Fort Riley fortifies position

Leader looking to build on region's growth

With all the growth cropping up around Fort Riley, the executive director of the Governor’s Military Council has some advice for surrounding communities and people looking to invest and build near the installation that already covers more than 100,000 acres.

Don’t get too close.

As the once-again headquarters for the U.S. Army’s 1st Infantry Division welcomes thousands of new troops, thousands more dependents and millions of dollars in construction, equipment and related investments, officials already are preparing for another inevitable wave of change: the next round of military base realignments and closings.

And whether the push comes 10 or 20 years from now, John Armbrust knows what the Fort Riley region must avoid to fortify its position as a viable military base well into the future.

“I firmly believe that the installations that close will be the ones that have had encroachment,” said Armbrust, in Lawrence for a Lawrence Chamber of Commerce luncheon Tuesday at the Eldridge Hotel. “You want to protect that area around the fort.”

Efforts to stave off development from rural areas adjacent to the fort could pay off years from now, he said, when military officials will decide where and how to deploy their forces.

Developers already are scrambling to build enough houses, businesses, schools, roads and other projects to accommodate the estimated 30,000 additional people expected to move into the area as part of the division’s return to Fort Riley, about 90 miles west of Lawrence off Interstate 70.

John Armbrust, executive director of the Governor's Military Council, wants Lawrence business leaders to be aware of the opportunities and challenges of growth at Fort Riley and nearby towns. He discussed the region's economic future during a Lawrence Chamber of Commerce luncheon attended by 60 people Tuesday at the Eldridge Hotel, 701 Mass.

And if the state wants to keep reaping the benefits of the base’s presence and growth – an estimated $2.5 billion to $3 billion annually in wages, contracts and other direct spending by 2011 – people need to avoid bumping up against the fort itself, or its operations.

“In this region, the military is a big economic activity,” Armbrust said. “That’s a small price to pay – if it’s a price at all – to keep agricultural land in agriculture.”

Armbrust, a retired Air Force colonel, helped lead the state’s efforts to secure the return of the 1st Infantry Division, which returned this summer after having left Fort Riley for Germany in 1996.

As forces have built back up in and around the fort, several developers, builders, investors and tradespeople from the Lawrence area have taken advantage of business opportunities in Junction City, Manhattan and other sites in the area. Hundreds of apartments, duplexes, single-family homes – even a hotel – are being put up by Lawrence folks, and Armbrust said that such commitment was essential for meeting the region’s needs.

That’s what members of the Governor’s Military Council have been preaching all along.

“Our philosophy has been: We’re going to do it, and not talk about it,” Armbrust said. “You can’t talk about it. We need 8,000 homes and 9,000 homes. What’s there to talk about? Build ’em.”

Ted Haggart, president of Douglas County Bank, said the bank was working with a handful of Lawrence interests looking to invest in the Fort Riley area, taking advantage of work that isn’t readily available in Lawrence.

“They’ve got to go where the business and opportunities are,” Haggart said.