Aberdeen Proving Ground could see a downswing in jobs just before thousands more come in from other states, as construction and personnel movement schedules could temporarily leave the base at a loss.
As part of the military base realignment and closing process, the Army Ordnance Center will move from Edgewood to Fort Lee in Virginia, taking 237 civilians and 3,167 military employees with it, said APG spokeswoman Patricia McClung. Another 160 jobs will be lost when the Army Environmental Center is moved to Fort Sam Houston in Texas, she said.
County Executive David Craig estimated the move-out would occur sometime in 2008, but official timelines say it could be as late as 2010.
“It?s not going to be a case of where folks going to Fort Lee move out on Monday and the rest move in on Tuesday,” said Roxanne Lynch, director of communications for Harford County.
Demolition and construction projects need to take place before new facilities and functions can move to Aberdeen, but the 2011 deadline for implementing BRAC changes made in 2005 looms over it all. Aberdeen is slated to get an estimated 8,200 new jobs coming from bases in New Jersey and Northern Virginia, but construction schedules mean those jobs won?t be ready to move until 2010, Craig said at a quarterly meeting of Harford?s elected officials.
“Some of this will take place in dribs and drabs, especially the jobs coming in from Fort Monmouth,” McClung said. The slow trickle of jobs in and out could offset losses.
Construction for the Army?s Communications-Electronics Research & Development Engineering Center and Life Cycle Management Command is supposed to begin in late 2007, but both the construction timeline and the employment numbers are just rough estimates and could change, she said.
