Air Force transfers McClellan property to schools, museum

  • Published
  • By Linda Geissinger
  • AFCEC / PA
This week, the Air Force deeded 12 acres on the former McClellan Air Force Base to the community for redevelopment. While the property has been leased to the community for several years following closure in 2001, the recorded deeds make the transfers out of federal ownership final.
 
Los Rios College District, Twin Rivers Unified School District and the Aerospace Museum of California now have recorded deeds for parcels once part of McClellan Air Force Base in Sacramento.

Since 2008, the Aerospace Museum has operated on its 6.5 acre parcel at the corner of Freedom Park Drive and Luce Avenue. The Air Force acquired the property in 1967 for recreational facilities, including a running track and ball fields.

Twin River Unified School District received the 1.7-acre site where it operates Keema High School and several other programs in the former Bldg. 7 on Arnold Avenue. The Air Force built the classroom facility in 1951 and, prior to base closure in 2001, it housed the Global Communications Headquarters.

Across the street, at the intersection of Arnold Avenue. and Peacekeeper Way, is the former Bldg. 8, another Air Force classroom facility built in 1981. Los Rios Community College District operates the Sacramento Regional Public Safety Training Center, a program of American River College, on this 3.9-acre site.

"The schools and museum are an important part of McClellan's successful transformation from a military base to a thriving corporate campus," said Phil Mook, senior representative for the Air Force Civil Engineer Center which oversees the environmental cleanup and property transfer at McClellan. "Giving them full title to the properties helps them plan long-term operations and keep an ongoing presence here."

Prior to these property transfers, the Air Force, in consultation with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the California Department of Toxic Substances Control completed a Finding of Suitability to Transfer following an extensive review of the environmental condition of the property. The finding determines that the property is suitable for transfer under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act.

McClellan Air Force Base closed in 2001 following the 1995 recommendation of the Base Realignment and Closure Commission. While environmental cleanup is ongoing at the former base, it is one of the largest economic development and infill reuse projects in Northern California. To date, the Air Force has transferred just over 1,700 acres of the former 3,000-acre base to the local community for redevelopment. The remaining portions of the base, primarily the airfields, are expected to transfer in 2014.

The Air Force Civil Engineer Center, a San Antonio-based field operating agency of the Air Force Civil Engineer, manages the disposal of Air Force property in accordance with Base Realignment and Closure law and a BRAC Master Plan. The goal of Air Force BRAC operations is to achieve early environmental resolution and early property disposal to return value to the Air Force and local communities. AFCEC partners with public and private stakeholders to execute the mission and promote environmental awareness and economic opportunities.