NEWPORT NEWS, Va. (WAVY) — The U.S. Navy, Newport News Shipbuilding and state and city leaders announced plans to construct a new parking garage on Monday morning.

The announcement at Victory Arch is in response to concerns shared by sailors assigned to the shipbuilding area. 

“Last year, the Navy completed a comprehensive quality of service investigation into the issues and programs that affect sailors experience while serving in the shipyard environment,” said Rear Adm. Casey Moton, Commander of Program Executive Office Aircraft Carriers. “The investigation highlighted, among other issues, that the infrastructure surrounding Huntington Ingalls Newport News shipyard vicinity is was not sufficient to support the crews of multiple aircraft carriers and submarines and construction or overhaul. As a team, we needed to make improvements [and] specifically inadequate [and] nearby parking was cited as one of the foremost challenges. It is often cited by our sailors as one of the best things that we can do to improve their quality of service.” 

The new garage will create more than 2,000 additional parking spaces on 37th and 38th street between Huntington Avenue and Warwick Boulevard.

“To support this effort the Navy awarded HII a contract modification focused on quality of service, and, valued at $120 million to support the planning design and construction efforts of this garage,” Moton said.  

The parking structure is planned to break ground by the end of the year, and will likely be completed by April 2026.

“Parking may seem trivial, but for our shipbuilders and sailors who often get up early and come to work ahead of their scheduled work time just to begin to find a parking spot, today’s announcement is incredible news,” said Jennifer Boykin, President of HII-Newport News Shipbuilding. 

In April of 2022, three sailors died by suicide within one week. Those sailors were assigned to Carrier USS George Washington (CVN-73) during a lengthy overhaul at the shipyard in Newport News.

Since then, 10 On Your Side has learned about poor conditions on the ship, including lack of mental health resources, which was often dismissed by leadership. WAVY asked Moton about the changes to address mental health.

“We’ve taken some immediate terms that we took quite quickly in increasing the access of our sailors that are on ships here at the shipyard to medical care. We’ve expanded that by providing services to them near Huntington Hall, which is where the majority of our unaccompanied sailors spend their time,” Moton said.

Another big issue for the area is housing.

State Senator Mamie Locke and Mayor Philip Jones explain a $40 million investment in the historic district will help build a new apartment complex nearby with just over 85 units.

“We are proud to announce the Commonwealth’s $40 million interest free Treasury loan to incentivize future Navy and city investment in our downtown,” said Virginia State Senator Mamie Locke (D-Hampton, Newport News). “Our sailors and shipbuilders are part of the backbone of our nation and our community. They deserve a community that supports their dedication and hard work.”

“This is just the first step. There is going to be future collaboration,” said Newport News Mayor Phillip Jones. “I have always said that the center of gravity for Newport News will be downtown. As we all would agree, the center of gravity for the Navy is going to be that E1- E5 who’s currently serving in dry dock on a ship. If we can align those to centers of gravity. That’s going to be a benefit to everyone involved in the project.”

Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74) is now at the Newport News Shipbuilding for dry dock work. Navy leaders said they’re working to add additional “wellness services” among other things to improve things immediately.

“Inadequate nearby parking was one of the chief concerns. But there’s other concerns that we’ve acted on and many of those have been maybe at a smaller level … we’ve worked to improve housing with renovations to our Navy housing here near the shipyard. We’ve worked to improve and increase medical care available to the sailors,” Moton said. “We will work with Congress to field and maintain the world’s most powerful Navy and the infrastructure that sustains it. We will team up with industry and academia to solve our most pressing challenges. We will cooperate with the interagency to bolster integrated deterrence. We will align what we do ashore with the warfighting needs of our fleet. Today’s announcement exemplifies those sentiments.”