NEWPORT – The Naval War College will receive $12.3 million to upgrade Sims Hall, Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., announced Friday afternoon. The hall is an academic building that houses classified research, classrooms and war game facilities.
The project will renovate the center wing of the hall and is scheduled to be completed in 2021. The project has a fixed $12.3 million cost. The project was awarded by the Naval Facilities Engineering Command Mid-Atlantic.
Sims Hall was built in 1904 and was converted into a war-gaming center in the late 1950s, according to Reed’s office.
“The strength of the Navy is not just ships and hardware, it’s also our intellectual firepower. And the Naval War College and facilities here in Rhode Island play an outsized role in shaping and developing naval leaders and strategy,” said Reed in a statement. “This renovation is a cost-effective way to ensure we have cutting-edge resources and facilities to train and educate the next generation of commanders and analysts.”
The contract for the project was awarded to J&J Contractors Inc. of North Billerica, Mass., and was bid competitively via the Navy Electronic Commerce Online and Federal Business Opportunities website, according to the NWC.
“This project will result in a substantive improvement in our ability to execute a range of classified research and war-gaming activities in Sims Hall, which has historically served as the center for those events,” said Rear Adm. Shoshana Chatfield, president of NWC, in prepared remarks. “Ultimately this investment in Naval War College’s infrastructure will significantly improve our capability for the college to meet the current and future demands from the Navy and the other services in the Department of Defense for classified war gaming expertise.”
