Summer Construction Update for Next NGA West

NGA's new campus in St. Louis has started to come alive this summer, as its first residents have moved in - the facility's outdoor plants. Trees, shrubs and more have been planted into large containers in the central courtyard of the Main Operations Building.

The campus still isn't quite ready for its human occupants - NGA move-in is scheduled to begin in 2025, to be completed in 2026 - but it gets closer and closer each week.

In NGA's 700,000-square-foot Main Operations Building and 7,300-square-foot Visitor Control Center, carpet installation, furniture installation and painting continues in office areas, hallways, break rooms and conference rooms. Grading has begun at the Employee Entrance Gates into the facility, and workers are installing the foundation and walls at the Remote Inspection Facility, where items being brought into the campus will be evaluated for security.

"Our construction team and the hundreds of skilled tradespeople are working hard at the site every workday," said Stacy Roettger, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers program manager for the NGA project. "Their work has been, and continues to be, incredible as we approach completion of this world-class facility."

Among the actions completed this spring and summer include installation of the flagpoles for the new campus outside of the Main Operations Building - three in total, for the U.S., Missouri and NGA flags. Approximately 7,500 feet of pedestrian wrought-iron fencing also has been set in place around most of the perimeter of the facility.

The installation of approximately 8,500 square feet of terrazzo floors in the NGA Main Operations Building lobby and grand staircase areas are complete. Fittingly for a geospatially-focused organization, the terrazzo pattern in the lobby is designed to evoke a topographical map, said Frank Cooper, N2W program director.

The facility's construction hit a milestone this past spring, when the final two small-business contracts were awarded for the Visitor Control Center parking lot and landscaping, and work has begun on both, Cooper said. "It's gratifying to see the final pieces of the puzzle starting to come together," said Cooper.

The project continues to closely track federal labor goals for worker participation of 6.9 percent women and 14.7 percent minorities per trade, said Josh Gaghen with McCarthy-HITT. Approximately 19.3 percent of workforce hours for the Next NGA West project have been minority participation, and 6.73 percent of workforce hours have been female participation, said Gaghen.

Written by Jessica Daues