The completed renovation of a building once slated for demolition was celebrated in January with a ribbon-cutting at Arnold Air Force Base.
The Civil Engineering, Operations and Maintenance Building office space is now an example of the desired future for buildings at Arnold.
“Hopefully we can do this for more of the facilities on base,” said Col. Charles Roberts, Test Support Division chief. “This is the standard we want across the Complex.”
The aging facility had failing heating, ventilation and air conditioning, or HVAC, system and a degraded interior prior to renovation.
“It just needed an overall update,” said Tony Pennington, Air Force project manager.
That update included abatement of asbestos, redoing the plumbing, replacing the HVAC system, replacing the sprinkler system and updating the restrooms.
The renovation did not come without challenges.
“It was a typical renovation,” Roberts said. “You always hit bumps in the road with unforeseen site conditions.
“I think the team did a great job addressing all the problems they encountered. In the end we have a great facility for all the professionals working here.”
The final cost for the renovation was within 10 percent of the original award contract, even with having to address significant but unforeseen site conditions.
Cost-saving efforts were made to minimize the impact of those issues, such as using a method to repair pipes that avoided having to excavate the road they crossed under.
“We knew it was going to be a hard project because it was an old building and it was a full-up renovation,” Pennington said. “But in the end, we got a great product.”
Top picture: An Arnold Engineering Development Complex team member walks, Jan. 6, by the newly-renovated Civil Engineering, Operations and Maintenance Building at Arnold Air Force Base, Tenn. (U.S. Air Force photo by Jill Pickett)
