Airman's center slated for 2009

Change is afoot here as plans for a new dining facility (DFAC)/Airman’s Center have been drawn up with groundbreaking for the 18-month project planned for early next year.

The new DFAC/Airman’s center is slated to be completed in the summer of 2009.

The new facility will be located on, literally, Arcadia Avenue, between what is now the post office and the Pecos Trail DFAC. Arcadia Avenue will no longer be a through road after construction begins, said Lt. Col. Mark Brown, 27th Special Operations Mission Support Group deputy commander.

The $10 million building will replace both the Pecos Trail and the current Airman’s center, which houses the post office, honor guard and, formerly, the community center.

Both buildings will be demolished, though Pecos Trail will be open for the duration of construction on the new facility.

The building housing the post office will be demolished in February, said Brown, and the post office will be moved to Building 310, located near outdoor recreation.

“Pecos was built in 1958. It’s right at its projected life. It was supposed to last 50 years, so 2008 is when it was supposed to be replaced,” said Brown.

The new construction project is one of many projects slated over the next 10 years, including redesigning the interior of the End Zone and building a two-story DFAC/fitness center off Perimeter Road.