Signs of growth: Doubling Fort Lee’s size by 2013

FORT LEE -- By the time expansion projects at Fort Lee are finished in 2013, the size of Army post in the heart of the Tri-Cities will have doubled.

The fort will have 14 million to 15 million square feet of space housing Army, Air Force, Coast Guard, Marine and Navy operations, schools and personnel.

"In essence, we are building a whole'nother Fort Lee," Fritz Brandt, project manager with the Fort Lee Base Realignment and Closure construction office, said during a tour of the grounds yesterday.

The tour, with 40 participants, was arranged by the Fort Lee Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation Directorate for members of the Hopewell-Prince George Chamber of Commerce.

"I didn't realize everything that was going on out here," said Fred C. Morene, chairman of the Hopewell-based Ford Agency Inc., which specializes in real estate and insurance.

All culinary training for the military services will take place at Fort Lee. Training in logistics, ordnance, sustainability and vehicle recovery will happen here as well, Brandt said.

The tour provided the chamber members a glimpse of the activity at the fort, now teeming with construction workers, heavy equipment and construction trailers.

"So many people are riding by signs of stimulus and growth and they don't know what it is," said Leah Brantley, president of the Hopewell-Prince George chamber. "BRAC is such a positive and economic boost to the localities we represent."

Total BRAC construction investment is expected to be $1.2 billion. The post's daily population is expected to reach more than 35,500 by 2011, when most of the growth will occur. In 2005, the daily base population was 18,800.

Contact Emily C. Dooley at (804) 649-6016 or .