MINOT AIR FORCE BASE A new base operations building and air traffic control tower, now under construction at Minot Air Force Base, are scheduled for completion next year.
Renetta Pearson, deputy base civil engineer with the base's 5th Civil Engineer Squadron, said both facilities are scheduled for completion in July 2013.
Design for the new facilities began in August 2011 and construction on both started in March, Pearson said.
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Eloise Ogden/MDN
A new base operations building, at left, is being built on the north side of the runway at Minot Air Force Base shown in this photo taken Dec. 7. The existing facility is at the right in the photo. A new air traffic control tower is being built on the south side of the runway. It replaces a tower that went into service 47 years ago on Jan. 1, 1966.
The two facilities, costing a total $14.5 million, were bid as a lump sum, she said.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers awarded design and construction for both to Mason and Hanger Inc. of Overland Park, Kan.
The base operations building is being constructed on the north side of the runway next to the existing facility. It will contain airfield management, base weather, training and a visitor reception/departure area, Pearson said.
The new tower is being constructed next to the existing tower on the south side of the runway. The existing tower went into service 46 years ago on Jan. 1, 1966.
When the two facilities are completed, the old structures will be demolished, Pearson said.
Another new dormitory also will be finished next year.
The fourth new dormitory for the base is 51 percent complete, Pearson said. She said its estimated completion date is October 2013. She said no funding has been secured for additional dormitories.
The first phase of a runway construction project was started in May and completed in October, Pearson said. She said the second phase is scheduled for the summer of 2013.