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COVER STORY - May
2006 Boom in Fort Knox
Federal decision-makers scrutinized the nation’s military bases last year to see which would endure, which would not, and which would morph to take on new roles. The Base Realignment and Closure, or BRAC, set off a wave of contingency planning in military communities like Radcliff that had everything to gain – or lose – in the outcome. Radcliff’s livelihood has always been intertwined with nearby Fort Knox, from the dry cleaners full of smartly pressed military uniforms and fatigue-wearing diners packing restaurant booths to generations of military retirees who’ve decided to make the city their permanent home. Fort Knox has a current daily workforce of about 20,000. Although BRAC is moving the base’s Armor Center and School to Fort Benning, Ga., an estimated 10,000 newcomers, both civilian and military workers and their families, will come to Fort Knox as a result of other BRAC changes. Not the least of those changes will be gaining the Army’s Human Resources Command, a presumed-to-be giant office complex buzzing with hundreds of white-collar workers that some folks in Radcliff have likened, perhaps wishfully, to a mini-Pentagon. In fact, while Fort Knox might lose something of its roaring-tank image with the armor school’s departure, the surrounding communities stand to gain thousands of new residents and homes in coming years. And because many newcomers will hold jobs that lend themselves to settling down, cities like Radcliff might just gain something else down the line – permanence. There are currently 2,837 military housing quarters on post, with an estimated 2,100 already occupied, Fort Knox spokesperson Gini Sinclair said. Sinclair said U.S. Army policy prohibits her from commenting on what the changes could mean for surrounding communities or how many military personnel could eventually live off-post. But Brad Richardson – a man who is paid to talk about how much the base means to surrounding Hardin County – said post officials have told him there would be a need to house 1,000 to 1,200 single soldiers off-post in the next year to 18 months. Another 2,300 or so Human Resource Command civilian workers and their families will eventually need housing in the area as well.
Richardson is executive director of both the Radcliff-based North Hardin Economic Development Authority and One Knox, a group formed by community and political leaders in Hardin and Meade Counties to serve as a resource for people considering moving to the Lincoln Trail Area Development District, which includes Hardin and seven surrounding counties. Along with Fort Knox, One Knox, which was formed in November 2005, sponsored a “road show” of sorts in March 2006 with a contingent of post and community officials to visit Fort Monroe, Va., Alexandria, Va., St. Louis, Indianapolis, and Fort McCoy, Wis., to provide information for BRAC-affected military transfers and civilians considering moving to the region. Richardson said those eyeing the Bluegrass were interested in learning about shopping, cost of living, education for adults and children and, of course, housing. Hardin Judge-Executive Harry Berry attended four out of five of the road show stops, and said he could tell people’s fears were allayed, and minds were changed to move to Kentucky. “The thirst for information was just amazing,” he said. “They were soaking it all up.” Maj. Gen. (Ret.) Bill Barron is executive director of the Fort Knox Chapter of the Association of the U.S. Army CORE Committee, a private nonprofit group that supports Army interests. Fort Knox already has an annual civilian and military payroll of $490.8 million, Sinclair said, and Barron estimates BRAC changes will add another $250 million to that figure. “That’s going to generate $15 to $20 million in annual state tax revenue,” Barron said. And there will be at least $500 million in new military construction required to adapt to BRAC changes, Barron said, including a new Human Resources Command record storage administrative office building estimated to cost $197 million. Fort Knox officials are working to secure the post’s share of federal BRAC construction funding, he added. The economic impact of military construction, according to Barron, is typically 60 cents of every $1 spent on military construction awarded to local contractors and subcontractors and their suppliers, boosting the local economy $600,000 for every $1 million spent. Record new homes “There’s going to be enough people for everybody,” Barron said. Radcliff, which had a 2004 population estimated at 21,617, is already preparing for its share, with some 800 new town homes, upscale houses, mid-priced homes and apartment buildings either planned or under construction by year’s end, Enyart said. To put the city’s best foot forward, Enyart is also encouraging business