Growing pains temporarily eased by new North Las Vegas Readiness Center

Sgt. 1st Class Erick Studenicka - Nevada Guard Public Affairs

LAS VEGAS—The construction of the Floyd Edsall Training Center here in 1995 began a 17-year-long building boon for the Nevada Army Guard that featured the construction of eight major facilities. Work on the ninth major project – the North Las Vegas Readiness Center – began with a ground breaking ceremony in January.

In the works for more than six years, construction on the 68,420 square-foot building finally began mid-winter. The facility should be ready by June 2013 and the 240th Engineer Company and the 100th Quartermaster Company will call the new center “home” after they relocate from the overcrowded Floyd Edsall building.

            “The new facility will be a welcome addition to our building inventory and promises to alleviate some of our space issues,” said Chief Warrant Officer Tom McElroy, the project manager. “Although the new facility offers some relief to the Nevada Guard’s overcrowding, it’s not the final resolution, because we still have a 500,000 square-foot shortfall across the state.”

The cost of the facility is about $25 million. The price was set by a new-to-the-Nevada Guard public contracting method that requires the bidding contractor to set a fixed price for the construction at the start of the project. The state provided the land at no cost to the National Guard.

“This method of contracting helps authorize the expenditures quickly, pays for the cost of the building in advance, and should reduce cost overruns,” McElroy said.

The building will include classrooms, conference rooms, an assembly hall, a distance learning center, a library, a physical fitness area, sensitive material storage rooms, storage facilities, a maintenance training bay, locker rooms and office security systems.

The last major Nevada Guard construction completed in the region was the Las Vegas Readiness Center located on Silverado Ranch Boulevard completed in 2007. The Henderson Armory, the oldest Guard facility in the Las Vegas area, was completed in 1970.

The other major projects the Nevada Army Guard has completed since 1995 include: the Washoe County field maintenance shop in 1995; the Clark County field maintenance shop in 1995; the Sen. Harry Reid Readiness Center in Reno in 1998; the Office of the Adjutant General in Carson City in 2002; the U.S. Property and Fiscal Office in Carson City in 2003; the Department of Emergency Management building Carson City in 2006; and the aforementioned Las Vegas Readiness Center and its field maintenance shop in 2007.

The state’s rural armories in Elko, Ely, Fallon, Winnemucca and Yerington were all built in the 1950s.

“It’s not likely we will tear down an existing armory when there is still a current shortage of space,” McElroy said. “New construction needs to catch up and eliminate some of our shortfall before we begin replacing armories. That’s why we continue to renovate the older buildings.”

Next up on the Nevada Army Guard’s construction list is a new field maintenance shop located behind the North Las Vegas Readiness Center. Construction on that project is set to begin this spring.