News from New York State Division of Military & Naval Affairs

For more information contact: Eric Durr, 518-786-4581

National Guard Breaks Ground for Readiness Center

$27.4 Million Building Home to 350 Hudson Valley Citizen- Soldiers

CORTLANDLT MANOR, NY (10/01/2007; 1230)(readMedia)-- Major General Joseph Taluto, the Adjutant General of New York, joined State Sen. Vincent Leibell, and Town of Cortlandt Supervisor Linda Puglisi in breaking ground for a $27.4 million National Guard Readiness Center in Cortlandt Manor today.

Rep. John Hall, who represents New York’s 19th District, was represented by his aide Brad Piggery.

The new building at the state’s Camp Smith training site will provide training, administrative, and maintenance space for 350 New York Army National Guard Soldiers. The 23-month project will provide jobs for an average of 100 construction workers.

The state-of-the-art facility will house the 42nd ID Band, C Company 1st Battalion 69th Infantry, and the Headquarters of the 53rd Troop Command, and elements of B Company 369th Sustainment Brigade, and the 1156th Engineer Company.

The Readiness Center’s 92,000 square-feet of space will include a kitchen, assembly hall, specially designed space for the band, classrooms, maintenance facilities, and locker rooms and administrative spaces. The new building will allow the National Guard to consolidate activities, use modern armories, all of which will result in economic savings for operations and maintenance as we leave older and obsolete armories to be potentially used by the communities.

When complete the new center will provide command and control and administrative base for National Guard Soldiers providing disaster relief in the lower Hudson Valley region and beyond as required.

The federal government will pay 75 percent of the cost of the project, while the state pays 25 percent. The building is the latest addition to Camp Smith and will be the cornerstone of overall development at the 100-year National Guard training site. Current plans call for spending 2 million more to upgrade Camp Smith, including a new retaining wall for the entrance road, which will cost about $1.4 million.

Other projects include $2.4 million to replace electrical utility and switching gear, $1.2 million to demolished aged and dangerous structures, and other upgrades to the ranges and training spaces at the post.

The National Guard has a ten-year plan to upgrade the facility as funds allow. This continued investment in the Hudson Valley will ensure a positive training environment for the military units, including Active and Army Reserve forces, and law enforcement agencies which use Camp Smith for training.

Glenman Industrial and Commercial Contractor Corp., a Yonkers, N.Y. company, has been awarded the $17,667,000 contract for construction by the New York State Office of General Services.

The $4,192,000 contract for heating, ventilation and air conditioning when to E.W. Tompkins Construction, 124 Sheridan Avenue, Albany, NY

Ferguson Electric Company, of Plainville, Connecticut was awarded the electrical work contract with a bid of $3,785,700. The $400,000 plumbing contract was awarded to S&O Construction Services, 11 Charles St. Pleasant Valley, N.Y.

The center was designed by QPK Designs, LLC, of Syracuse.

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