Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC) Southeast awarded a nearly $11 million contract June 29, to Sauer Inc. of Jacksonville, Florida, for the construction of a new Joint Reserve Intelligence Center (JRIC) at Naval Air Station (NAS) Joint Reserve Base (JRB) New Orleans.

"JRIC New Orleans is a key asset for reach-back support for defense intelligence and intelligence support to national defense requirements," said JRIC New Orleans Officer-in-Charge Cmdr. Marcelle Molett. "The new JRIC building will provide a state-of-the-art facility that will enable military intelligence professionals to conduct training and intelligence production in support of worldwide operations for many years to come."

This project is a design-bid-build project to construct a single-story addition to existing Building 558, previously used by the Navy Band New Orleans. Building 558 will be renovated as part of the project. The band was disestablished Sept. 30, 2014 and the facility is currently vacant.

Renovations will be made to accommodate portions of the building for classified space and unclassified space to include offices, training, meeting and support areas, and restrooms. More than 9,000 square feet will be added to the existing nearly 13,000 square feet in Building 558 providing more than 22,000 square feet for the JRIC.

The facility will have emergency and redundant power, heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems, including remote monitoring system. A planned modification, if awarded, will increase the value of the contract to more than $11.5 million and provides for furniture, fixtures and equipment.

The existing JRIC facility, which was constructed in the 1950's, does not have the required infrastructure nor is it adequately sized or properly configured to accommodate current mission requirements. Temporary workarounds using activated reservists, equipment fixes, and extra weekend unit training are being used until this project is completed.

"The construction of this facility will enable the JRIC to meet its current mission requirements, provide a flexible design plan to support future mission changes without expensive renovations and provide for an open and collaborative intelligence production facility," said JRIC Operations Officer Lt. Andy Thaxton.

Building 20 will be demolished as part of the project.

The new facility is expected to be completed by February 2019.


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