Demolition, Deconstruction, and Rebuilding at Mather Air Force Base

Lewis Homes, a Kaufman and Broad company and the new owner of 1,271 obsolete military housing units at the former Mather Air Force Base, will be demolishing the units and rebuilding the same number of new homes on 373 acres in the southern part of the former base. The developer will build houses from "entry" level homes up to 4,000-square-foot "move-up" homes.

In the summer of 1998, the Air Force conveyed the property to the Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Authority (SHRA). As part of a public-private partnership, SHRA sold the property to Mather Housing Company, LLC, an affiliate of the Lewis Homes group of companies, for redevelopment.

Demolition activities will be in phases, the first of which has already started in order to clear the way for the construction of model homes. Lewis Homes expects to finish the demolition process within two years, and home construction is expected to be carried out for the next five years.

Lewis Homes plans to recycle and reuse materials from the old units. It will use demolition concrete from foundations, sidewalks and concrete-block units as subbase in its development project. Instead of throwing appliances away, Lewis Homes has donated about 1,000 appliances (refrigerators, stoves, and dishwashers) to the Salvation Army and the St. Vincent de Paul Society. The appliances are in good condition, and the recipient organizations were very pleased with the donation, saying the size of the donation was unusual, and it represented a huge charitable effort from one local company.

For its next phase of teardown, Lewis Homes is considering deconstruction rather than demolition. In deconstruction, units would be dismantled by hand to salvage the highest possible amount of reusable material. As such, Lewis Homes is coordinating with local and State agencies in its search for outlets for building materials, such as wood, expected to be generated from the deconstruction of the remaining wood-frame units. For more information on recycling wood and other debris, or if you want to recycle any of these materials from the Mather project, contact Lewis Homes' William Mellerup, Director of Community Development, or Sheryl Parriott, Project Coordinator, at (916) 362-9275.

Construction & Demolition Recycling Associations & Organizations

As the benefits of C&D recycling and reuse are realized, more trade organizations are giving more attention to these topics. In addition, government agencies and nonprofit organizations are continually forming groups to educate and disseminate information to encourage recycling. Below is a list of some of these groups.

Asphalt Recycling & Reclaiming Association
#3 Church Circle, Suite 250
Annapolis, MD 21401
(410) 267-0023
www.arra.org

Construction Material Recycling Association
(312) 609-4241

Gypsum Association
810 First St., NE, #510
Washington, DC 20002
(202) 289-5440
www.gypsum.org

National Recycling Coalition
1727 King Street, Suite 105
Alexandria, VA 22314
(703) 683-9025

Reuse Development Organization
Indianapolis, IN 46244
(317) 631-5395
www.redo.org

Used Building Materials Association
P.O. Box 36032
Halifax, Nova Scotia B3J 3S9
(877) 221-8262
ubma.pangea.ca

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Last updated: November 01, 2007