Guernsey to Help in Florida Reconstruction, Wins $79 Million Contract

11.30.2005

OKLAHOMA CITY – After the destructive 2004 and 2005 hurricane seasons produced the largest disasters in Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) history – Oklahomans are returning to aid in the reconstruction efforts. One firm, Oklahoma-based C. H. Guernsey & Company, is helping restore the Navy’s mission capabilities in Florida.

As a result of the destruction caused by Hurricane Ivan in 2004 and the effort to restore destroyed facilities, Guernsey has won a $79 million design-build contract at the Naval Air Station (NAS) Pensacola, Florida. The contract includes a 34,844 square foot Aviation Rescue Swimmer School (ARSS), a 53,377 square foot Physical Fitness Center and two Visitor’s Quarters facilities totaling 196,000 square feet.

Pensacola NAS has the only ARSS training program in the Navy. Because the facility was destroyed by Hurricane Ivan, it is vital for it to be rebuilt. Guernsey takes pride in providing a new state-of-the-art facility for the NAS mission to train men and women to perform search and rescue missions in the water, deliver people safely into helicopters or rafts, and administer emergency medical life-saving efforts. The type of training provided at this facility was seen put to use during the evacuation of stranded residents in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. The history and nostalgia of the original facility, though destroyed by Ivan, will be carried on in the new facility by preserving/reusing several historic artifacts within the new ARSS.

The new Physical Fitness Center will replace the old facility destroyed by Ivan. It will serve active duty, enlisted Department of Defense personnel, naval aviation rating students, base transient personnel, reservist and retirees at the base. The Navy’s Fitness and Sports Program is a Morale, Welfare and Recreation (MWR) activity. They promote physical health and mental well-being for the Navy and Marine Corps personnel. These sports programs provide a major role in the physical and emotional well-being of military personnel and their family members, which directly influences the Navy’s primary mission.

The new Visitor’s Quarters are designed to house naval transient personnel. The NAS Pensacola, known as the “Cradle of Naval Aviation,” serves as the launching point for the flight training of every Naval Aviator, Naval Flight Officer and enlisted air crewmen. In addition, approximately thirty-two thousand aviation personnel in aeronautical technical phases of naval operations are trained here. The facilities will help support their current Visitors’ Quarters operations with new state-of-the-art facilities for able-bodied military personnel, as well as able-bodied and disabled civilian personnel.

Guernsey, an engineering, architecture and consulting firm established in Oklahoma in 1928, actively supports the U.S. Armed Forces’ quality of life movement with its focus on designing and developing military fitness centers, family housing and child development centers.

Over the past five years, Guernsey has designed six physical fitness facilities, two family housing facilities, two child development centers and two youth recreation centers as part of its involvement with the armed forces quality of life initiatives. These facilities – located in Arkansas, Colorado, Georgia, Illinois, Oklahoma and Texas – offer military personnel and their families multiple wellness opportunities such as fitness, education and health.

“The military is in competition and these facilities are equal to, or in many cases, better than private sector facilities,” said Pat Carroll, Guernsey President and CEO. “Our standard approach is to offer quality, innovative design solutions; and it gives us pride to support the U.S. military with the services we provide.”

The Pensacola Naval Complex employs more than 16,000 military and 7,400 civilian personnel according to the NAS Pensacola Web site. The continued growth of NAS Pensacola is vital to the local economy, not just in Pensacola, but all communities in the surrounding Gulf States.

C. H. Guernsey & Company Background Information:
C. H. Guernsey & Company, celebrating more than 75 years of business, offers quality engineering, architectural and consulting solutions to clients in the United States and abroad. Guernsey has its headquarters in Oklahoma City with offices in Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, New Mexico, Texas and Washington, D.C. Visit http://www.chguernsey.com for additional information.

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