Senate suspends Roosevelt Roads reuse hearing; base logs 33 filings
Two Puerto Rico Senate commissions suspended a public hearing on the future of the former Roosevelt Roads Naval Base in Ceiba on Wednesday, October 28, after the Senate vice president said he had received information he was not authorized to disclose about a possible U.S. intervention in Cuba and the use of Puerto Rico as a military support base, Metro Puerto Rico reported.
A hearing on the base's future
The inquiry follows Senate Resolution 286, which orders a study of the feasibility and impact of a possible reuse of Roosevelt Roads by the U.S. Armed Forces for national security purposes, and of its economic and social consequences for Puerto Rico, the outlet reported. The study looks at partial or main use of the former base, taking into account the airport operations already there and the economic development projects planned for the area.
The secretary of the Department of Economic Development and Commerce (DDEC) and the mayor of Ceiba had been summoned to appear. The Senate vice president did not identify the source of his information or present documents to back it, and the outlet noted that his statements are not an official confirmation of any military operation or of a U.S. decision to use Roosevelt Roads for that purpose, Metro Puerto Rico reported. He also mentioned defense-related contracts of about $480 million without giving details.
The commissions agreed to hold an executive meeting with DDEC officials first. The site inspection at Roosevelt Roads, which had been scheduled for Friday, November 6, will take place on a date that depends on what the legislators learn, the outlet reported.
The projects already filed on the old base
The economic development the study must weigh is already moving through the permits office. Across the three largest properties of the old base, 33 filings were made over the past 12 months.
One is a new passenger terminal for the ferries to Vieques and Culebra on the marina property of the former base. Its plans describe a terminal of about 40,000 square feet, boat maintenance space, a multi-story garage for 352 vehicles and 297 surface parking spaces. A first construction permit for the project was filed on November 18, 2022 and is recorded as approved, and a new construction permit filing was made on October 14, 2026 and is under inspection.
On the property that holds the José Aponte de la Torre Airport and Playa Los Machos, a construction permit to demolish structures at the former Coast Guard pier was filed on July 9, 2026 and is recorded as approved. An environmental filing made on April 7, 2026 and recorded as approved covers restoring the airport's 17 structures damaged by Hurricane María. On November 4, 2026, the Local Redevelopment Authority for Roosevelt Roads, attached to the DDEC, filed for wastewater system improvements on PR-53 in Barrio Machos; the filing is incomplete.
That airport property covers 19,196,573 m2. Under the Puerto Rico Land Use Plan, 63% of it is specially protected rural land of ecological value and 26% is urban land.
