Groundbreaking for the proposed ,8.3 million Pennsylvania Army
National Guard armory at Bradford Regional Airport is slated for
April 4.
The date was confirmed Wednesday by Kevin Cramsey, a spokesman
for the Pennsylvania Department of Military and Veterans
Affairs.
Cramsey said the project is expected to take between 12 and 18
months to complete.
“We hope to start moving around some dirt up there next week,”
Cramsey said. “It’s getting closer.”
The construction of the armory – which has been in the works for
several years – is part of the 56th Brigade’s transformation to a
Stryker Brigade as part of an overhaul of the country’s armed
forces.
The Bradford-Ridgway readiness center – which will be situated
near the access road into the airport and is seen as key to future
economic development – is one of 11 statewide that are scheduled to
be built. The armory is slated to sit on 23 acres of land at the
airport and take up a total of 28,000-square-feet, down from an
original estimate of 32,500-square-feet.
Cramsey said the general contractor for the work is Hallstrom
Construction in DuBois. The contract for the project was awarded
last year.
The armory will have space for about 140 soldiers, which will
come from the existing Bradford and Ridgway armories. Officials
said last summer it will be an infantry unit.
According to Cramsey, the overall price tag for the project has
risen from ,6.2 million, mainly because of the cost of construction
material.
“The cost of asphalt, copper and steel is largely responsible
for it,” Cramsey said, adding with the facility in a remote area,
transportation costs have also played a factor. “All of those
things have combined to drive the cost up.”
Meanwhile, Cramsey said the time frame for completing the
project allows for the soldiers to move into the armory.
“There are logistical issues involved,” Cramsey said. “You just
don’t move a company that quickly.”
Officials said previously the new armory is needed because the
old ones in Bradford and Ridgway were undersized and inadequate for
a Stryker brigade.
The current armory in Bradford, which is on Barbour Street,
measures just under 15,000-square-feet and was built around the
turn of the century. Meanwhile, the site in Ridgway stands at
16,276-square-feet and was built around 1900.
The new armory is slated to contain classrooms, a locker room,
space for physical fitness, an assembly hall and kitchen.
Cramsey said once the new armory is built, the old armories will
likely be put up for sale.
“Once it’s determined there isn’t another use for the old
armories, the process will begin to vacate them,” Cramsey said,
adding the sale would be done by Military and Veterans Affairs. “It
will go into their hands and they’ll pick up the ball from
there.”
Cramsey said once the armories are put up for sale, the goal is
to achieve a fair market value for the property. The state
Department of General Services will get an appraisal completed and
put out a request for proposal.
“The money (from a sale) will go back into the state armory
fund,” Cramsey said. “That helps maintain facilities all over the
state.”
Cramsey said there are times when local governments have an
interest in purchasing an armory, noting that’s an option.
“Every community actually has an armory board,” Cramsey said,
adding the people sitting on it are usually from the community and
a representative of the Guard. “We do rent the armories out on
weekends when they are not being used.”
For her part, state Rep. Kathy Rapp, R-Warren, whose district
covers the airport, said “I’m hoping it will be a boost to the
economy and the airport.”
“Certainly, having the National Guard as part of the airport is
a big plus in my opinion.”
The lawmaker also praised the Bradford Regional Airport
Authority for its efforts in bringing the armory to the site.
“I think the board has done a tremendous job for a small, rural
airport,” Rapp said. “With getting direct flights to Dulles
(airport in Washington) and getting the armory, they’ve been very
successful with their vision.”
Meanwhile, Rapp said in her discussions with Guard officials in
Harrisburg, there is a possibility that more land could be obtained
for training purposes sometime in the future.
“The airport has more land to lease if they move in that
direction,” Rapp said.
Airport officials signed an agreement of sale to turn over a
portion of the land to the armory in March of 2006. As part of the
deal, the airport will retain the mineral rights at the site and
ability to harvest timber from any trees that are cut down during
the armory’s development.
