Photo Gallery “It doesn’t even feel like we’re living on post,” said Staff Sgt. William Reese with the 86th Military Police Detachment.
“We lucked up,” Reese said. “This is a whole different world. We have the convenience of living on post, the best schools for our kids, and I don’t mind giving up my BAH for this home.”
Reese and his Family got the keys to their new home in McGraw Village after returning to Fort Benning from Germany.
McGraw Village, the first housing area to be built on Fort Benning under the Residential Communities Initiative, officially opened Friday with the ribbon-cutting ceremony at the housing area’s village center off Custer Road.
McGraw Village features mostly single family homes with two-car garages for junior enlisted Soldiers and their Families. Construction on the project started in March 2006, and now 54 homes of the projected 600 are occupied. The three and four bedroom homes on the 250-acre site are being built in phases, with Phase I, consisting of 231 homes, in various stages of construction.
The village center features the housing office, an exercise room with aerobic equipment, a TV room, game room, splash pool and swimming pool.
But before all this could be built, McGraw Manor needed to be demolished.
William Armbruster, deputy assistant secretary of the Army, Privatization and Partnerships, responsible for the Army’s installation privatization initiatives, told the crowd he took the first swing at demolishing McGraw Manor a year and a half ago. And although he was given a sledgehammer, he said he needed help in busting through the brick wall of a home in the housing area named in honor of Pfc. Frances McGraw, a World War II Medal of Honor recipient.
During the demolition of McGraw Manor, the Clark, Pinnacle and Army partnership recycled more than 1 million pounds of metal and more than 200 million pounds of concrete, said Phil Cowley, the project director for Fort Benning Family Communities, which is responsible for managing the 50-year privatization initiative.
“Our recycling and reuse plan diverted more than 100,000 tons of materials from landfills,” he said.
Cowley talked about other milestones that were met since October 2004, including nearly 400,000 man-hours without a lost-time injury. And the new homes feature low-flow water fixtures, which should save nearly 2.5 million gallons of water a year, Cowley said.
“We’re delivering on a promise to improve the quality of life and specifically housing for our Soldiers with RCI,” Armbruster said.
“This is 100 percent better,” she said. “My husband hoped for the keys to a blue house, Carolina blue, and that’s the house we got the keys to. My kids love having their own rooms, and I love the space.”
The homes, all electric, will average between 1,800 and 1,900 square feet.