The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New York District, has completed a major building renovation at Fort Hamilton (Brooklyn, NY) to accommodate personnel from the 1st U.S. Marine Corps District (1MCD) currently located on Long Island an hour east of Manhattan.
1st Marine Corps District
1MCD is the recruiting command for all U.S. Marine Corps recruiting operations in the Northeastern U.S. with some 80 personnel (20 officers, 45 enlisted, 15 civilian) providing administrative support functions. The unit is responsible for recruiting volunteers into the Marines, preparing them for recruit training or Officer Candidates School ─ a regiment designed to screen and evaluate potential Marine Corps Officers.
New York District Commander Col. Alexander Young stated: “We’re happy to provide these modern facilities for the 1st Marine Corps District ─ it’s part of New York’s extensive military-construction mission. We aim to provide a first-rate facility maximizing their ability to attract/enlist high-quality candidates.”
Project Challenges/Collaboration
This project was designed through a joint collaboration involving Army Corps’ New York, Baltimore and Omaha Districts: Baltimore contributed to the electrical and fire alarm systems and Omaha supported the interior design. Several challenges were encountered during construction; however, through close coordination among the construction, design and prime contractor teams, effective solutions were implemented. The collaboration was critical in delivering a high-quality, on-time, on-budget product for the customer.
During a recent site visit personnel from the prime contractor (FOS Development), were putting the finishing touches on construction that began in early 2024. The Marine District has already started moving in furniture and is expected to occupy the building in May.
Work Elements
The project is a complete overhaul of nearly 80 percent of Building 125 at Fort Hamilton, formerly serving as an all-purpose building with several small entities. Major upgrades include:
● Demolition of existing interior walls, bathrooms, plumbing and HVAC duct work
● New rooms layout, bathrooms with lockers and showers
● Old electrical wiring replaced with a new electrical system
● New ceiling tiles, flooring and carpeting
● New fire alarm and fire-suppression system
● New boiler and transformer
● New roof
● ADA-compliant ramps to access the building, exterior painting, and signage.
New York District Contracting Officer Representative Mina Tanyous from the District’s Metro West Area Office in Jersey City, New Jersey, is overseeing the $13.4 million project. In addition, dedicated members of the Project Delivery Team (PDT), an interdisciplinary group of professionals, provide overall management support including planning, design, construction and operations, and maintenance.
The following Army Corps personnel contributed to the project:
- Freddy Bilbaolavieja Mechanical Engineer (NY)
- Kimberly Brownfield Interior Designer (Omaha)
- Mitchell Burns Fire Protection Engineer (Baltimore)
- Melissa Diaz Chief, Safety & Occupational Health (NY)
- Stephen DiBari Technical Manager (NY)
- Matthew Emigholz Chief of Military Programs (NY)
- Charles Ganley Lead Architect (NY)
- Mugurel Giurgiu Lead Electrical Engineer (Baltimore)
- Jeffrey Gross Cost Engineering (NY)
- Robert Hanna Team Lead (NY)
- Julie Kim Architect
- Chi Lau Cost Engineering (NY)
- Robert Lawrence Design Branch Manager (NY)
- Stella Marco Project Manager (NY)
- Kevin Merenda Area Engineer (NY)
- Janeen Minguillo Special Projects Team Leader
- Jonathan Montoya Electrical Engineer (NY)
- Christopher Nastasi Resident Engineer/ Administrative Contracting Officer (NY)
- Fatima Nagui Environmental Engineer (NY)
- Charles Newman Lead Architect (NY)
- Charles Paray Architect
- Abraham Portalatin Safety and Occupational Health Specialist (NY)
- Evan Spector Cost Engineer
- Mina Tanyous Project Engineer/Contracting Officer Representative (NY)
1MCD is presently located on Long Island on the grounds that were once Camp Mills ─ training grounds for several U.S. armed conflicts, including World War I. Their new quarters, Fort Hamilton, is the only active-duty military installation in the greater New York City Metro Area.
Military-Construction Mission
The New York District Military Construction Program provides design, construction and real estate support to the U.S. Army, Army Reserve and Army Recruiting facilities, and design and construction support to U.S. Air Force bases (including overseas in Greenland.) The program is growing to keep pace with the largest organizational change of the U.S. Army since World War II: from a force taking on one or two potential conflicts at a time, to an expeditionary force that deploys continuously to different parts of the world.