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Friday, July 25, 1997

City leaders sign documents in base sale

By KELLEY SHANNON / Associated Press Writer

SAN ANTONIO (AP) - After weeks of legal wrangling over the future use of Kelly Air Force Base, local elected officials signed real estate documents Thursday in the city's purchase of the base.

"It's been kind of controversial, but we're very happy that we've gotten through those steps and that we're signing these documents," said Navarra Williams, acting chairman of the Greater Kelly Development Corp.

The San Antonio Air Logistics Center, the major operation at Kelly and one of the city's largest employers, is slated to shut down by 2001.

Through the development corporation it formed, the city has negotiated a 40-year, $108 million deal to buy the base property so it can lure private industry to Kelly.

Real estate papers signed Thursday by Mayor Howard Peak, Bexar County Judge Cyndi Taylor Krier and Williams - and already signed by Air Force officials - define terms of the deal and the city's ability to sublease sections of the base.

The city's lease documents will be followed by a transfer of deeds to the property once the Air Force finishes an environmental cleanup and it is approved by state and federal regulators, Williams said.

On Monday, U.S. District Judge Harold Greene in Washington, D.C., lifted a temporary restraining order blocking the entire property transfer.

The non-profit housing organization Senior Resources filed a lawsuit last month claiming it was improperly left out of the base redevelopment process, which requires some land be offered for homeless programs.

Greene on Monday issued a two-week restraining order preventing parts of the Kelly property from being transferred to the city.

"We've had some bumps along the way. We'll have some more bumps along the way. But we are going to be successful with the redevelopment of Kelly Air Force Base," said Tullos Wells, a director of the GKDC.

In the picturesque courtyard of the historic Spanish Governor's Palace, Williams presided over the document-signing ceremony and called the transfer "the largest deal of its kind" in the closure of military bases.

Leo Martinez, a retired Kelly worker, looked on with skepticism, though he said he hoped the city's privatization plans would work out.

After 32 years of working at the Air Logistics Center, Martinez retired in 1990 and was one of the thousands of San Antonio residents who demonstrated in 1995 against the decision to close Kelly.

"It's really sad, but it happened. The best ALC in the Air Force they closed down because of politics," he said, adding that he attended Thursday's ceremony to witness history.

"It's history - bad history - but it's history," he said. Send a Letter to the Editor about This Story | Start or Join A Discussion about This Story
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