2017 CPEO Military List Archive

From: Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>
Date: Sat, 7 Oct 2017 07:09:31 -0700 (PDT)
Reply: cpeo-military
Subject: [CPEO-MEF] REUSE: Reese Air Force Base (TX) thriving 20 years after closure
 
Mission success: 20 years after closure, Reese thriving

By MATT DOTRAY
Lubbock Avalanche-Journal (TX)
October 1, 2017


It’s hard to overstate the fear and worry that crept over Lubbock when discussions about closing Reese Air Force Base started becoming reality. 

Not even a communitywide public turnout of waving flags in the streets or pleading officials attending public hearings could sway the federal Base Closing &Realignment Commission (known as BRAC) from voting to close Lubbock’s Reese Air Force Base in 1995. What was the fear? It was publicized leading up to the vote that the city stood to lose 1,700 direct military and civilian jobs and an annual economic impact of at least $160 million. But it was also the unknown — nobody knew what happens when you essentially close a small village on the outskirts of town.

“It was such a large part of our economy,” said David Langston, who was the mayor of Lubbock at the time when BRAC voted to close the base. “We deemed it to be that way. When you bring in all these people from all over the United States and you have a Defense Department component to your economy, it creates a vitality you wouldn’t otherwise have. They integrated into the community and became a very significant part of the community. It wasn’t only an economic loss, it was a cultural and social loss that we were going to go through.”

…

For the entire article, see
http://lubbockonline.com/news/2017-09-30/mission-success-20-years-after-closure-reese-thriving

See also http://lubbockonline.com/local-news/news/2017-09-29/even-reese-elementary-school-found-new-purpose-after-base-closure

--

Lenny Siegel
Executive Director
Center for Public Environmental Oversight
a project of the Pacific Studies Center
P.O. Box 998, Mountain View, CA 94042
Voice/Fax: 650/961-8918 
<lsiegel@cpeo.org>
http://www.cpeo.org

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