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- Veterans Memorial Parkway Opens
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
- Birmingham Security Training Center to Lease Starship Barracks
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 Starts Clearing Project
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
- More Demolition on McClellan
The latest McClellan demolition project has begun and will include the removal of 6 buildings. NorthStar Demolition and Remediation, LP, out of Marietta, GA, is leading the effort on this latest round of demolition activities. Demolition will take place at four separate sites on McClellan. This $314,700.00 demolition project is just part of several ongoing property improvement efforts designed to attract new businesses to the area.
- McClellan Development Authority celebrates successful conclusion of ordnance clean-up program with a
On this crisp fall morning in Northeast Alabama, the surrounding calm was interrupted by explosions of Pentolite boosters and PETN Detonation Cord. The explosions commemorated the successful conclusion of an eleven-year effort to clean Unexploded Ordnance (UXO) off of 2781 acres of Fort McClellan, a US Army installation whose origins trace back to 1917, fell victim to the 1995 Base Realignment and Closure deliberations and the Fort officially deactivated in 1999. Today the McClellan Development Authority (successor to the Joint Powers Authority), serves as the Local Reuse Authority responsible for the economic redevelopment of this former military installation. A major part of those redevelopment efforts include the environmental cleanup of 4,692 acres so that the property can be put back to use for industrial, commercial, residential, and recreational expansion. Today’s celebration marks a significant milestone in the completion of those cleanup activities. While there are still sites scattered throughout the former fort that require soil and ground water remediation, the successful completion of UXO and other Munitions and Explosives of Concern (MEC) remediation represents a large portion of the overall environmental cleanup efforts. For eleven years, citizens on McClellan and in the surrounding communities got used to the sound of detonations reverberating off the hills surrounding McClellan as cleanup crews disposed of UXO. During this timeframe MDA contractors cleaned 2781 acres of UXO/MEC. To do that, they first surveyed and marked 13,643 (100’x 100’) grids, then conducted investigations using digital electromagnetic and hand-held metal detectors to find potentially dangerous munitions. Through these actions contractors digitally As the MDA cleanup team moves into the next phase of environmental activities, they can pause for just a moment to commemorate this significant milestone on the road of redevelopment and future economic growth for McClellan…a milestone that was reached effectively, safely, and on budget.
- MDA signs property contract with FEMA for $3.5 million
At a July 9th Called Board meeting, the MDA Directors approved a contract for the sale of ninety four acres of property and sixteen buildings to the Federal Emergency Management Agency for $3,500,000. This deal was nearly three years in the making and involved detailed coordination with several federal agencies and Alabama congressional staffers. The sale includes property and buildings in the McClellan Industrial Park currently under lease to the Center for Domestic Preparedness (CDP) as well as additional security buffer parcels around various CDP training facilities. This deal eclipses the previous largest property sale of Buckner Circle properties for $2.28 million in 2002. “This property purchase will benefit the Center for Domestic Preparedness on several fronts,” said CDP Superintendent, Mike King. “First, it’s a cost-savings measure for the taxpayers in that the CDP has now purchased property and facilities that it has been leasing. The purchase of these facilities will actually pay for itself in fairly quick fashion due to the elimination of rental payments. Second, this purchase will allow the CDP to consolidate its training campus into a more contiguous footprint at McClellan. Most are probably not aware that the CDP currently consists of six detached plots of land, and this purchase will provide a much more connected campus, with room to expand training in the future if required.” King also noted: “The new property will give the CDP a real estate buffer between the CDP’s facilities and other activities as McClellan continues to redevelop. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, the new property will immediately allow the CDP to improve its training for our nation’s emergency responders, something that will benefit everyone across the U.S.” For the MDA, this land deal serves to further support CDP’s ongoing mission here in Anniston and also provide program expansion capabilities for one of McClellan’s corporate mainstays. In addition, this influx of new revenue will enhance the MDA’s near-term financial stability and give Board Directors the opportunity to further expand their infrastructure improvement, property development, and product marketing efforts. For more information about the topic or properties available at McClellan, please call Sandy Roberts at 256.236.2011 or visit our website at www.exploremcclellan.com.
- MDA Closes the Deal with Medi-Klean for Additional Land
On July 9th, McClellan Development Authority staff and Legal Counsel finalized the sale of an additional acre of land in the McClellan Industrial Park. The buyer, Medi-Klean, LLC purchased another acre adjacent to their current site located on Pappy Dunn Boulevard. The additional acreage will give Medi-Klean room for future growth at their medical autoclave facility. Medi-Klean, LLC, purchased the original property for their facility in April 2012 and started construction in 2013. Once construction is complete, they plan to start up their operation with five to nine new employees. For more information about this topic or properties available at McClellan, please call Sandy Roberts at 256.236.2011 or visit our website at www.exploremcclellan.com
- Burn Notice
In order to facilitate the ongoing environmental remediation and ESCA cleanup of the former Fort McClellan, controlled burning of the vegetation to be removed from the last approximately 7.5 acres of munitions and explosives of concern (MEC) contaminated property is planned. This burning will be conducted during the month of July at a single location in a device referred to as a “pit burner”. Burning will occur during the hours of 9 am to 3 pm daily, weather permitting, until all removed vegetation is burned. The general location for the burning operation will be between the Industrial Access Road and the Eastern Parkway. The burning will be performed under a permit issued by the Alabama Forestry Commission. It is possible that smoke may be visible from time to time.
- $1.7 Million to update Eglin Avenue
The upgrades will expand Eglin Avenue in the McClellan Industrial Park and help International Auto Components successfully complete their scheduled expansion. IAC will be adding 359 jobs to the area, and the improved infrastructure will help bring new business to the area. Brian Johnson the City Planner solidified the money through the Alabama DOT’s Industrial Access Road and Bridge Grant program that requires no matching from the city. The City is hopefully that the project can start this year.
- Summerall Gate Road gets a Facelift
The City of Anniston has recently completed the resurfacing of Summerall Gate Road on McClellan. This $572,000 project included the milling and resurfacing of two miles of road. As one of the two main entrances to McClellan off of Highway 21, this highly traveled road had deteriorated over the years and was in need of a serious facelift. Today, vehicles on McClellan can enjoy a smooth ride all the past the Aquatic Center to the traffic circle or continue on to the McClellan Medical Mall on Town Center Drive.
- We closed the land deal with 1st Baptist Church At McClellan
(left to right) Pastor Buddy Nelson with Trustees Carey Kirby, Jim Coxwell, and Greg Bagley sign closing documents for 3.8 acre parcel On May 19, 2014 Trustees for the 1st Baptist Church at McClellan inked the final closing documents and took possession of a 3.8 acre parcel adjoining their current location on McClellan. The new parcel of land will extend the Church’s current property line to the Highway 21 Right of Way. This acquisition is part of an overall improvement plan to enhance the property’s appearance along the highway.
- More Steel Going Up on McClellan
Construction activity continues on McClellan – one is a business expansion and the other is new business construction. Steel girders are going up at International Auto Components as part of their production facility expansion project. This multi phased expansion is scheduled for completion in the October-November timeframe and result in 125,000 square feet of new production space for this Tier I automobile parts manufacturer. This new production capability could bring up to 350 new jobs to community. Just across the street from IAC, Medi-Klean has also begun work on their new facility. Designed to house medical autoclave sterilization equipment, this new McClellan corporate partner is anticipating the creation of 5-9 new jobs when they begin operations.