Naval Station Great Lakes Recapitalization Program

In 1998, NAVFAC Midwest awarded Clark Construction Group, LLC, a $68 million contract to build two prototype barracks at Naval Station Great Lakes. This was the first phase of the U.S. Navy’s 12-year recapitalization effort to modernize their only boot camp, the Recruit Training Command. The program replaced outdated buildings and infrastructure with state-of-the-art training grounds and living areas customized to the Navy’s needs. Last year, Clark completed work on its fourth project at the base. Along the way, the company built 17 of the base’s 23 new structures totaling more than 2.3 million square feet and $548 million.

The two prototype barracks, named the USS Constitution and the USS Roosevelt, were completed in 2002. By that time, Clark, leading a joint venture with Blinderman Construction and M+W Group, both of Chicago, had begun design-build efforts on the $235 million Camp John Paul Jones project. Working off the design of the prototype barracks, Clark built seven additional barracks, providing training, housing, and dining facilities for 7,400 recruits. The joint venture delivered more than 1.2 million square feet of barracks between January 2004 and July 2006 and also constructed a 750,000 gallon water tower and a railroad underpass, and performed complete utility, communication, and roadway infrastructure improvements to the 48-acre site.

In 2005, construction began on the company’s third contract at Naval Station Great Lakes. The USS Pearl Harbor is a three-story 145,000 square-foot structure at Camp Moffett that consolidates living and in-processing functions for new recruits. When a Navy recruit first arrives at the Recruit Training Command, he or she is housed in this building until the training process begins. Clark, again working with Blinderman and M+W Group, completed the $41.5 million USS Pearl Harbor three months ahead of schedule.

In December 2006, the joint venture team was awarded the Camp Porter Barracks and Infrastructure project to transform an outdated 160-acre campus from a layout constrained by a vehicular grid to a recruit training-based design built to accommodate the RTC’s specific needs. Early phases of the project included demolishing 12 existing buildings that outlived their original service life, installing miles of new underground utilities  and converting existing roads into 28-foot-wide marching paths. 

The Camp Porter project included three new barracks - two basic military training barracks (BMTs) and a special recruit barracks (SRB). The two BMTs are concrete structures with masonry façades that share a common mechanical/electrical core and dining facilities. Combined, they provide 570,000 square feet of advanced training area. Each of these barracks accommodates 12 divisions (more than 1,000 recruits), and includes berthing quarters, classrooms, barber shop, and administrative space. The 205,000 square-foot SRB is also a concrete structure with a masonry façade and provides space for 11 recruit divisions and was designed for recruits with special training requirements. The SRB barracks features extra classroom area, dining facilities and 72 dorm-style rooms.

The joint venture also constructed a 30,000 square-foot simulated arms marksmanship trainer with 88 firing ranges, each equipped with a modified pistol connected to a pneumatic system to simulate the recoil of a real weapon.   

To help Camp Porter more efficiently handle and process thousands of visitors attending weekly recruit graduation ceremonies, the joint venture built the USS Yorktown, a new 20,000 square-foot visitor center, the 800-car Lake Michigan Parking Garage, and a new entry gate facility. 

As Clark left Naval Station Great Lakes, the Navy issued an unusual change order: transport and assemble three impressive Navy artifacts: an F-14 Tomcat fighter plane, a 60-ton submarine sail, and a 60,000 pound naval anchor. These items were brought in from across the country; the plane arrived from Pennsylvania after making the longest recorded trip by truck for an F-14. Once the artifacts were on site, they were thoroughly cleaned, re-assembled, and placed near t