Single sailors to get more rooms
Published 10:41 pm Monday, August 6, 2007
EVERETT – Single sailors who now make their homes entirely on ships assigned to Naval Station Everett are a little closer to having a home away from their workplace.
Navy officials on Wednesday will conduct a ground-breaking ceremony to signal the start of construction on a 500-bed, dormitory-style quarters for single sailors.
Many sailors assigned to the USS Abraham Lincoln or other naval station ships don’t have a place to go after work hours. The new facility is part of the Navy’s program to improve the quality of life of sailors.
The 162,000-square-foot building is expected to be complete in February 2009.
The Naval Facilities Engineering Command of the Northwest awarded a $61 million contract to Hoffman Construction Co. of Seattle to design and build the facility.
The new structure will be significantly bigger than three other apartment-style dormitories at the naval station. It will have 125 four-person apartments, said Tom Caffee, base engineering director.
The whole reason for the project is to improve the lives of the sailors and get them off the ships when they’re not on duty, Caffee said.
It also gives well-qualified sailors an incentive to remain in the service, he added.
Congress approved funding for the project over three budgets.
The three existing buildings for single sailors house about 500 sailors. The new facility will double the number of young sailors able to live ashore.
Some sailors assigned to ships still won’t have a home ashore, however, base spokesman Rick Huling said.
The 900-square-foot units will include two bedrooms and a pair of bathrooms surrounding a central living area and kitchen facilities. Two sailors would sleep in each of the bedrooms.
The new structure will be built over what is now a parking lot. Part of the contract is to develop about 360 parking spots elsewhere on the base, Caffee said.
The building will have three wings, and the contractor will have to drive pilings to support the facility. The tallest part of the structure is not expected to be any taller than the existing dormitory buildings, Caffee said.
Reporter Jim Haley: 425-339-3447 or haley@heraldnet.com.
