Mayor Krewson Joined By National Security Officials for Tour of  Next NGA West Headquarters Site

St. Louis, MO – Officials from the City of St. Louis were joined today by national security leaders for a tour of the future home of the Next National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency West Headquarters on the Near North Side.

Mayor Lyda Krewson and Otis Williams, Executive Director of the St. Louis Development Corporation, led the City’s delegation and provided updates on the site’s preparation to a delegation of national security officials, including Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats, Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence Kari Bingen, and NGA Director Robert Cardillo.

“We wanted to show them all the work we’ve done at the site the Next NGA West Headquarters and to share with them our plans to be able to transfer to them the land in the coming months, as we promised,” said Mayor Krewson. “We also wanted to talk with them about the work we are doing to increase development in the surrounding community and to prepare NGA’s future workforce through the establishment of St. Louis as the center for geospatial and location intelligence.”

Among the updates City leaders provided to Coats, Cardillo, Bingen, and the other members of the national security delegation:

• The 97-acre plot of land NGA will use for its campus has been cleared, leveled, and is clean and ready for construction

• The project team, comprised of businesses that are 47 percent minority-owned and 42 percent women-owned, has abated and demolished all 137 structures on the site

• Extensive testing verified that environmental targets have been met and that there is no evidence of contaminants on the site

• A three-foot clean soil cap has been placed over the site, meeting federal and state requirements and approved through the Missouri Department of Natural Resources Brownfields Voluntary Cleanup Plan

• The City, County, State, and their economic development and educational partners are actively working on a comprehensive plan to establish St. Louis as the center for geospatial and location intelligence

• The local and state governments are teaming up with a network of K-12 and higher education partners to develop a talent pool to work at NGA and in the geospatial and location intelligence industry

• The local and state governments are networking with the entrepreneurial community at Cortex, T-REX, and elsewhere to expand and enhance small and developing businesses researching and innovating in geospatial and location intelligence 

• Project Connect continues to work with residents in the neighborhoods surrounding NGA to ensure coordination and collaboration between neighborhood revitalization, transportation, and other redevelopment efforts through initiatives including Promise Zone and Choice Neighborhood Grants

“Today’s visit brings together so many of NGA’s key partners in the Next NGA West project. We remain committed to the agency’s site choice for a new facility in St. Louis and are pleased with the progress being made,” said Cardillo. “This is a shared mission and we look forward to continuing our more than 70 year connection to the St. Louis region for decades more.”