Castle Today

	Photos General aviation aircraft parked at Castle Commerce Center.   Download HiRes

The former Castle Air Force Base, located in Atwater, California, is currently known as Castle Commerce Center. Castle was one of 40 former Air Force installations selected for closure under the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) program; the base closed September 30, 1995.

Since closure, the Air Force Real Property Agency has had tremendous success with environmental remediation and property transfer at Castle. The cleanup is nearly finished. The Air Force has transferred all 2,777 acres to public ownership, where assets such as runways and other infrastructure can be optimized to strengthen the local economy with jobs and commerce.

Most of the property was transferred to the County of Merced, the Local Redevelopment Authority for Castle. The federal government received 649 acres for a federal penitentiary and another 186 acres was sold.

The airport, home to one of the longest runways in the western United States at 11,802 feet, is open 24/7 for general aviation purposes. The county operates the airport as Castle Airport, Aviation Development Center. Aviation-related businesses operating at Castle include Gemini Flight Support and Sierra Academy of Aeronautics.

A total of 1,834 people work at 42 businesses and institutions on the former base. The largest employer at Castle is AT&T, which employs 774 people at two call centers on the former base. Selected other businesses include Big Creek Lumber; TCW (industrial contractors); Hoffman Securities (electronic security systems such as alarms and video); UC Merced (an administration building); and Maria's Taco Shop. Offices of the Merced County Department of Commerce, Aviation and Economic Development are also located there and the former base hospital is now Bloss Memorial Hospital.

The United States Penitentiary, Atwater is barely visible in the distance from the raised vantage point afforded by one of the former landfills. This high security facility houses about 1,402 male inmates. An adjacent, minimum security satellite facility, known as Atwater Camp, houses 135 male prisoners. The penitentiary and camp provide about 350 federal jobs in security, healthcare, and education, among other categories.