Coast Guard won’t build new training base at Port Royal hospital. Here’s who got it
You can’t win ‘em all.
Port Royal has lost a nationwide competition for a new Coast Guard training base just a month after it was chosen as the site for a new VA health clinic.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the United States Coast Guard announced March 4 that Birmingham-Southern College (BSC) in Birmingham, Alabama would be the location of its newest training center.
In November, the Coast Guard asked for proposals seeking potential locations for the new center based on a list of requirements, including lodging for 1,200 recruits, a medical facility to support 1,000 personnel, a land area of 150-250 acres and 14 classrooms to accommodate 30-60 students, among other criteria.
The Coast Guard said it needed the extra space because it is on track to add 15,000 new members by 2028.
The Beaufort County Economic Development Corp (BCED), Beaufort Area Chamber of Commerce and Beaufort Defense Community Partnership Task Force applied for consideration, saying Naval Hospital Beaufort could be a perfect fit. The hospital grounds are located between the Beaufort River and Ribaut Road in Port Royal.
But Birmingham-Southern best satisfied Coast Guard training mission requirements, the Coast Guard said in a news release. The Alabama college offers turnkey ready facilities critical to supporting immediate commencement of training missions, while meeting all the service’s eligibility criteria with nominal investment compared to new construction, the Coast Guard said.
The Coast Guard’s announcement comes just more than a month after the Ralph H. Johnson VA Health Care System confirmed that it would build a new $30 million community-based outpatient clinic at 1844 Ribaut Road in Port Royal, the site of the former Sea Island Apartments.
The clinic will replace the current U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs clinic located in the Beaufort Naval Hospital, which has faced multiple closures over the years. The uncertain future of the Naval Hospital was why local officials thought that it might be the good fit for a new Coast Guard training base.
