Heard a blurb on the radio,
Fort Mclellen or macalum.

Hopes to make it a production studio of some sort.

Fort McClellan in Anniston, Alabama.

The barracks facility on that former base was purchased last year by Katt Williams, a comedian/actor. He plans to turn it into a movie studio.

https://alabamanewscenter.com/...evelop-movie-studio/

It's not the first time that's happened. Tyler Perry bought part of Ft. McPherson on the southside of Atlanta about ten years ago for use as a movie studio and has purchased more since then.

Cool, would be awesome to do whatever you like including ranges. HOWEVER, 100% that place is chock full of Asbestos, led paint and all kind of other DGs, toxins, not to mention UXO. I've seen it with my own eyes, rather than go thru the expense of clean-up and disposal, The Army just lets stuff sit where it is.

we own property in Jacksonville which is about 30 min from there, whenever we go up there we always stop at the FT and get gas at the base gas station. there is so much old base there that im sure could be used in a better way.

quote:

Originally posted by RogueJSK:
Fort McClellan in Anniston, Alabama.

The barracks facility on that former base was purchased last year by Katt Williams, a comedian/actor. He plans to turn it into a movie studio...

Some of Ft McClellan is still owned by the US govt. I think there's an Army Reserve (maybe Guard) center, for sure FEMA runs the former Army facility where first responders train with live nerve agent:

https://cdp.dhs.gov/news-media...onse-skills-training

https://cdp.dhs.gov/about

Katt Williams is a pretty smart cookie.

They used Ft Mcpherson for a lot of Walking Dead scenes too.

I was there in 1967 for Infantry A.I.T. At the time it was home to the Chemical Warfare Schools and Women's Army Corps. I never figured out why they sent me there after basic at Ft. Polk, LA, instead of keeping there at Tigerland.

I lived on base there as a kid in the 70s. All I remember really is Saturday matinee movies and a hillside behind the house.

Before they moved the training to Fort Leonard Wood, that’s where they trained the Military Police back in the day

quote:

Originally posted by Speedbird:
Cool, would be awesome to do whatever you like including ranges. HOWEVER, 100% that place is chock full of Asbestos, led paint and all kind of other DGs, toxins, not to mention UXO. I've seen it with my own eyes, rather than go thru the expense of clean-up and disposal, The Army just lets stuff sit where it is.

That's pretty much every miltary base I think

I was at Naval Air Station Willow Grove, PA for 6 years with the Air Guard and they closed most of it down and a couple developers came and looked at it as it's prime real estate for housing in a nice area and NO ONE will touch it. Why? Because the ground is contaminated from 60+ years of chemicals from firefighting foam trucks and aircraft fuel and will cost many millions to fix.

I stayed on the base at Anniston many times while attending races at Talladega. Someone bought the old BOQ and turned it into a small motel.

It wasn't fancy, but a nice place to stay. There were always foreigners there who were watching the destruction of nerve gas at the depot.

Sounds like the start of a bad Sci-fi movie. I hope there's no forgotten alien tech buried under the base.

Don't know if it is true, I heard part of the old Fort Monmouth base in New Jersey was going to become part of a movie studio complex.

quote:

Originally posted by OneWheelDrive:
...I hope there's no forgotten alien tech buried under the base.

Don't be silly.

Mustard gas? Who knows...

We live in Scripps Ranch, San Diego. Periodically we get notices from the US Army that the land we live on used to be part of Camp Elliot, and there may be unexploded ordnance on it.
If you wander onto the empty land between us and Miramar MCAS, there are big yellow signs saying the same thing.

Disabled American Veterans

https://www.dav.org/wp-content...t-McClellan-2023.pdf

 Fort McClellan, located in Anniston, Alabama, became an Army installation in 1917. After World
War II, it was home to the Chemical Corps and Chemical Weapons School for the U.S. Army until
the base closed in 1999. In 1953, Fort McClellan conducted “Operation Top Hat,” which used
military personnel to test exposure and decontamination methods that included sulfur mustard
and nerve agents. In 1962, Fort McClellan added the Biological Radiological Agency.

