on the second phase of the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) construction at the National Naval Medical Center.
The official party, bearing the shovels, stood in front of two tall signs announcing the latest project on campus.
Among the group were three wounded warriors, Marine Sgt. Owen McNamara, Hospital Corpsman 2nd Class Stephen Albright and Air Force Master Sgt. Christian MacKenzie, senior members of military leadership, and the executive vice president of Whiting-Turner, the construction company awarded the design⁄build contract in August for the project.
‘‘This is the start of the latest phase of the BRAC construction here on the campus to help us get to a world class facility, so deserving for all of our wounded warriors and all of their families and the ill and injured that will be seen here far into the future,” said Vice Adm. John Mateczun, commander of the Joint Task Force National Capital Region–Medical.
Mateczun oversees the integration of Walter Reed and the National Naval Medical Center.
Capt. Michael Malanoski, commanding officer of the Naval Support Activity Bethesda, complimented the doctors, construction workers and the contractor during his speech at the ceremony.
‘‘Their hearts are in this ... They are putting in a lot of care and love into this hospital,” he said.
‘‘It’s a very exiting day,” said Darren Morton, a supervisory project manager with the Officer in Change of Construction, Bethesda, which oversees BRAC construction on the campus.
‘‘We’re getting started. It’s symbolic of the beginning of construction. We’ve been working at this for a long time,” Morton said.
Morton manages the second phase of BRAC-related construction.
The second phase, which will cost $181 million, consists of non-clinical facilities.
Some of the projects in Phase II include construction for a multi-story building combining bachelor enlisted quarters, a dining facility and a warrior transition administrative office. A new fitness center is also in development to replace the Comfort Liberty Zone.
The new facility will also include a 50-meter pool, a gymnasium, a fitness and training area, a running track, and volleyball, basketball and racquetball courts. An Integrated Cardiac Health Program and ancillary facilities will also be within the fitness complex.
A 145,000-square-foot administrative building will be built on the site of the unoccupied Building 17. The majority of the building may be demolished, while the facade and end will be protected, reinforced and restored.
‘‘They have a great reputation and so far they have lived up to that reputation,” Morton said.
The groundbreaking is the latest in a long list of BRAC-related expansion on the NNMC campus.
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