Dorms receive breath of new life

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Siuta B. Ika
  • 49th Wing Public Affairs
HOLLOMAN AIR FORCE BASE, N.M. --  When buildings become outdated or unsuitable, they are often abandoned or demolished. On base, many buildings have suffered the latter in favor of constructing new structures where the old ones once stood.

For five Holloman dorms, a different situation is unfolding.

To accommodate the wing's mission change, the 49th Force Support Squadron's Lodging staff is working to convert old dorms into suitable living quarters for the Remotely Piloted Aircraft's incoming long-term Temporary Duty aircrew students.

"Originally we were planning on converting some of the dorms to lodging -- some were going to be torn down -- but we adjusted accordingly to the mission change to meet the RPA needs," said Don Adams, 49th FSS Lodging general manager.

To meet those needs, four dorms are scheduled to be converted in a two-phase project.

"Two dorms per phase for a total of 120 rooms," said Mr. Adams. "Based on the number of students coming in and their length of stay, we had to come up with a solution to where they all would stay. After we decided on that, we had to figure out how we would make the rooms suitable for them."

The conversion project, which is currently projected for completion by the end of 2012, aims to meet the convenience needs of the students.

"Because of the minimum required square footage of a lodging room, it will take two dorm rooms to make-up one room for our student guests," Mr. Adams said. "We wanted to focus on convenience for the students. The rooms will be constructed as living room and bedroom combination suites. Also, the dorms we are converting are the four dorms closest to the dining facility."

In addition to the added living space, the rooms will also feature new flooring and all of the furniture that can be found in a regular lodging guest room, he added.

The other dorm currently being worked on will serve a different purpose for Holloman's young, permanent-party Airmen.

"One of our unoccupied dorms is being renovated to bring it back into service to meet the needs for housing Airmen," said Second Lt. Kevin Diefenderfer, 49th Civil Engineer Squadron section commander. "The renovation project will increase the number of available rooms by 13 percent or 72 rooms."

The additional rooms will allow more Airmen to live on base, explained Lieutenant Diefenderfer.

"Holloman's dorms have been at about 98 percent occupancy for the last 16 months and have had to release more than 300 Airmen to live off base because there were not enough rooms available on base," he said. "None of the Airmen currently living in the dorms will be affected by this, but the rooms will be available to new Airmen coming to Holloman."

The renovated dorms will feature new carpeting in the living areas, vinyl composition flooring in hallways, day rooms, laundry rooms and common areas; repainted walls, ceilings, doors and door frames; new fans with light fixtures and new cabinets with laminated counter-tops. Also, all existing mechanical and plumbing system damages will be repaired.

The project, which kicked off last fall, is scheduled for completion by April 1. An additional two dorms are expected to be renovated as well within the next three years.

The addition of the rooms will be very important to the Airmen of the base, Lieutenant Diefenderfer explained.

"Availability of apartment rentals downtown is limited and it is becoming increasing difficult for Airmen to find apartments in Alamogordo," he said. "A survey was taken of 13 apartment complexes in Alamogordo. Currently there are two studio apartments, three one-bedroom apartments and three two-bedroom apartments available in these complexes. That goes to show how important the dorm rooms on base are. This renovation could impact many Airmen for years to come."

The two different projects have a combined total cost of about $8.2 million, giving a significant boost to the quality of life of both the RPA students and the Airmen who call Holloman lodging and dorm rooms home.