The Coast Guard’s Maintenance and Logistics Command Atlantic and its three Civil Engineering Units manage the Coast Guard’s Atlantic Area shore plant. Within this area the Coast Guard operates 148 multi-mission stations. Many of these stations were built decades ago for the Lighthouse Service or the Lifesaving Service prior to their merger to form the Coast Guard in the early 1900’s and many of these stations are classified as historical. Coast Guard mission changes, technological improvements, and streamlining initiatives have rendered many of these structures functionally obsolete and/or oversized for current uses. Most of these stations are nearing the end of their service life and will soon require recapitalization or divestiture efforts. Due to the historical nature of these structures, demolition or downsizing of the facilities is often impossible.
The Coast Guard has implemented a practice of actively seeking out alternative and innovative solutions in the management of their shore portfolios by working closely with local and state officials, as well as other federal agencies, to divest or outlease burdensome facilities in order to renovate or construct, new, low-maintenance, purpose-built structures. This is an innovative change over the past practices where facility decisions were primarily based purely on engineering and architectural factors. Now, Coast Guard planners match facility requirements with mission requirements and utilize real property expertise to look for solutions to problems both on and off current Coast Guard property.
This practice has been applied at seven sites throughout the Atlantic Area. At Station Scituate, MA an oversized and aging facility was replaced by a smaller, new facility constructed on town property and the existing property was transferred to the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration. A grossly oversized facility located on 9 acres in Ft. Trotten, NY is being divested while a new station is being relocated a short distance away on the Federally-owned U.S. Merchant Marine Academy. The Coast Guard Station located in Beach Haven, NJ was moved to a newly renovated, smaller building on base and the remaining buildings and grounds are being leased to the town saving significant maintenance costs. In replacing Station Brunswick, GA the Coast Guard worked closely with the State of Georgia to build the new Station at a State facility, realizing significant savings by utilizing the existing waterfront facilities. Currently, this approach is being utilized again by the Coast Guard to select an optimal site and configuration for a $15M Air Station. Operational, economic, and environmental factors are being considered simultaneously and balanced to identify the right facility for the Coast Guard.
In all these cases, the Coast Guard replaced existing oversized facilities with new or rehabilitated structures sized for mission requirements. Furthermore, locating the structures on existing sites or partnering with other Federal or local officials negated land acquisition costs. Overall, these efforts enabled the Coast Guard to divest or outlease over 81,000 square feet of excess space, while saving approximately $2.6 million in initial construction and acquisition costs, $300,000 per year in routine maintenance and operating expenses, and avoided $4.8 million in backlogged not-routine maintenance costs.
For more information, contact Mr. Don Scopel at (401) 736-1750 or via e-mail at dscopel@ceuprovidence.uscg.mil.
