News

City looks to wow BRAC visitors
By Celeste Calvitto, Journal Staff Writer

On Tuesday, the Black Hills community will have a front-row seat to a production of epic proportions, made in record time, and maybe slightly over budget.

Thousands of area residents will act as the supporting cast for the lead players in what could be the performance of their lives.

It is the Rapid City regional hearing of the Base Realignment and Closure Commission, where a carefully scripted but passionate case to save Ellsworth Air Force Base will be presented.

"The BRAC commission will go away saying, 'This is quite the community,'" Bruce Rampelberg, chairman of the Ellsworth Task Force, predicted last week

The stage is Rushmore Plaza Civic Center, and the critics are three members of the BRAC commission, who are charged with taking an independent look at the Department of Defense list of recommended base closings.

During the two-hour hearing, there will be video presentations depicting the military value of Ellsworth, and testimony from South Dakota's congressional delegation, Gov. Mike Rounds and Rapid City Mayor Jim Shaw. Their remarks will be timed to the minute.

Two large screens will project the proceedings for the 9,500 audience members that the task force hopes the hearing will attract. The BRAC commissioners will likely ask some questions. Then, they will depart for other hearings in base towns throughout the nation, as those they leave behind await the reviews.

"The BRAC commission is not our adversary," Jim McKeon, president of the Rapid City Area Chamber of Commerce, said. "They want to understand our compelling arguments for Ellsworth. We're comfortable in that the BRAC commission is made up of knowledgeable people in leadership roles. If we make a good point, they will take it under consideration."

For many years, the task force has been prepared to make the case for Ellsworth, in case it ended up on the DOD base-closing list. But the specifics of the Tuesday hearing have been in the works for only a few weeks, since the May 13 announcement of base closings and realignments.

"This is still a very fluid situation," McKeon told community leaders last week. When asked about the cost of putting on the event, McKeon said, "We don't know and don't care until it's over."

But by Tuesday, it will all come together. The behind-the-scenes effort to make things happen without a hitch is significant, and McKeon said that volunteers have made all the difference.

"We basically have three pieces to the operation," he said. "Paul Stabile is handling the on-site situation inside and outside the civic center. Bryan Vulcan is handling the transportation part, making the arrangements for the transport of the BRAC commissioners. Mutch Usera is responsible for the media portion, promoting and getting the word out. And each of them has volunteers helping them."

There are details to work out, such as making sure the motorcycle escorts for the BRAC motorcade "have experience riding in crowds," McKeon said. The task force is hoping for 20,000 people to line the motorcade route. Vulcan rode the route to make sure the timing was right, he said.

Then, there's the crowd outside the civic center. They'll get free hot dogs and bottled water and be entertained by groups such as the 7th Cavalry Drum and Bugle Corps. There will also be entertainment inside the civic center for those are going to get there when the doors open to the public at 11:30 a.m. for the 1 p.m. hearing.

"We can't have 9,000 people show at up at a quarter of 1 and get in the meeting," McKeon said. "We want people to come early and go in at their leisure. We hope to have it half filled by 12:30, at least."

The BRAC commissioners will likely get into town sometime after 12:15 p.m., he said. (See box on Page A1 for the motorcade route.) After they arrive at the civic center, the show begins - precisely at 1 p.m.

"All we need to do is dedicate three or four hours of our time to make the visible statement that Ellsworth is important to us," McKeon said.

Contact Celeste Calvitto at 394-8438 or celeste.calvitto@rapidcityjournal.com

BRAC route in Rapid City

The route for the BRAC commissioners' motorcade:

* Main gate of Ellsworth Air Force Base.

* Liberty Boulevard to Interstate 90.

* I-90 to Exit 57.

* South on I-190/West Boulevard to Franklin Street.

* A U-turn, then north on West Boulevard to St. Joseph Street.

* East on St. Joseph to the Hotel Alex Johnson on Sixth Street.

* Left on Sixth Street, then left on Main Street.

* Right on Mount Rushmore Road, and north to Rushmore Plaza Civic Center.