Work begins on $15M WA National Guard center for armored vehicle brigade in Tri-Cities
A decade ago, Tri-Cities was pinpointed by the Washington Military Department as the prime location for a new $15 million Washington Army National Guard Readiness Center.
Col. Adam Iwaszuk, the National Guard’s construction and facilities management officer, said since Tri-Cities was one of the fastest-growing areas in the state it was a primary attraction when assessing future needs.
Fowler Construction of Richland has started work at Horn Rapids Industrial Park to prepare to build the 40,000-square-foot center.
The project on First Street and Polar Way near the massive cold storage company, Preferred Freezer, is scheduled to be done late next spring.
Once complete, the center will be the headquarters for a Stryker company in the National Guard’s 81st Brigade Combat Team.
It’s one of two brigades for the eight-wheeled armored vehicles in the National Guard.
The cost of the building is $12 million, with $3 million for support work such as the architecture, design and labor.
Three quarters of the money was provided by the federal government and the rest by the state.
The National Guard will use the facility for training on how to respond to natural disasters and other civil responses.
Each month 150 soldiers will drill on weekends plus two more weeks during the summer.
Three to five National Guard members — including a full time recruiter — also will permanently staff the center, Iwaszuk said.
Iwaszuk couldn’t speak to the potential economic impact of the center on the local economy, but said at a minimum the soldiers who will be traveling from all over the state will be buying food and fuel.
The 40 acres for the center was purchased from the city of Richland for $1.7 million in 2017.
Fowler was awarded the construction contract.
“I think we have a great contractor — they are determined to delivery a great product,” Iwaszuk said. “They will be driving past something that they built in their own backyard — that comes with additional pride.”
This story was originally published March 21, 2021 at 2:45 PM with the headline "Work begins on $15M WA National Guard center for armored vehicle brigade in Tri-Cities."