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We hope you’ll join us for the 100 Year Anniversary of Fort McClellan, happening Saturday, August 26th from 9 am to 3 pm. There will be bus tours, entertainment, food trucks, and more! All are invited! For more information, please visit the event page on Facebook by clicking here.

During its heyday, Fort McClellan once used several small arms and weapons ranges that today lie just to the east of the McClellan Veterans Parkway off ramp that joins Summerall Gate Road. Oriented north-to-south along what used to be Iron Mountain Road, these ranges require extensive soil remediation work to be conducted as part of the overall $234 million cleanup effort. The cleanup effort will include extensive soil excavation and sifting, soil treatment, and where required, clean soil back fill for the excavated sites. In order to conduct these operations, a timber clear cut of approximately 95 acres will be conducted over the coming weeks. The clear cut operations will be followed up with limb clearing, stump removal and grading operations in order for the environmental crews to complete their cleanup work. Once the cleanup operations are complete, appropriate ground seeding and permanent erosion controls will be put into place. The MDA Committee responsible for environmental oversight will examine additional options like reforestation activities once all cleanup actions are complete. Based on the McClellan Master Plan, this is the last planned timber clear cut operation for the MDA.

Earlier this winter, McClellan staff and Alabama Forest Commission (AFC) representatives were cruising various timber stands throughout the former fort. As they performed their inspections, they began to notice clusters of dead and dying southern pine trees throughout the 2000+ acre cantonment area. Upon closer examination, it was confirmed that several stands were infested with Ips beetles. McClellan is not alone when it comes to the invasion of this aggressive pine beetle. Experts postulate that last year’s long drought and warmer than normal winter stressed many pine stands throughout the region. This resulting stress provided an opportunity for the Ips beetle to infiltrate the pine bark and begin killing the trees. On McClellan specifically, grounds crew noted that the younger tree farms which were planted here less than 20-25 years ago were especially susceptible to Ips beetle attacks. Larger than their cousins the Southern Pine Beetle, Ips beetles tend to attack the trees high up in the branches so typical signs of pine beetle presence such as bore holes and sawdust trails around the base of the tree are not visible. Often the first sign of trouble is when a tree’s pine needles quickly turn reddish brown. Once this happens, the damage is done and the tree must be quickly harvested before the bark begins slipping off of the tree. When a cluster of trees are under attack by the Ips beetle it is important to quickly remove the affected trees and, depending on the density of the stand, sometimes a perimeter of healthy trees as well to try and stop further infestation. To date, approximately 80 acres of timber have been affected by the Ips beetle infestation on McClellan. Logging teams are currently scheduled to finish up some tree stands at the north end of McClellan this week. This project is scheduled to be complete no later than March 30th.

This story orginally appeared in the Anniston Star. For the original post, follow this link. McClellan Development Authority board members on Wednesday agreed to sell property for a retail development in historic warehouses at the former fort. Robin Scott, director of the MDA, said the developer, REK Partners I, plans to turn the vacant buildings into a mix of “restaurants, open-air cafes, boutique shops and arts-and-crafts shops” where patrons can walk among the many stores and enjoy outside dining. Attempts to reach REK Partners I on Wednesday were unsuccessful. MDA board members at the Wednesday meeting agreed to sell the 17-building, 33-acre property located near the roundabout in McClellan for $600,000. The contract approved by the board states that the purchaser is to pay $200,000 at closing, with the remaining $400,000 financed by the MDA at 5 percent interest for two years. Scott said the developer plans to take advantage of tax credits made possible because the properties are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Those buildings were constructed between 1929 and 1974 in the colonial revival architectural style, according to National Register records. Pete Conroy, director of Jacksonville State University’s Environmental Policy and Information Center and former member of the board which oversaw the development of McClellan, said by phone Wednesday that he was happy to hear of interest in developing the area. Conroy said he hopes the developers retain historic features which make the buildings special. Among them are the former horse stables which housed officers’ polo ponies, Conroy said. The stalls are floored with massive center-cut longleaf pine blocks to withstand the weight of those animals. “It is a very, very special area with incredibly important historical context,” Conroy said.

