Thursday, February 17, 2005

Navy Housing Remodel in Groton

Does this mean Sub Base is Staying?

The Navy, along with a private corporation, are remodeling Navy housing in Groton near the Sub Base:

Groton — The Navy and a contractor broke ground on a housing complex Wednesday that represents the first step in developing more than $600 million of new and renovated units in the Northeast that officials predicted will be popular with sailors.
...
GMH will spend more than $600 million over the next six years in Navy communities stretching from Lakehurst, N.J., to Brunswick, Maine. In Groton, it will build 122 new three- and four-bedroom townhouses on the former Nautilus III North, replacing 124 three-bedroom units; 119 homes for senior enlisted people and officers in Dolphin Gardens; and 44 three- and four-bedroom townhouses on the former Cherry Circle mobile home park. All the projects are slated to be finished by next spring.

In addition, 427 units in Nautilus Park, Conning Towers and Polaris Park will be renovated, with new kitchens, bathrooms and laundry rooms, as well as new lighting, flooring, paint and carpets.

All of the rumors coming out of Washington seem to indicate that the Sub Base will be closed during base realignment within a year or so. Supposedly the Navy wants to move the entire Atlantic sub fleet to Norfolk. There have also been a few muted concerns that closing the base would be punishment for Rep. Rob Simmons (R-CT2), who has been a vocal opponent of several of the Administration's policies.

Now the question is whether the Navy would spend millions of dollars upgrading facilities around a base, then close it. Maybe. But then again, it may be a sign that the base will stay open after all. Here's hoping.

Source:
Hamilton, Robert. "Navy Breaks Ground On New Housing". New London Day 17 February 2005. (registration required)

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

BRAC(Base Reallignment and Closure)list due out in May(law says no postponement allowed).Simmons gave up his position on house armed services committee to get on BRAC commission a week or two ago.One east coast Sub base has to go and John Warners position as Chair of Senate Armed Sevices Committee means it ain't gonna be his.
Money allocated always get spent.The 600 million being spent means nothing in the bigger scheme of base closures.Simmons knows he's toast if sub base is on list but he's a guppy up against great white sharks in this fight.

Genghis Conn said...

Thanks for the info.

Anonymous said...

Anoynmous' post above is not true. Simmons is not on the BRAC, but is a junior member of the Readiness Subcommittee. The BRAC is politically isolated from Congress, so there will be very little he can do about any potential closure.

For more info, click here

Anonymous said...

you're correct,
I mistated the committee.The reason stands.He left his position on the armed services committee to put himself in a better position to try and save the sub base.IT WON"T HELP.
One of the east coast sub basses is toast.The BRAC list comes out in may and gets an up or down vote.Most expect the Groton base will be on it.The list cannot be modified by either house before the vote.

Anonymous said...

ps.thanks for the link.its now inmy favorites and hopefully will prove usefull