KDSN Radio

Shovels of dirt were turned Tuesday in Sioux City in the groundbreaking for a new Iowa Army National Guard maintenance shop.

The Guard’s construction and facilities officer, John Perkins, says it’s a 25,000 square foot building that replaces a 72 year old facility that was too small. “We have equipment that is cannot no longer fit inside the building without disassembling some pieces on top of it,” he says.

The leader of the Iowa National Guard, Major General Stephen Osborn, says the nearly $14 million project is federally funded. “My big concern on the facility they’re in now is really the safety, the vehicles that we have in the military are so much bigger, so much heavier, so much longer, but the safety to the maintainers is number one criticality,” Osborn says. “Number two is the support to our readiness, the vehicles we have, and their ability to maintain is critical to a number of units. Here in Northwest Iowa, not just the units in this exact location, this will be kind of a regional facility for other units in this part of the state.”

 

Iowa Senator Joni Ernst, a member of the U.S. Senate’s Armed Services Committee, attended the groundbreaking. “Very important to our state. It will benefit the Iowa Air National Guard as well as our Army National Guard. And these folks deserve the best. They deserve the best in maintenance shops, and they are going to get it,” Ernst says.

 

Ernst says she is still working on another Sioux City project that will expand the runway at the airport for the 185th Iowa Air Guard Refueling Wing. “We will continue pushing for funding for the runway. We are putting elements of that in the National Defense Authorization Act. We need to make sure that the appropriators are appropriating the dollars towards the project as well. But steadily we are getting there,” Ernst says

The new Iowa Guard Army building will feature drive-through maintenance bays, energy-smart geothermal heating, and backup generator systems. The building will support up to 18 mechanics, which is double the current number.  It is expected to take 18 months to build.