This story originally appeared in the Anniston Star. Click here for the original article. Like a Major League Baseball team soaring in the first month of the season, McClellan is having itself a nice little spring. It could be better, however. Late last month, the McClellan Development Authority approved a sewer-line project at the former U.S. Army post. At a projected cost of $390,000, the MDA and the Anniston Water Works and Sewer Board will join forces to upgrade some of the sewer lines on the property. Don’t scoff. This is a big deal. Without this sort of infrastructure in place, the types of industries McClellan seeks will never give the place a second look. “It makes us much more competitive now to bring jobs to this part of the state,” Phil Webb, chairman of the MDA board, told an Anniston Star reporter. Also in April, the Legislature OK’d a tax credit for businesses with 50 or more employees that take up residence at McClellan (or another closed military post in Alabama). “It’s just another tool in the tool bag,” Robin Scott, director of the MDA, told The Star. “It’s another incentive to sway them our way,” Sen. Del Marsh, R-Anniston, said last month. “It’s not huge, but if you’ve got a big enough workforce, it’s a number and it adds up.” Like we said, not bad for the last couple of months. To go back to our baseball reference at the start, McClellan is hitting singles and doubles this spring. This good news is a reminder of how much more could be done to promote and rebuild this 10,000-acre property, to turn it into a first-rate site for research and, most importantly, jobs. Make that, jobs, jobs, jobs. In 2013, The Star produced a series of articles on a former Army fort in Massachusetts — Fort Devens. It and Fort McClellan opened around the same time — early in the 20th century — and were closed by the Pentagon at around the same time — the 1990s. There are differences, though. More than 3,500 people work for companies located at the grounds of Devens. The average annual salary is $69,210, well above the state average in Massachusetts. An economic analysis found that Devens contributes $1.4 billion dollars annually to the Bay State’s economy. McClellan isn’t without success stories. Its tenants and their employees, its residents and its recreational facilities are testament to the progress made since the U.S. Army moved out in 1999. However, more work remains. Devens has advantages McClellan does not. The economy of Massachusetts dwarves the one in Alabama. Devens is an hour’s drive from Boston and its various research universities. The Army left less of a mess in Devens than it did at McClellan, where $200 million was required to clean the property of unexploded ordnance and various contaminants. To me, though, the big difference came at the state level. As Fort Devens was preparing to close its doors, the state of Massachusetts set up a public-private partnership to oversee the re-use of the post. To turn desires into reality, the state Legislature appropriated $200 million to Devens’ rebirth. That’s not the case in Alabama when it comes to the development of McClellan. Here, McClellan — with the potential to become an economic engine for the region and even the entire state — is left to redevelop itself on its own, with no dedicated revenue stream from the state. It makes money by selling off its one big asset — property that needs time and TLC to be made more valuable. The 2016 session of the Alabama Legislature just ended. Lawmakers should put injecting revenue into McClellan’s redevelopment on the 2017 to-do list.

This article orginally appeared in the Anniston Star. For the original post, click here. Employers who hire new employees on a closed military base would get a tax credit under a bill that passed the Alabama House of Representatives 91-2 on Thursday. The bill, which would likely apply only to the former Fort McClellan in Anniston, has already passed the Senate and is headed to Gov. Robert Bentley for a signature or a veto. The bill would grant employers who hire at least 50 new employees on a closed base a tax credit equal to one half of one percent of their payroll. That tax credit would piggyback on a wider set of new-hire incentives passed by lawmakers last year.There was little opposition to the measure in the House, though one Birmingham lawmaker, Republican Rep. Jack Williams, said he was frustrated with the attempt to pass a tax credit when the Legislature recently failed to renew a historic restoration tax credit that was widely used in Birmingham. “My only concern here is that we’re eliminating tax credits in Jefferson and Mobile counties,” Williams said. “Have you had an installation that is closed by a BRAC?” countered Rep. Barbara Boyd, D-Anniston. Fort McClellan was closed by a federal Base Realignment and Closure Commission in the 1990s. The bill applies only to bases closed by the BRAC process.

On February 25th, McClellan Development Authority finalized the sale of 16.09 additional acres of land in the McClellan Industrial Park. The EDC purchased the additional acreage adjacent to their current site located along Berman Road. The EDC McClellan Industrial Park Site is a designated Alabama Advantage Site. It contains 57 acres +/- with beautiful views of the Appalachian foothills. This site is part of the larger McClellan Industrial Park property which is available for development. The EDC purchased the original 57.9 acres of property in 2012 and construction of a 30,000 square foot speculative building began in 2015. For additional information: Call us at 256.236.2011 or visit our website www.exploremcclellan.com.

Did you know “Fort McClellan” is closed but “McClellan” is open and ready for business? Here are some facts you need to know about our community. Property Sales totaling $6,503,682 194.6 acres, 21 buildings (419,600 sf) 901 acres cleared of timber for future development Revenue generated: $1,317,288 125 buildings (844,012 sf) demolished Demo costs: $1,565,170 More than 400 new jobs created 1st responder training, auto components, musical instruments, sporting goods, canine training 2.95 miles of new roads, 6.47 miles of road improvements Total investment: $13,886,780 MDA costs: $826,226 201 acres of industrial & retail property improved Clear & grade, new signs, power lines and building relocates MDA costs: $1,322,908 2,781 acres of property cleared of munitions 14,338 munitions destroyed – ZERO explosives incidents Construction documents for Industrial, Research and Technology Parks completed Detailed infrastructure improvements for 600 acres MDA costs: $560,453 Initial Planning Designs are under way for one industrial and two commercial sites. MDA costs: $75,000 Pavement and Small Concrete Structure Removal, Grading and Seeding for Parcel 19 (18.5 acres) MDA costs $88,750 Current McClellan Property Status: 3,182 acres back in use 3,225 acres available for sale today 2,816 acres to open up in next 3-5 years Keep your ears open great things coming in 2016!! Questions? Call us at 256.236.2011 or visit our website at www.exploremcclellan.com.

