BHMH set to celebrate new generation of family homes

  • Published
  • By Richard Essary
  • 75th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
HILL AIR FORCE BASE, Utah --  A ceremony to showcase the closure of one era and the beginning of another for Hill AFB's military family housing will take place at 2 p.m. on March 9.

Base officials along with Boyer Hill Military Housing will mark the event with the demolition of the last of two remaining 1960s-vintage homes located at 3210 Liberty St. in the base's Capehart housing area.

The event will be followed by an open house featuring the newest generation of on-base homes available for military members and their families.

"The demolition of the final Capehart homes represents a significant milestone in the effort to improve the housing for Hill Air Force Base's military families," said Mark Pace, Boyer Hill president. "Once the staple of on-base housing, the Capehart units have been systematically replaced with a variety of two-level and rambler style homes with modern features."

An Air Force contractor built 500 Capehart housing units on base in the mid-1960s, according to Harry Briesmaster, 75th Civil Engineer Group director.

"With large shade trees, quiet streets and pleasant surroundings, these units provided excellent housing for several generations of military families; however, through the years and with overarching budget constraints these original homes began to show their age," Briesmaster said.

The Air Force entered into a 50-year housing privatization contract in September 2005 with BHMH to improve on-base military family housing.

Since then, BHMH has made substantial improvements to the on-base housing, and later this year will complete the new construction and remodel of the base's final 102 housing units.

The new military family housing units feature several amenities including Energy Star qualified construction, enclosed two-car garages, large covered front porches, central air conditioning, carpet and wood flooring, private master baths with double sinks, and ceiling fans just to name a few.

When BHMH completes the construction project the final housing count will be: historic housing, 21 units; renovated housing, 562 units; and newly constructed housing, 437 units.

BHMH, which is a subsidiary of Salt Lake City-based developer The Boyer Company, provides the financing, design, construction, and property management of 1,020 on-base housing units under contract with Hill AFB.