Military officials break ground on a new facility at Camp Smith, where National Guard troops for southeastern New York are trained. Time Warner Cable News' Steve Brennan has more.
Hard hats on and shovels in hand, military personnel and politicians broke ground on a new maintenance facility at Camp Smith. For the soldiers who work on 1,200 vehicles for southeastern New York, officials say the new shop will be good for morale.
"They'll have a nice place to work, they'll be a little warmer, there will be more production," Facilities, Management and Engineering Director Frank Wicks said. "I think they are going to be happier with what they have. And a happy soldier is a good soldier."
And Wicks says a replacement facility is long overdue.
The old building was built in 1949, not designed to maintain new vehicles like this one.
"Over the years, our stuff has gotten larger, much much larger," said Construction and Facilities Management Officer Lt. Col. Scott Cleaveland, "and therefore our need for maintenance space has grown."
So has the need to be environmentally conscious. The design of the state of the art facility will incorporate renewable materials in the construction.
"In this particular building, we met all the current energy code requirements," Cleaveland said, "plus there's a geothermal system associated with the building."
The system will harvest energy from the earth and use it in the heating and cooling systems. The cost to build is $18 million -- but in the long run, Wicks says, it will save taxpayer dollars.
"Just the cost savings alone in being able to be efficient in a facility is going to be significant," he said. "So it'll make us a more effective force."
They hope to be cranking wrenches in the new building by December of 2017.