NEW ORLEANS- Coast Guard Commandant, Adm. Thad Allen will serve as the keynote speaker and presiding official over the dedication and groundbreaking ceremony for the new Sector New Orleans building here, Friday, Jan. 30, 2009. The groundbreaking ceremony will also commemorate the new construction of the Coast Guard Integrated Support Command, which is being built on a 26-acre parcel at the NASA Michoud Assembly Facility.
Demonstrating the Coast Guard’s continued commitment to the greater New Orleans area, contract values to build the two facilities will total nearly $120 million.
Awarded in June 2008, the $27 million Sector New Orleans project will feature a 53,000-square-foot building brings together, for the first time, the Sector command, command center, marine safety office, and vessel traffic service.
“The new facility will improve our already exceptional operational performance by enhancing our interoperability, providing our port stakeholders with a single point of contact and a better integration of our day-to-day operations,” said Capt. Lincoln Stroh, commanding officer of Sector New Orleans.
The new Sector building will be built on a nearly 7-acre parcel of land in the northwest corner of Naval Support Activity West Bank. The property was transferred to the Coast Guard in an agreement with the U.S. Navy, the Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission (BRAC), Federal City and the New Orleans Federal Alliance.
The nearly $90 million contract to construct the Integrated Support Command facility in Michoud was awarded in April 2008, and represents the largest single facility contract in Coast Guard history.
The new ISC facility will include a new 85,000 square foot administrative and berthing building, a new industrial and shipping and receiving building totaling 49,000 square feet, and an additional 7,200 square feet of covered storage. In addition, waterfront facilities to be built include a pier, wharf and floodwall gate.
ISC New Orleans is the support center for Coast Guard operations here, responsible for financial, personnel, work-life, civil rights, housing, industrial, facilities engineering, and medical and dental support to the more than 900 personnel assigned to the region’s various units.
