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News | April 24, 2017

DLA Aviation Operations Center construction continues

By Cathy Hopkins DLA Aviation Public Affairs

Employees looking at the skyline toward Public Safety Building 201 will notice quite a change from October 2015, when ground was broken for the DLA Aviation Operations Center on Defense Supply Center Richmond, Virginia.

The structure has grown to its promised five stories, and according to an Army Corps of Engineers March progress report, “robust activity continues with almost 150 workers on site daily.” The building exterior is almost finished. The geothermal-well field is complete, and a portion of the parking lot above the field is again usable.

Occupants will benefit from the clean technology and increased efficiency of the well field during winter and summer. The building will also have energy-efficient light sensors using LED lights, touchless water-efficient faucets, low-fill toilets and air-powered hand dryers. The building will include environmentally friendly flooring and ceiling materials. All these features contribute to the building’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Silver rating. LEED ratings were devised by the U.S. Green Building Council to evaluate buildings’ environmental performance and encourage sustainable design.

The new operations center will use a fraction of energy of the buildings it replaces. In the past, 70 percent of Defense Supply Center Richmond’s energy was consumed in Buildings 31, 32 and 33, built in World War II as warehouses and later converted to offices. A new video highlights the environmental features of the new building.

According to Alex Vazquez, DLA Installation Support at Richmond engineer and project manager, the project is 52 percent complete, and the contractor plans to turn the building over for occupancy in January 2018.

Workers are still finishing the interior and installing mechanical, electrical, plumbing and fire protection systems.

Renee Gilman, chief of the Resource Management Division in the Command Support Directorate at DLA Aviation, said employee desks, conference room tables, visitor seating and office furnishings have been purchased. 

In mid-May, a display in the DSCR Center Restaurant will let employees see the new employee and supervisor cubicles. Artwork for the operations center will be chosen soon.

Once employees move into the center, Vazquez said, workers will demolish Building 32, Bays A-E, between the spring 2018 and late summer 2018.