Rep. Mark Takano ‘concerned’ by March Air Reserve Base exchange’s planned closure

A customer prepares to enter the March Main Exchange near March Air Reserve Base near Riverside on Friday, July 19, 2024. The Exchange is closing Aug. 31 due to failing infrastructure and inadequate installation funding, combined with a decrease in demand according to a sign posted outside. (File photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)

By Beau Yarbrough | byarbrough@scng.com | San Bernardino Sun

PUBLISHED: July 30, 2024 at 2:25 p.m.

One of Riverside’s elected officials is “deeply concerned” about at the end of August.

“I am deeply concerned about the scheduled closure of the base exchange (BX) at March Air Reserve Base,” Rep. Mark Takano, D-Riverside, said in a written statement released Tuesday, July 30. “Thousands of veterans and servicemembers rely on the BX every month for lower-cost goods and groceries. This closure will have a significant impact on their lives and pocketbooks.”

Takano is the ranking member of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs.

The base exchange — known as a “BX” in Air Force circles — is scheduled to close on Aug. 31. It’s essentially a private, tax-free department store run by the Army & Air Force Exchange Service (AAFES) and serves active duty and retired service members, their dependents and certain government employees. The exchange also offers optometrist and barber services.

The 86,000-square-foot exchange has operated out of the same building since 1973 and is now woefully in need of physical upgrades, including roof repairs, new plumbing, updated security and a new fire suppression system, according to AAFES. Foot traffic and sales at the March BX have dropped 20% since 2020, according to AAFES. About 35 people currently work at the store.

The March BX the only military exchange in Riverside County, which is home to more than 100,000 veterans. If it closes, the nearest exchange will be at Los Angeles Air Force Base just outside Los Angeles International Airport. There are also exchanges at the the Marine Corps bases at Camp Pendleton in San Diego County and Twentynine Palms in San Bernardino County, each more than an hour’s drive from March ARB.

The closure does not affect March’s commissary, which sells groceries and is a separate facility.

Part of the problem is that when , it no longer sat within the base’s boundaries and the Air Force was no longer legally allowed to help pay for its upkeep, according to AAFES.

On Tuesday, Takano said he’s looking into options for the BX.

“I will be speaking with my colleagues in Congress and the Biden Administration to see what can be done,” his written statement concluded.

The planned closure of the BX comes at a time when March ARB is seeing new life. The , which is expected to keep the base open for decades to come and pump more than $2 billion into the local economy.