National Guard armory opens in Foley

By GUY BUSBY
Government Editor
guy@gulfcoastmedia.com
Posted 1/27/23

FOLEY — The completion of a 14-year project to build a National Guard facility in south Baldwin County will be the key to preparing troops for their missions and for providing assistance when …

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National Guard armory opens in Foley

Posted

FOLEY — The completion of a 14-year project to build a National Guard facility in south Baldwin County will be the key to preparing troops for their missions and for providing assistance when disasters strike, local and state officials said.

The Alabama Army National Guard Readiness Center was dedicated Monday, Jan. 23. The 30,540-square-foot facility was built at a cost of $13.4 million. The center replaces the armory located behind Foley City Hall.

Maj. Gen. Sheryl Gordon, Alabama National Guard adjutant general, said the new armory will be a major benefit for the area when the guard and other agencies are called out during disasters.

"This center is uniquely positioned to help anytime we have hurricanes; not if we have hurricanes because we know we will have hurricanes," Gordon said. "Our ability to come down here and use this as a platform to stage our troops from and provide services to the people that are impacted by the storm is a tremendous opportunity and from this location, as opposed to where we were in the city complex, we don't interfere with your activities up there because it gets pretty crowded up there when you get us there and everyone else trying to do things. So being out there at this location, it's a fantastic location."

Gordon said that like the guard, the center will be part of the Foley community.

"When the guard builds a facility in the community, we are part of that community," Gordon said. "We're part of that community because a lot of our soldiers are citizens in that community."

Col. Benjamin Valentine, commander of 62nd Troop Command, which includes units that will be stationed at the center, said the facility will help the unit carry out its mission.

"I can't be more impressed than I am with this new facility that we have here, and I want to thank everybody who's had a part in this to make this happen for our soldiers," Valentine said. "They need a place to train. They need a place to prepare for what we ask them to do on a daily basis."

Foley Mayor Ralph Hellmich said the city council, other local officials and residents have supported the project since it was first proposed.

"We're so proud of you guys being here and the vision of having a super armory in this area, but we're here to support and will always be here to support," Hellmich said. "Our city has always been a supporter of the National Guard and Army."

Work on the project began in 2009 when the National Guard designated a new armory in the Foley area as a priority, said Lt. Col. Robert Cook, construction and facility management officer, Alabama National Guard.

"In 2013, the city of Foley provided this property to the Armory Commission of Alabama," Cook said. "Then, in 2014, our partners in the U.S. Congress selected this project to be completed. Funds were provided by the federal and state governments in 2017. An architect and engineering firm was selected and the design process began. The final step was in 2020 when a general contractor was selected and construction began."

He said the federal government paid $11.7 million while the state paid the remaining $1.7 million.

The center will be the home of C Company of the 173rd Infantry Regiment. The unit includes 132 soldiers with four of those soldiers working full-time at the site, according to National Guard reports.