Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point marked a noteworthy milestone on the road to recovery from hurricane impact dating back to 2018.

Navy Facilities Command awarded $149 million to Whiting-Turner Contracting Company Aug. 12, as part of the Hurricane Florence Recovery to improve MCAS Cherry Point facilities. The project covers replacement of facilities that were damaged during the 2018 hurricane and will be completed in the next five years. 

The construction of these facilities will have a direct impact on the readiness of units aboard the air station as well as those that utilize surrounding training ranges.

The award comprises replacement of facilities that house the station’s Provost Marshal Office, multiple squadron administration offices and the activities responsible for fire and emergency services and motor transportation. The construction will include replacement of the Range Operations Center at an outlying property Bombing Target 11 (BT-11) on Piney Island.  Also, the award covers the construction of a new station academic auditorium that will assume the primary mission of supporting large-scale unit readiness and training, which is currently facilitated by the base theater facility.

Hurricane Florence was responsible for $450,000,000 in damage to the air station and its outlying properties. The base theater received massive flood and water intrusion damage. While the theater was renovated and reopened, the damage to the interior and exterior structure; mechanical and electrical systems of the building was too costly to fully repair.  
 
The building which houses the Provost Marshal Office, Marine Wing Headquarters Squadron 2, and Headquarters and Headquarters Squadron offices incurred irreparable damage. The impacts were so extensive that many of the functions and activities that were housed there had to be relocated to other facilities, which include temporary structures.

It is estimated that the first construction project, the facility to replace the PMO and the two squadron headquarters, will be with be completed by the spring of 2023.

Three of the projects, which include the auditorium, a fire station and the range operation center are expected to be accomplished by the fall of 2024.