Group lauds Fort Chaffee development effort

WASHINGTON -- Nearly two decades after the federal government closed Fort Chaffee, efforts to develop the former base are attracting national recognition.

Association of Defense Communities officials gave the Fort Chaffee Redevelopment Authority its base redevelopment excellence award Tuesday, citing effort to develop 7,000 acres near Fort Smith.

The Washington-based organization, which helps communities across the country to find "new ways to leverage military assets," heaped praise on the authority and its executive director, Ivy Owen.

"The story of Chaffee Crossing is what we want for every community facing base closure," association board member Celeste Werner told the crowd.

It's the second time Fort Chaffee has received the group's top prize; the authority was also honored in 2012.

The base, a former training site, prisoner-of-war camp and refugee center, once was home to the 5th Armored Division. It briefly housed Elvis Presley in 1958 and saw rioting by Cuban exiles in 1980.

After the Cold War ended, the U.S. government began closing military installations, eventually closing more than 350 sites.

Fort Chaffee was targeted for closing by the Base Realignment and Closure Commission in 1995; the base was "inactivated" in 1997. Some of the base was transferred to the Arkansas Army National Guard. But thousands of acres have been set aside for economic development.

So far, the site has sparked more than $1.1 billion in capital improvements, authority officials said. The area includes business headquarters, residential developments and a new 6.5-mile stretch of road that will eventually connect to Interstate 49.

The Arkansas Colleges of Health Education is also building an osteopathic medicine school there.

"We're very very proud of [Fort] Chaffee redevelopment. Ivy Owen and his team have done a tremendous job," said U.S. Sen. John Boozman, R-Rogers. "As somebody that grew up in the area, I've seen the transformation and it truly has been phenomenal, particularly in the last nine or 10 years."

Owen said it's gratifying to be recognized by his peers.

"It took awhile for us to figure out what we were doing, but once we got it figured out, we've been doing pretty well since then," he said. "It's just been an incredibly successful operation."

Bryant Monroe, a senior project manager with the Department of Defense's Office of Economic Adjustment, said the Fort Chaffee project is "one of the best stories in the whole [base closure] portfolio."

"From the very beginning in the '90s, [they] had a vision and a plan and slowly but surely they've pulled together all these different entities that now call it home," he said.

The Fort Smith area "didn't have the resources that a lot bigger communities have, but by sheer talent, [they] have pulled it off. Now they have a wonderful array of businesses and jobs," he said, adding, "It's a great success story."

NW News on 06/23/2016

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