Countdown<br>April 6 is grand opening of commissary, base exchange Published March 31, 2010 By Susan Griggs 81st Traing Wing Public Affairs KEESLER AIR FORCE BASE, Miss. -- At 9 a.m. April 6, the base community celebrates the opening of the new $60 million base exchange and commissary. The new Army and Air Force Exchange Service facility has 95,250 square feet of sales area and 35,756 square feet of office and warehouse space. The 11,000-square-foot food court opened March 18. The exchange features an enclosed mall with 20-foot ceilings and skylights, with concessionaires around the mall hallway. Mall services include a barber shop, beauty shop, nail salon, optician, optical shop, military clothing store and alteration shop. Concessionaires include GNC, Asian shop, sports memorabilia, art gallery, flower shop and GameStop. The new Defense Commissary Agency store has 54,000 square feet of sales area, which is 25 percent larger than the pre-Katrina store. The commissary also has 10,000 square feet of offices and 32,000 square feet of warehouse space. "The commissary features a full-service deli, sushi bar, rotisserie chicken, produce, fresh meat, fresh produce, frozen foods, dairy products, health and beauty items, regular groceries and household goods," said store director Gordy Harris. The new shopping complex incorporates many new energy-conscious features, according to Penny Madison, AAFES general manager. "We installed a heating, ventilation and air conditioning system that offers a 14 percent increase in performance, Ms. Madison said. "There is a higher insulation factor in the walls and roof than the national or local minimum requirement and the white roof membrane has a high solar reflectivity index to reduce cooling cost." "Air conditioning and lighting is automatically controlled," Mr. Harris pointed out. "Lights are programmed to operate at optimum use times, and turn off when unoccupied. Our state of the art refrigeration systems are 15 percent more energy efficient" All exterior glass is insulated and low volatile organic compounds were used for paints, adhesives, carpet and composite wood to improve indoor air quality. Automatic flush valves and faucets reduce water use and the water-efficient landscaping doesn't require a sprinkler system. "Skylights provide much of the interior lighting," Ms. Madison noted. "Much of our food court equipment is Energy Star rated, and we'll be recycling the recycling the vegetable oil used in the food court." The new shopping complex is located at 506 Larcher Blvd. The general contractor is Caddell Construction Co. of Montgomery, Ala.