National Guard units plan November move
Published 12:00 am Monday, July 15, 2002
[07/13/02]Two Vicksburg National Guard units hope to move into their new $7.8 million home on Interstate 20 in November.
“We’re extremely excited about the opportunity to use the new facility,” said Lt. Col. Ellis H. Riser, the administrative officer for the 168th Engineer Group, which will share the 48,000-square-foot facility with the 114th Military Police Company. “But we hope the citizens of Warren County and Vicksburg are equally happy because it’s everyone’s National Guard.”
The Army National Guard Readiness Center has been under construction at Ceres Research and Industrial Interplex at Flowers for about two years. It had been on the drawing board since 1995.
The center will allow the National Guard Units to be more prepared and will assist Warren County and Vicksburg whenever possible, Riser said.
He said amenities such as a gas-log fireplace in the drill hall and track lighting were included so the building could be rented for proms and other get-togethers to help pay for maintenance costs.
The federal government is paying for 75 percent of the construction, and the state is paying the remainder. After construction is completed, the state and local governments will be responsible for maintaining the structure.
“Warren County and the City of Vicksburg have been outstanding in supporting this National Guard unit and we hope it continues,” Riser said.
The center is modeled after a plantation. It has thick white columns on the front with dual spiraling staircases inside the front door. National Guard centers are now designed to fit the style of architecture of buildings of surrounding areas, Riser said.
The facility will have a 25-meter, five-lane indoor rifle range, and Riser said he is working out details with national and state National Guard administrators to allow the Warren County Sheriff’s Department and the Vicksburg Police Department to use the rifle range.
“I think it’s commendable the National Guard would take into consideration working with local law enforcement,” said Warren County Sheriff Martin Pace.
In addition to the rifle range, the center has a parking compound, storage buildings, a loading dock, a kitchen, two classrooms with one doubling as a dining hall, two men’s locker rooms with showers and two women’s locker rooms with showers, a library and learning center, a soil lab, a design office, an exercise room and a landing pad for helicopters.
The Guard units will move to the new headquarters from the 11,000-square-foot Keith W. Stainbrook Armory on Army-Navy Drive. That building, Riser said, is owned by the City of Vicksburg and will be returned for city use after the move.