 From 1929 to 1971, a Monsanto chemical plant operated south of Fort McClellan in Anniston.
Airborne polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) from the plant entered into the environment, and the
surrounding community was exposed. In 2003, Monsanto Chemical settled a class action lawsuit
with more than 200,000 residents of Anniston for more than $700 million.

 Although the base closed in 1999, the 2005 National Academy of Medicine report, Contaminants
in the Subsurface: Source Zone Assessment and Remediation, recognized that both the
groundwater and soil were contaminated. There were 67 different disposal sites on Fort
McClellan containing volatile organic compounds (VOCs), trichloroethylene (TCEs), PCBs, semivolatile organic compound (SVOCs), pesticides, explosives, heavy metals (Pb), unexploded ordinance (UXO), radioactive sources and non-stockpile chemical materials.

 The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Veterans Health Administration (VHA) has recognized
the toxic chemicals used at Fort McClellan, noting that potential exposures could have included,
but are not limited to, the following:

o Radioactive compounds (cesium-137 and cobalt-60) used in decontamination training
activities in isolated locations on base.

o Chemical warfare agents (mustard gas and nerve agents) used in decontamination
testing activities in isolated locations on base.

o Airborne PCBs from the Monsanto plant in Anniston.

 The Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson Honoring our Promise to Address Comprehensive
Toxics (PACT) Act, signed into law in August 2022, requires the VA to conduct an
epidemiological study on the health trends of veterans who served at Fort McClellan at any time
during the period beginning January 1, 1935, and ending May 20, 1999.
The Challenge

 Although the 2005 National Academy of Medicine report identifies hazardous toxins in the soil
and water and VA acknowledges specific toxic exposures at Fort McClellan, VA does not
concede these toxic exposures for those who served there. This requires veterans seeking VA
disability claims for illnesses or diseases related to those exposures to prove their individual toxic
exposures at Fort McClellan.

This large-scale and long-term epidemiological study will potentially generate evidence on the
positive association between Fort McClellan exposures and health conditions. However, it will be
years before the study is completed, which means veterans suffering from negative health
impacts will be waiting years for possible presumptive diseases to be recognized by VA.
The Solution

 In accordance with DAV Resolution No. 118, DAV urges Congress to establish a concession of
exposure for all veterans who served at Fort McClellan. This should include all of the toxins listed
in the 2005 National Academy of Medicine report and those VA has acknowledged. This will
remove the burden of veterans having to prove their exposures to at Fort McClellan and ease
their ability to establish direct service connection in lieu of waiting years for potential presumptive
diseases.

 The PACT Act requires the creation of the Toxic Exposures Research Work Group to research
and study toxic exposures and associated negative health impacts. We urge the Secretary of
Veterans’ Affairs and the work group to include Fort McClellan as one of the research activities to
expedite actions in establishing presumptive diseases.

I was TDY for Chemical Corps training at Fort McClellan two times in 1968. Our class was was the last to have a student exposed to LSD. We were exposed to liquid Mustard agent by having a drop placed on exposed skin on the arm. We also flew aerial radiation monitoring over the facility radiation field. During training we decontaminated vehicles, but I don't remember the contamination agent.

I enjoyed TDY there. Single Army Staff Sergeant (with a '68 shiny Red Camaro) and all those WAC trainees and staff ripe for the picking. Times were different back then.

quote:

Originally posted by Speedbird:
Cool, would be awesome to do whatever you like including ranges. HOWEVER, 100% that place is chock full of Asbestos, led paint and all kind of other DGs, toxins, not to mention UXO. I've seen it with my own eyes, rather than go thru the expense of clean-up and disposal, The Army just lets stuff sit where it is.

Was just going to say.
The buildings are definitely not current with all manor of poor upkeep and little modernizing.
Then there's the maintenance/warehouse areas where carelessness and indifference abounds; various toxic areas sprinkled about soaked with all manor of solvents and products.