Vanguard

Issue date: 10/1/07 Section: News

The fate of the University of South Alabama's Brookley Field campus has been up in the air for years. As the U.S. Department of Defense draws closer to deciding on a company to develop an Air Force refueling tanker, USA may have to make a decision sooner than intended.
Northrop Grumman/EADS (a European-based company) and Boeing (an American company) are competing to develop a plane that will refuel Air Force aircraft midair. If EADS is granted the bid, the company has said it will construct its KC-30 planes at Brookley Field. Boeing will build its 767 in Washington, if selected for the project.
If the U.S. Department of Defense selects Northrop/EADS, many changes will have to occur at Brookley. This possibility leads to the question of what will happen to USA's Brookley campus if Northrop/EADS builds a plant there.
USA's property at Brookley consists of 327 acres on Mobile Bay, with 1.5 miles of waterfront and 400,000 square feet of building space. A number of the University's continuing education programs and other state programs are located at Brookley campus. South Alabama's only conference center is housed there as well.
Marc Pelham is the marketing director for the Mobile Airport Authority. "My hope is that if and when an economic development prospect comes in and is interested in locating at Brookley, the property owned by South Alabama will be available at a reasonable price," Pelham said. "I want to know that the site will be available, but I have no idea what South Alabama's plans are for the site."
Pelham recently met with Northrop/EADS' engineers to construct a preliminary design for the aircraft plant. If Northrop/EADS is awarded the Air Force project, the company plans to build two large facilities at Brookley.
The half-a-million square foot assembly area will be located in the middle of the airfield. The building will take over a year to build and will sit on a 73-acre tract of land. Adjacent to the assembly facility will be another large building. The three-quarters-of-a-million square foot facility will be outfitted for working with the military. Here, the Northrop/EADS KC-30 aircraft will be converted into a refueling tanker. The second building will be located on an 85-acre plot of land.
"By the time the Air Force makes its decision, Northrop/EADS will have selected engineers and architects," Pelham said. "Northrop will have contracted with people to build the facility, as well as worked out the financing. If Northrop/EADS is selected, there will be nothing else to do [at Brookley] except break ground."

Continued...

Page 1 of 2 next >

Article Tools