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LODGING

NGIS Newport Opens

n Nov. 1, Navy Gateway Inns and Suites (NGIS) in- of Korte Construction Company, St. Louis,
troduced its newest transient lodging facility at Naval Mo., overseen by NAVFAC MIDLANT
OStation Newport, R.I. The grand opening for NGIS and NGIS teams.
Building 1688 featured a 200-guest-room, state-of-the-art The design of the building is in line
seven-story structure, which includes a commercial laundry with commercial, mid-grade hotel stan-
facility and a partnered venture with the Navy Exchange dards found across the U.S., and features
Service Command (NEXCOM): a Micro-Mart — a 24-hour a commercial laundry operation that will
self-service storefront/vending convenience operation for handle all of the laundry needs of NGIS
customers to use when the need arises. locations on the installation. This not only
Commander, Navy Installations Command (CNIC), Navy saves time and money, it increases the
Lodging Program Manager Tamara Davis joined Capt. Ian on-site quality control of the linen and terry products being
Johnson, NS Newport base commander; Rachel Coston, NGIS provided to the guests.
Newport general manager; Norm Aurland, NGIS regional di- The building was designed and built with a Leadership in
rector, and other dignitaries for the ribbon-cutting (see photo). Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Silver standards
After the grand opening, doors later opened to guests. benchmark rating as a green building to use less energy and
“A significant difference on this project ... this is the first generate lower greenhouse gas emissions.
NGIS — out of the ground, brand new — built as a hotel,” Additionally, the building has digital controls for lighting,
said Kevin Coyne, Naval Facilities Engineering Command heating and air conditioning, as well as other digital features
Mid-Atlantic (NAVFAC MIDLANT), project manager for to save energy. It has lighting zones that can be turned on
the new facility. “Over the years, [NGIS] had been adapting and off from the front desk area for efficiency, and plenty of
existing buildings previously built for unaccompanied sailors, natural lighting in the building to reduce the dependence of
which is extremely difficult in terms of getting a unified brand.” additional lights.
The new $48 million facility, which broke ground on Aug.
21, 2015, and traces its origins back to 2007 when the need
for additional lodging became apparent, is the first hotel built
by the Navy and the first NGIS funded entirely by money ac-
cumulated from guest room charges at NGIS locations within
the Mid-Atlantic Region.
The building replaces an older 100-room NGIS facility
on the same site and doubles the guest capacity to 200 rooms
— 194 standard rooms and six two-room suites. The facility
not only upgrades the experience for the guests, it’s fueling a
new vision for NGIS as a whole that will ultimately establish
its brand.
“[The building] is in a prominent position on the base, it’s
right inside [Gate 1] ... you can see it from the ‘Pell Bridge’ The facility features a two-story lobby/lounge where guests can relax by the fireplace.
[Claiborne Pell/Newport Bridge],” Coyne explained. “It had
to be a visual goal route and our design had to reinforce that.” “A lot of the materials we used are not only sustainable
in terms of LEED points, but they make maintenance easier,
CONCEPT DESIGN therefore reducing the lifecycle costs,” Coyne said, noting
The design team responsible for bringing the concept to the return on investment will be achieved over the life of the
life consisted of the architectural engineering firm of Michael products used despite the upfront costs.
Baker International, Pittsburgh, Pa., and the construction firm Coyne noted, “... we went with a lot of treatments that
provided LEED credits for a much larger vision of the over-
all cost of this building through its lifespan, and as a quality
experience for the guests.”
Each guest room is set up with individual heat and air
conditioning, explained Norman Aurland, the regional lodging
director and NGIS project manager, “that will allow the guest
to control the temperature in the room and complies with the
Department of Defense (DoD) adequacy standards established
for lodging. It has all the amenities of a mid-grade hotel while
providing the convenience of being on the installation, close
to the TDY [temporary duty] location.”
The facility also contains the first 24-hour NEX Micro-
Mart on the East Coast within a lodging facility, equipped
with a self-service kiosk that allows guests to purchase hot and
NGIS Newport features both charcoal and gas grills for the guests to use while cold sandwiches and drinks, fresh fruit and various snacks.
they stay there.

12 MILITARY CLUB & HOSPITALITY | DECEMBER 2018