A new paint job is just part of the major repair work under way at the Camp Henry project site. As part of the same project, two barracks at Camp Carroll in Waegwan are getting a similar overhaul. (Franklin Fisher / S&S)
A new paint job is just part of the major repair work under way at the Camp Henry project site. As part of the same project, two barracks at Camp Carroll in Waegwan are getting a similar overhaul. (Franklin Fisher / S&S)
At Camp Henry in Taegu, South Korea, workers clear debris Friday during major repairs to two barracks on post. (Franklin Fisher / S&S)
TAEGU, South Korea — A set of aged barracks in South Korea that were plagued with leaky roofs, bad plumbing, worn-out light switches and a host of other ills soon will reopen as a major overhaul nears completion, Army officials said.
The barracks are at camps Carroll in Waegwan and Henry in Taegu.
“This major repair is really a good thing for the soldiers and for us,” said James Hamilton, Area IV Support Activity’s public works director. “It’s going to save us money in the long run and improve the quality of life for the soldiers.”
At Camp Carroll, major repairs that began in March are set for completion in September on buildings 80 and 82. Built in 1964, each of the two-story buildings houses about 20 soldiers.
About 30 minutes south of Waegwan, at Camp Henry, work on buildings 1631 and 1632 is to wrap up in late August. It began in April. Each is two stories and houses up to 24 soldiers. They were built in 1979.
“They had roof leaks that we had to keep repairing because the roofs were old, the air conditioning systems were old and not reliable, some of the latrines had problems with mold,” Hamilton said of the four buildings.
In addition, he said, the walls were so worn it was hard to hang things, floor tile was starting to come up, pipes in the old plumbing had scaling that reduced water pressure, and light fixtures and switches were “showing their age and failing.”
“So it just required a lot of maintenance to keep the building in usable condition,” he said.
Area IV received $1.2 million for its Barracks Improvement Program, Hamilton said.
“So we were able to repair not just the superficial stuff like painting but … all the electrical systems, plumbing systems, air conditioning and heating systems, put new roofs on them as well as the pretty stuff like painting and replacing the floor tiles, et cetera,” Hamilton said.
Still on Area IV’s “red list” of barracks needing major repair are three at Camp Henry, one at Camp Walker in Daegu and one at Camp Carroll.
“I don’t think there’s any more funds in this program this year,” he said, “so we will take care of the other buildings as best we can with our regular building repair funding.
“We recognize the fact that we need to construct new barracks,” he said, “but this program is breathing new life into our old buildings, making them where we can get several years’ worth of use out of them.”
