0920_September Comstock's Magazine September 2020 | Page 74

McClellan Park In 1939, McClellan Air Force Base was named in honor of Maj. Hezekiah McClellan. PHOTO COURTESY OF MCCLELLAN PARK Realignment and Closure program. The original art deco buildings from the 1930s and ’40s now share space with newly constructed warehouses — a juxtaposition of where the park came from, and where it is going. This coexistence of history and modernity takes place across a campus of more than 3,000 acres that houses a multitude of industries, including distribution, logistics, construction supply, storage, data, manufacturing, maintenance, research and aviation, as well as amenities like a hotel and conference center, restaurants, residential housing and even a museum. During its 65 years of operation, the base — named in honor of Maj. Hezekiah McClellan in 1939 — was one of only four air depots in the country responsible for repairing and overhauling military aircrafts as well as maintaining and managing weapon and communication systems. When the nation entered a period of relative peace in the mid-1990s, the U.S. Department of Defense designated bases around the country, including McClellan, for closure. Sacramento not only lost thousands of jobs, but also a historical and cultural jewel in the crown of the North Highlands community. The Sacramento Metro Chamber of Commerce and other local organizations lobbied to keep the base open, but, ultimately, an even better opportunity presented itself: The base would be transformed into a multiuse business park, utilizing existing assets and adding on where needed through a partnership among the Air Force; Sacramento County; and the McClellan Park development group consisting of MBP Ventures, LDK Capital (owned by developer Larry Kelley, whose company was chosen by the county to execute the base conversion) and Industrial Realty Group. The Air Force agreed to a “hot transfer” arrangement, which meant that LDK was able to lease parts of the park to private businesses before the base was officially closed. This meant that the conversion needed to be efficient yet meticulously planned to ensure safety protocols were met — particularly concerning environmental cleanup — while allowing for a smooth transition from military to civilian usage. The base went through four rounds of privatization: the initial pilot program, wherein the Air Force turned over the first 60 acres to the developers, then three rounds of Finding of Suitability for Early Transfers, during which parts of the property were deemed safe for industrial use while environmental cleanup continued. Soil decontamination from industrial chemicals is still ongoing, with the Air Force retaining control over any sites that require soil cleanup 15 feet and deeper (including groundwater), while sites that only required remediation in the top 15 feet of soil were allowed to be privatized, according to Steven Mayer, the remediation program manager and BRAC environmental coordinator for the Air Force Civil Engineer Center. Once the transfer was approved, it was up to Kelley and his design team to bring their vision for this new phase of McClellan’s life. To keep the site’s “historic flavor,” Kelley says he worked with county specialists to determine which buildings needed to stay as-is for preservation purposes (many of the poured-concrete structures erected in the 1930s are still standing, one of which now houses Kelley’s offices). Next, the team decided which existing buildings needed interior and exterior improvements, and, finally, where new construction would take place. “Our first issue was trying to make it look more like a business park,” Kelley says. “We took the gates down, landscaped, changed the paint colors — anything we could do to soften the military base to be more inviting.” 74 comstocksmag.com | September 2020