owners to spruce up aging storefronts, especially along the U.S. 31W corridor that runs through town. The city of Elizabethtown, a few miles farther from post than Radcliff and the largest city in Hardin County with just over 23,000 residents, has experienced record new construction levels exceeding $70 million for the past three years running. Distinguishing between base-related construction and everyday growth can be complicated. Many of the new housing permits in Hardin County in 2005 were issued before anyone knew the region would gain so much from BRAC. And with America’s hunger for new homes at a peak last year, the county’s growth doesn’t look quite as remarkable. Still, contractors who have already been building at what seems like a breakneck pace for Hardin County say they don’t expect to slow down for quite a while. Perhaps the most striking evidence of that is a dozen miles north of Elizabethtown in Vine Grove, a small town of about 4,000 residents. BRAC may cause the population there to double within the next few years, by Mayor Gary Minter’s estimates. The city issued just 20 building permits for single-family dwellings in all of 2003 and 2004. But in 2005, 105 single-family dwelling building permits were issued, and 29 more have already been issued from January through the first week of April. The city’s planning commission has rezoned nearly 100 agricultural acres to residential since December 2005, with more acreage under consideration for rezoning and annexation. Minter said there could be 1,000 new homes in a stretch of less than a quarter-mile within the next few years. The largest subdivision is Vineland Park, rising near the intersection of Kentucky 313 and Kentucky 144, with the first phase of development containing 260 homes. The second phase will allow for single-family dwellings, apartments or town houses with commercially zoned frontage that could include a strip mall. Chance ‘to get it right’ Minter said residents are excited about the influx of new faces, and with planning and zoning regulations in place, he’s confident development will take place in an orderly, controlled fashion. The city is known for its small-town charm and a number of seasonal festivals held there each year, like “Autumn Daze” and “Dickens of a Christmas.” Minter said that close-knit feeling won’t erode with a larger population. “We can grow, but still have the uniqueness of a small community,” he said. “This presents a tremendous economic opportunity and challenge for the commonwealth,” Fletcher said in a statement. “I am very proud of the role Kentucky will play in strengthening our nation’s defense.” Maj. Gen. (Ret.) John Tindall Jr., a Radcliff resident since 1974 and chairman of the North Hardin Economic Development Authority, is also vice chairman of the state BRAC Task Force. He owns a real estate development business in Radcliff, working primarily with commercial projects. Tindall said the BRAC changes would be the most significant economic development opportunity that Radcliff has had in the past 30 years, and one that will benefit his town and others within a 30-mile radius. Tindall said he expects with new families moving into the area, new restaurants and service-oriented businesses will crop up. Tindall said he envisions what the area will look like five years from now, when the bulk of BRAC changes should be in place. “I hope that I will see a community that has embraced change with as much vision and forward-thinking as we can capture and afford,” he said. “If we do that to say OK, here’s an opportunity to have at least a generation or maybe two generations to do things right, if we are able to get it right, the whole area will benefit and we will be strong and vibrant.”
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Copyright 1996-2006, by Kentucky Business Online. All rights reserved. Editorial content
is copyright 2006, Lane Communications Group The Lane Report is a trademark of Lane Communications Group. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. |
The city of Radcliff could have survived without Fort Knox, but Mayor Sheila Enyart is relieved it won’t have to try. “It may not have been crippling, but it would have been darn near close to it,” she said.
City planning department records show there were more single-family housing starts in Radcliff the first three months of 2006 – 66 – than the yearly totals for 1999 through 2002.
Fort Knox and local communities aren’t alone in the effort to make the BRAC transformation work. Kentucky Gov. Ernie Fletcher has announced the formation of a 23-member state-level BRAC Task Force, designed to aid communities surrounding Fort Knox in a successful transition. The group is comprised of Fletcher and selected state cabinet members, Congressman Ron Lewis as chairperson, representatives from state and local governments, and community leaders.