Dalton details BAVR repairs: roof, flood wall, showers, food
Dalton outlines a $4.3 million roof and skylight replacement scheduled for 2027-2029, a $2.9 million flood wall, shower privacy partitions to be installed in six to eight weeks, and efforts to improve food and use the commercial kitchen.
DHS is also making a series of repairs and capital improvements at BAVR to fix long-standing problems with the building and protect it for its future.
Those repairs and improvements include the following.
The roof and the skylight leaks.
Until the full roof replacement is complete, DHS is managing leaks in the sleeping area with tarps, which will stay up until further notice.
Beds in the affected areas will stay offline until the capital work is complete.
DHS has a contractor on standby to continuously monitor and make temporary repairs to address any leaks that arise from the roof and skylight due to inclement weather.
Roof and skylight replacement.
A $4.3 million DHS capital project will replace the building's entire roof and skylights.
Design is complete and the project will now move to procurement with work scheduled from June 2027 to December 2029.
Beds under the skylights will stay offline and be taking offline in phases while the skylights are replaced.
For flood protection.
A new flood wall will be built behind the building to protect it from future storms.
Design is complete and the project is scheduled to move to procurement with construction planned for December 2027 through December 2028.
The project costs $2.9 million.
Federal resiliency funding secured with the support of Congresswoman Velasquez covers 75% and DHS capital funds cover the rest.
Shower privacy.
ICL is installing privacy partitions in all 32 showers.
The showers are in two areas of 15 and 17 each.
Each area will close in turn while partitions are installed so that the other areas stay open.
ICL expects the work to take six to eight weeks.
Residents also raise concern about the food at BAVR, and we take those concerns seriously.
ICL switched food vendors in 2022 in response to resident feedback, and in the coming weeks, DHS and ICL are exploring making additional changes in response to resident concerns.
In addition to responding to the smaller concerns related to the quality of food on site, we are also looking at opportunities with the on-site commercial kitchens.
Residents see what we see there, a commercial kitchen that is only used a few hours a day and not at all on weekends.
That kitchen is an opportunity.
DHS and ICL are exploring creative partnerships to make better use of it, including the potential to bring in military chefs to prepare special meals for residents.
That was a resident idea.
We are also looking at bigger changes to how food is prepared at BAVR.
Some of those changes will require procurement, and those discussions are just beginning.
We will keep residents informed as plans take shape.