Team wins $8.7M contract
to plan Navy security center

Mainland and local firms join forces for the
three-story command complex in Wahiawa

A St. Louis engineering company working with Architects Hawaii has been awarded an $8.7 million contract to design the new $305 million Hawaii Regional Security Operations Center in Wahiawa.

The design work -- a joint venture with Jacobs Engineering Group and Architects Hawaii -- is the project's first phase and is expected to be completed in mid-2006.

Construction on the new 115,500-square-foot, three-story center is anticipated to begin in 2006, with occupancy in 2010. The center will be part of the Naval Computer and Telecommunications Area Master Station Pacific, located near Whitmore Village.

It is now known as the National Security Agency's Regional Security Operations Center in a 235,000-square-foot underground facility in Kunia near Schofield Barracks.

Built between 1942 and 1944, the Kunia center was supposed to be used as an underground aircraft assembly plant. Although no aircraft were ever built there, it has housed other military units, including elements of the Pacific Command. The 95 acres would be returned to the Army.

The Kunia operation currently monitors Pacific-area trouble spots, such as North Korea, for the Pacific Command.

A draft environmental assessment said the new facilities would be built on the 70-acre site in Wahiawa and would have "no significant impact." The Navy said it has consulted the state Historic Preservation Office and the Office of Hawaiian Affairs and that the proposed work would have no effect on historic properties.

A decommissioned tall, circular antenna array would be demolished, along with some outdoor recreation facilities.

The Navy said the new center would employ 2,800 workers, a 30 percent increase.

The environmental assessment said a new, 1.5-mile access road would connect the station with Whitmore Avenue west of Kahi Kani Park. The Navy would acquire 35 acres of private property for the road and utility system improvements.

Jacobs Group Vice President Warren Dean stated: "We are very pleased that the Department of the Navy chose us for this important project. We look forward to the opportunity to continue to demonstrate our expertise in military operations center design."