FORT WORTH -- Public officials praised Bell Helicopter's contributions to Fort Worth and Texas on Monday as the company held a ceremonial groundbreaking for its new headquarters administration building.
The new 200,000-square-foot office building, to be built at the northeast corner of Bell's complex off Highway 10 in east Fort Worth, is the centerpiece of a major effort to modernize the company's quarters and products over the next several years.Bell Chief Executive John Garrison said the project "is a significant step forward in making our revitalization successful."A side effect, said both Garrison and public officials, should be an economic stimulus for the nearby area."It's our hope the investments we're making at Bell Helicopter will help revitalize northeast Tarrant County," Garrison said."With the exception of the uncertainty over the defense budget in Washington," Garrison said while looking directly at U.S. Rep. Kay Granger, R-Fort Worth, "Bell Helicopter is looking to a great future."Granger, in her remarks, said there's a difference between government spending and investment. Spending on Bell military aircraft like the V-22 Osprey, H-1 Cobra, Huey and OH-58D Kiowa Warrior helicopters are investments and "essential to national security."Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price said "Bell's commitment to Fort Worth is essential to our community."Gov. Rick Perry and Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and Tarrant County Judge Glen Whitley also spoke at the event and praised Bell's continuing role in North Texas.Dewhurst said the state legislature would take a hard look at reinstituting a research and development tax credit for companies like Bell that do time-consuming and costly research in Texas, an issue Garrison has been advocating.As part of the new project, Bell Spur, which runs on the east side of the Bell complex between Highway 10 and Trinity Boulevard, will be renamed Bell Helicopter Boulevard and will serve as prime entry into the corporate office.Turner Construction is the general contractor on the project and Merriman and Associates the architect. The building is due for completion in March 2014.Bell plans to invest about $230 million in new and upgraded facilities at its complex, consolidate more than 1.2 million square feet of excess space and move about 700 employees back to the headquarters from other area sites.The other new major project is a 50,000 square-foot helicopter flight and ground crew training center, which will be relocated from Alliance Airport.Bell officials said the new building designs will incorporate many environmentally friendly measures designed to reduce 20 percent of the company's waste and energy use by 2015. The projects are expected save Bell $19 million annually in operating expenses.Bell employs about 6,300 people in Tarrant County and 5,400 in Fort Worth. Garrison said the company's economic impact on the North Texas economy is close to $5.9 billion, creating an estimated 33,000 jobs in the area.City and county government's approved aHave more to add? News tip? Tell us
