Font ResizeLAS CRUCES - Spaceport America officials have halted construction of a building at the site, as they rework its architectural plans.
A spaceport official said earlier this year that the 16,000 square-foot, dome-shaped aircraft rescue and firefighting building was slated for completion in December. But Rick Homans, executive director for the New Mexico Spaceport Authority, recently halted construction in order to redesign its interior.
Homans contended the problem is a minor one in the larger scheme of the $212 million spaceport construction.
"We face challenges on the construction site every day, and this is just one of the many challenges," he said. "Quite frankly I'm surprised at the level of attention it's receiving because it's regarded as a minor issue internally that has no impact on our budget or timetable."
Construction on the overall spaceport is slated to be finished in 2011.
Homans said some additional expense could be incurred during the redesign, but it's expected to be small and will be drawn from contingency dollars.
"It's likely to be a professional services contract, but we will shortly select a company to get that work done as quickly as possible," he said.
A redesign of the interior could take six to eight weeks, Homans said. It's needed because officials, at the outset of planning for the project a year ago, didn't know as much as they do now about the types of operations they'd have to house in the building, he said.
Homans said it's
Bateman-Hall, an Idaho company, is the general contractor on the project. The Spaceport Authority awarded the $2.8 million bid to the firm in February. An official with the company declined to comment about the recent halting of the project.
Construction on the firefighting building should resume in the first quarter of 2011 or the first part of the second quarter, Homans said.
"The key to this project is that we're ready in enough time to accommodate (Virgin Galactic's) operations, and we're well within that time frame," he said. "We're in good shape from a schedule standpoint."
Virgin Galactic, a Britain-based commercial spaceflight company, is considered the spaceport's anchor tenant.
The Spaceport Authority, now headquartered in Las Cruces, will move its offices to the aircraft rescue and firefighting building next year before Virgin Galactic starts initial flights, Homans said.
The spaceport, located in southeastern Sierra County, is about 45 miles north of Las Cruces.
Diana M. Alba can be reached at (575) 541-5443
On the Web
• Spaceport America: www.spaceportamerica.com
