Changing tenants

Say good-bye to the Navy. And hello to the Army.

When the U.S. Naval Reserve Center on Maria Louise Lane next to Arena Park closes in September, it won't be vacant for long. The U.S. Army plans to move its local reserve offices to the federally owned building from the current location in rented quarters at 80 Plaza Way, officials in both armed forces branches said.

The Naval Reserve Center is closing as a result of cuts ordered by the Base Realignment and Closing Commission in 2005. The building sits on property leased from Cape Girardeau through 2018, said Ryan Nelson, a civilian employee with the Navy's office in North Charleston, S.C., that is overseeing the closing of the reserve center.

The process for disposing of unneeded property is similar for both military and civilian properties. Much like the soon-to-be-empty federal courthouse in downtown Cape Girardeau, other federal agencies get the first shot at using the facility, with other branches of the military getting top priority. If no federal tenants can be found, the property is evaluated for potential use as a homeless shelter and offered to state and local governments for possible use, according to federal Internet sites detailing the process.

And since the Army wants the Navy's building, that settles the issue, Nelson said. The military branches have priority for acquiring excess property from other services, he said.

"The military exchanges property back and forth at no cost," Nelson said.

The local Army Reserve Center is under the direction of the 89th Regional Readiness Command in Wichita, Kan. Joe Warne, the base transition coordinator in Wichita, said the Army will save money by moving from its current location in a former grocery store to the Navy's building. "The Army wants to get out of leased facilities, where the costs are higher," he said. "We do have a project on the books that we have had for several years to build a new facility for the Army reserve, but that is at least 10 years away."

The timeline for closing the Navy reserve center is to cease operations in September and be fully moved out by December, said hospital corpsman Laura Peterson. "It will be available for the Army after that," she said.

Reservists assigned to the center, about 120 in all, are deciding whether to transfer to St. Louis, Millington Tenn., or accept a discharge, she said. Most are taking transfers, she said.

Facility managers at the Cape Girardeau Army reserve center could not be reached for comment.

rkeller@semissourian.com

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