Col. Steve Dowgielewicz, Tooele Army Depot commander, hands the keys to Building 687 to Cameron Dortch of Five Star General Industrial, Inc. Building 687 is one of five buildings that are being converted into industrial space by Five Star, a locally owned company committed to expanding the Tooele County industrial base.
1 / 2 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Col. Steve Dowgielewicz, Tooele Army Depot commander, hands the keys to Building 687 to Cameron Dortch of Five Star General Industrial, Inc. Building 687 is one of five buildings that are being converted into industrial space by Five Star, a locally owned company committed to expanding the Tooele County industrial base. (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
This photo was taken in July 1987. It is an aerial view of the former supply and industrial areas at Tooele Army Depot. The leaseback buildings discussed are the top six gray buildings in the center of the photo. One of the former uses for these facilities was vehicle rebuild and maintenance in the 1950s. (Photo courtesy of the U.S. Army.)
2 / 2 Show Caption + Hide Caption – This photo was taken in July 1987. It is an aerial view of the former supply and industrial areas at Tooele Army Depot. The leaseback buildings discussed are the top six gray buildings in the center of the photo. One of the former uses for these facilities was vehicle rebuild and maintenance in the 1950s. (Photo courtesy of the U.S. Army.) (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

TOOELE, UTAH - In a ceremony held on September 8, Tooele Army Depot officials and Five Star General Industrial, Inc., celebrated the transfer of a former depot warehouse as part of a six-year divestiture plan. Four more buildings are scheduled for repurposing as part of the plan. The 90,000-square-foot warehouses were essential to the depot’s World War II mission, but are no longer needed. The warehouses will be converted to industrial space owned by Five Star, a locally owned company committed to expanding the Tooele County industrial base.

The Depot recently began divesting of leased-back properties as part of its modernization effort. Divestiture is the term the government uses for removing government title to lands that are no longer required to meet agency missions. A large portion of the Depot’s administrative and equipment maintenance area transferred to the Tooele Redevelopment Agency in January 1999. However, the Depot retained almost half a million square feet of off-installation warehouse space with a 100-year lease. At the time, the Depot kept the lease as a backup storage facility for equipment and inert munitions and components. Today, because of resource consolidation, these extra facilities outside the secured portion of the Depot are no longer needed.

“The facilities are outside the installation boundaries which increases the cost of providing maintenance, security, and fire protection,” said Erin Trinchitella, the director of Depot Base Operations. “Reducing these costs helps keep the Depot’s rates competitive with commercial industry.”

Trinchitella also highlighted the benefits of clearing out the buildings “the Depot was able to make more than $225,000 in serviceable equipment and construction material available to Army units.”

In addition to divesting the warehouses, the Depot is also disposing of an enormous amount of equipment.

Jake Mitchell, director of the Depot’s Ammunitions Operations said, “Some of those items went into the warehouses in the 1980s and have never moved, we are required to inventory them every year, that’s money better spent elsewhere.”

Mitchell noted another benefit of the divestment “this is not just about saving time and money but puts the focus back on the Depot’s primary mission as a sustainment projection platform; or as we say, ‘the Gateway to the East for munitions resupply.’”

These divestitures will help the Depot advance free resources that are currently being expended on World War II era facilities and apply them towards the Depot’s future modernization efforts, while ensuring community partnerships and creating jobs in Tooele.