U.S. Senator Charles Schumer announced on Monday that the Air Force has committed $1.2 million for an environmental assessment of the former BAE Systems site in Westover. This is the first step toward demolition of the 600,000-square-foot building that sits on a 27-acre plot of land. After the September 2011 flooding, the building was inundated with 16 million gallons of water, and has been vacant since that November. The Air Force will be demolishing the site, but no timetable has been set. The assessment is the next step toward demolition. The total cost of the project is expected to be around $17.3 million. According to Schumer’s office, the Broome County Industrial Development Agency continues to pay $14,000 per month in maintenance and security of the vacant building, a cost that will likely continue until the building is brought down.