Fred Hunter of Absolutely Alabama visits McClellan and Anniston, AL.

Originally published in the Anniston Star on December, 21st 2015. Click here for the full story. The drive between northern Anniston and Oxford became quicker this morning. Alabama Department of Transportation officials partially opened the long-awaited Veterans Memorial Parkway in Anniston around 9 a.m. Crews in hard hats and neon-green jackets stood along the off ramps and on ramps from McClellan Boulevard just after 8 a.m., waving motorists away from the parkway. By 9 a.m., crews had activated new traffic lights on McClellan Boulevard and walked away from the nearby ramps. Minutes later, motorists eased up the ramp and headed toward McClellan and Oxford. Other vehicles could be seen on the parkway, coming from the opposite direction. Work has been underway for more than a year to finish the last $12.2 million, 3.7-mile phase of the parkway. The total 7-mile road project has been in the works for more than a decade and has cost $150 million. The parkway’s southern end is in Oxford at Interstate 20. It travels north through McClellan, connecting with McClellan Boulevard in northern Anniston at U.S. 431. Motorists can use the parkway, but it is still incomplete because more paving and other work is needed. Only two of the four lanes that connect the parkway to U.S. 431 are open. All four lanes of the parkway on the other side of the bridge over McClellan Boulevard are open. –Story Credit: Patrick McCreless

From The Anniston Star. Originally printed July 22nd, 2015. Click here for the original story. “Several old, decaying barracks at McClellan received a new lease on life Wednesday. During its meeting the McClellan Development Authority, which oversees the former fort, agreed to lease a complex of barracks known as “starships” for $5,000 a month to a Birmingham-based security training firm. McClellan officials say the deal will stimulate the economy by bringing new people to the area, while saving facilities that have remained unused for years. The deal is a one-year leasing agreement with Xtreme Concepts Inc., with an option to later buy the starships site for $2.8 million. The deal includes the use of eight buildings and 112 acres of property. Xtreme is a private security firm. A Wednesday press release from Xtreme states the company plans to use the site to train personnel from local law enforcement and U.S. government agencies. The company also plans to spend up to $2 million to restore several of the buildings, the press release states. “After the mold remediation, damage and restoration is completed, this once dormant property will be transformed into a safe place for training and an outstanding business,” Landon Ash, president and CEO of Xtreme, was quoted as saying in the press release. Ash is also a member of Alabama’s Homeland Security Advisory Task Force and a member of the family that founded the Golden Flake snack food company. Xtreme plans to hire local businesses to do the repair work and install a fence around the property to control access and promote safety. “Our goal is to be a good neighbor and to have a positive impact on the communities where we do business,” Ash said. Phil Webb, chairman of the MDA board, said the deal will be an economic boon for the area not just from the renovation work, but because of the many people who will come for training. “We’ll have people staying here, spending money — that’s economic development,” Webb said. Webb said the deal also solves the problem of the starships themselves. “They’re going to invest a lot of money into this property that we’ve been trying to decide what the heck to do with,” Webb said. The buildings, more than 35 years old and periodically the target of vandalism, have sat vacant since the fort closed in 1999. FEMA renovated two of the buildings in 2005 to temporarily house people displaced by Hurricane Katrina. Those people never arrived at the site, though, and the buildings have been decaying and unused ever since. Webb said simply demolishing the barracks, as the MDA has done to many other buildings at the former fort in recent years, was not a good option because of the expense. “It would cost us $3 million to $5 million to tear them down and haul everything away,” Webb said. “Then we’d be left with just land — well, we’ve already got a lot of land.” Also during the meeting, the board agreed to sell 6.7 acres and a building near the Cane Creek Golf Course for $230,000 to AMK9, a company that’s already at McClellan and trains dogs for government and law enforcement agencies. Attempts to reach AMK9 for comment Wednesday were unsuccessful. Robin Scott, executive director of the MDA, said the company plans to use the property as a new dog training site to comply with a new federal program. “This facility will meet the new requirements,” Scott said.” Staff writer Patrick McCreless: 256-235-3561. On Twitter @PMcCreless_Star.

Waites Construction Company, Inc. has mobilized their equipment and begun the task of clearing/grubbing and seeding approximately one hundred and thirteen acres of property located off Bains Gap and Iron Mountain Roads in the McClellan Industrial Park. This effort is but another in a series of property improvement projects that the McClellan Development Authority has undertaken over the past four years. Last year, this parcel was part of a major timber clearing operation to open up additional property for development. When the Waites Construction team completes their work, this new “construction ready” site will be available for potential businesses looking to locate in the area. For additional information contact us at info@exploremcclellan.com or call 256.236.2011