Across Fort Carson, crews are building a school, a gym, renewable energy projects and preparing to start on new homes.
Maj. Gen. David Doyle said Thursday during the annual State of the Base speech that over the last year $58 million has been invested in Fort Carson and the Piñon Canyon Maneuver Site, and the post is gearing up for more construction.
“One of our next big priorities is family housing and our soldier barracks,” he said.
In 2022, crews started tearing down homes in the Cherokee Village West neighborhood to make way for 56 new houses. The project has faced some delays because Balfour Beatty Communities has been working on refinancing for the local project and extending its ground lease for another 25 years, said Col. Sean Brown, garrison commander.
Home construction in the new neighborhood, visible from U.S. 115, is expected to get started in August, he said. The post is also expecting to tear down the rest of Arapahoe Village to make way for about 300 additional homes, he said.
The oldest barracks on Fort Carson, the Rolling Pin barracks, are also headed for a major remodel that will add laundry space and allow soldiers to cook, Brown said.
The post expects to start refurbishing one of the barracks this year and has a 10-year timeline to remodel the 14 barracks.
“We are going to bring them up to the new Army standard,” he said.
Abrams Elementary students can also expect new digs on base as crews work on a new school going up on land previously controlled by Balfour Beatty, Brown said. The new location will ensure students do not have to cross a busy street on their way to class, he said.
When the new school opens, the original building will be used for religious services on post, Doyle said.
Crews are also working on updating the McKibben Fitness Center with air conditioning and putting in a new gym near Butts Army Airfield, Doyle said.
To help keep the lights on in all these new buildings, workers are putting in the largest flow battery in the Department of Defense on the base as part of a partnership with Lockheed Martin.
The electrolyte solutions in the battery store energy for use across the grid, Brown said. Resiliency across the base grid is important to ensure operations, such as a deployment, can continue in a large-scale power outage, he said.
The battery is expected to come online in September, he said.
Large-scale battery storage is also a priority nationally as utility services look to rely more on renewable energy that relies on wind and solar power.
At the same time, the post is planning to double its solar panels, Doyle said.
The array expansion between 7 to 8 megawatts helps to lower the base utility bills because the power is sold back to Colorado Springs Utilities, Brown said.
Contact the writer at mary.shinn@gazette.com or (719) 429-9264.
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