Contractors completed another building demolition in the 1600 block during mid-December at Fort McCoy as part of continuing work in that block, said Master Planner Brian Harrie with the Fort McCoy Directorate of Public Works (DPW).

Demolished was the old Fort McCoy Installation Legal Office building 1644, Harrie said. The building had to be taken down to make way for continued future construction in the same area.

“That area will be developed in conjunction with the east barracks (when built),” Harrie said. “That specific 1644 footprint will be a stormwater pond and will store runoff from the north barracks, east barracks, and east parking lot.”

Demolition of buildings in the 1600 block originally began in 2019 and has since led to the construction of two large four-story barracks buildings, and a third that is currently under construction.

All of the work is part of the Fort McCoy master plan that looks at continuously upgrading the installation’s infrastructure to be prepared for the future, Harrie said.

Overall, nine new buildings are planned for the entire 1600 block, Harrie said. The plan is to build four barracks buildings, the three 20,000-square-foot brigade headquarters buildings, and two 160-room officer quarters.

“The 1600 block will be completely transformed when all of this construction is completed years from now,” Harrie said in a past news article. “The 1600 block is a great location for this transformation, too, because it places these facilities for transient training troops near the post’s service-related facilities, such as the Fort McCoy Commissary, Fort McCoy Exchange, and McCoy’s Community Center.”

The following timeline from Harrie shows how changes in the 1600 block have taken place to get to the current status.

— 2010: The first brick and mortar barracks in the history of Fort McCoy were built on post (building 2840).

— 2011-2012: Fort McCoy DPW developed a Troop Housing Master Plan to replace all the existing World War II-era wood buildings on the west side of the cantonment area (blocks 1600-2800). This included all transient training barracks, dining facilities, and transient headquarters buildings (company, battalion, and brigade). This plan proposed 70-plus new brick-and-mortar buildings (total) to replace the hundreds of World War II-era wood buildings in that area used for annual training, mobilization, and weekend drills.

— 2012-2018: Built three U.S. Army Corps of Engineers standard design, brick-and-mortar dining facilities (buildings 1672, 1872, and 2472), based on the conclusions developed in the 2012 Troop Housing Master Plan.

— 2019: Fort McCoy DPW finished the 1600 Block Transient Training Campus Plan, composed of four barracks, three brigade headquarters buildings, and one officers quarters. All eight of these buildings (a small component of the 70 buildings developed in the 2012 Troop Housing Master Plan) are based on U.S. Army Corp of Engineers standard designs.

— 2019: Awarded the first (of four) four-story barracks in the 1600 block, based on outcomes of the 1600 Block Transient Training Campus Plan. Construction was completed in April 2022.

— 2020: Awarded the second (of four) four-story barracks in the 1600 block, based on outcomes of the 1600 Block Transient Training Campus Plan. Construction was completed in spring 2023.

— 2022: Construction on first (of three) brick-and-mortar transient training brigade headquarters buildings in 1600 block started based on outcomes of the 1600 Block Transient Training Campus Plan. That project is 94 percent complete as of Dec. 8, 2023, according to Ken Green with the Resident Office of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers at Fort McCoy.

— 2023: Construction on the third (of four) four-story barracks in the 1600 block begins in August. Plans on all remaining projects are also underway based on the outcomes of the 1600 Block Transient Training Campus Plan. Awards to build more in the future is also being planned.

The Fort McCoy Executive Summary, available at https://www.dvidshub.net/publication/issues/66859, also shows the installation makes continuous improvements to provide a plethora of training capabilities for service members.

“Throughout the last decade, Fort McCoy experienced unprecedented facility modernization, training area development and expansion, increased training and customer support capability, and improved quality-of-life opportunities,” the summary states. “From unmanned aerial vehicles, to urban training facilities, to live-fire ranges and virtual-training environments, Fort McCoy is prepared to meet the training needs of the Army in the 21st century.”

Having construction projects like this completed with local contractors also supports local economies. Earlier in 2023, Fort McCoy Garrison Commander Col. Stephen Messenger talked to members of the Wisconsin Government Opportunities Business Conference about the importance of Fort McCoy’s economic impact to the local economies.

Messenger pointed out the installation’s impact for fiscal year (FY) 2022, which was approximately $2.52 billion. The data for the economic impact was compiled by Fort McCoy’s Plans, Analysis, and Integration Office. As determined, workforce payroll, operating costs, and other expenditures totaled $629.08 million for FY 2022 compared to $481.6 million for FY 2021.

“That’s hundreds of millions of dollars in contracts,” Messenger said. “That’s hundreds of millions of dollars in new construction. It’s hundreds of millions of dollars in payroll that we have here. And this is a driver of the economy, but it’s not because of Fort McCoy being here. It’s because of the integration that we have in the local community. And mainly when I say local, I mean this part of the region.”

Fort McCoy’s motto is to be the “Total Force Training Center.”

Located in the heart of the upper Midwest, Fort McCoy is the only U.S. Army installation in Wisconsin.

The installation has provided support and facilities for the field and classroom training of more than 100,000 military personnel from all services nearly every year since 1984.

Learn more about Fort McCoy online at https://home.army.mil/mccoy, on Facebook by searching “ftmccoy,” and on Twitter by searching “usagmccoy.”

Also try downloading the Digital Garrison app to your smartphone and set “Fort McCoy” or another installation as your preferred base. Fort McCoy is also part of Army’s Installation Management Command where “We Are The Army’s Home.”