Joint Base Lewis-McChord residents and workers are familiar with construction and an ever-evolving landscape; here are some of the current undertakings on base.

Chicken closure

The Popeye's restaurant, located on Lewis Main, has been closed and the building will be demolished as part of the road construction and traffic plan that is transforming Pendleton Avenue and the furthering the Town Center project.

Currently, there is a proposal to construct a new Popeye's on Lewis North, but according to JBLM public affairs, no start or finish dates for that construction work have not been released yet.

New gate access to North Fort

The new "Integrity Gate," located near the intersection of DuPont-Steilacoom Road and Wharf Road will replace an older gate, located nearby at I Street, which had been deemed unsafe due to limited sightlines and visibility.

Specifically, the new gate will be at the next road junction north of the Center Drive and DuPont-Steilacoom Road intersection. As a component of this project, a traffic signal will be installed at the four-way intersection to regulate the gate's traffic flow. The Integrity Gate should be completed and operational in the early Fall of 2014.

Water Treatment Plant

CDM Constructors Inc., of Bellevue, was awarded a $77,476,628 firm-fixed price contract to design and build a Class A wastewater treatment plant to service JBLM.

The existing wastewater treatment plant is located near Solo Point off of DuPont-Steilacoom Road, about 1.5 miles south of the JBLM North gate, and is an older plant. The new plant will be able to treat 10 million gallons of water per day, which is intended to provide for the projected base population of 100,000 people by the year 2030.

The project recently received an official notice to proceed from office of the Army Corps of Engineers in Seattle, which is the contracting activity. The initial months of the project will focus on planning and design and a groundbreaking is expected to occur this summer.

Fisher House moves forward

Site preparation for the second JBLM Fisher House is expected to begin in mid- to late-March. Once that is complete, the contractor will take over and begin work. There will be a groundbreaking ceremony, according to Fisher House manager Jodi Land, but a date is yet to be determined.

The new house is slated to be a one-story structure, larger than the existing eight-bedroom JBLM house and located near the Madigan's Medical Mall. The new construction will have 12 rooms, including an on-site office, as well as a built-in storage room and oversized kitchen, living room and dining room.

See Also

Commissary Club opens at McChord Field

Joint Base Lewis-McChord's Master Plan

2nd Ranger Battalion memorial enters next phase