Federal funding for a new $20 million Army Reserve center in Schenectady County recently took the next step toward becoming a reality.
Sens. Charles Schumer and Kristen Gillibrand announced on Friday, Dec. 2, the U.S. Senate authorized the multi-million dollar center to be built.
The new Schenectady Army Reserve Center would span 60,000 square feet across 3 acres in the Niskayuna Commerce Park on Hillside Avenue. It would replace a smaller facility and be built behind it. The center would be a high-security military training and operations facility to prepare soldiers for battle and counter-terrorism operations.
Gillibrand, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said the project would be a great investment for the community.
“This federal funding would allow the Army Reserves to better train soldiers for combat with top-of-the-line technology while still remaining close to home,” Gillibrand said in a statement. “This Reserve center and the new neighboring Navy Research Center in Glenville would ensure our men and women in uniform have the very best facilities and opportunities.”
Ray Gillen, commissioner of Economic Development and Planning for Schenectady County, said the new Glenville facility has had positive economic benefits. The Reserves new facility, he said, would bring more people into the community.
“It is a good economic engine for Glenville and this one will be a good economic engine for Niskayuna,” Gillen said. “We had to work with the Army to show them they could stay at that site. We were concerned with losing the facility to another part of the state.”
Gillen said the military was looking at providing the “necessary facility upgrades” even though the current facility is functional.
Plans for the new center include a training building, a vehicle maintenance shop with multiple bays and maintenance support staff, a library, a learning center, a weapons simulator and a physical fitness area for 12 Army Reserve units.
Local officials applauded area congressional leaders for their effort to drive investment into the community.
“They are trying to give us a state-of-the-art training facility, which will encourage more use and more people to go there,” Niskayuna Supervisor Joe Landry said. “We are very pleased that this facility is being upgraded. We find it to be a benefit to the community and a benefit to Niskayuna.”
The U.S. Army also has already purchased the necessary land for the new facility, according to local officials, so once final approval is given it is expected construction wouldn’t be delayed.
The project is also expected to create around 200 jobs for the year it’s under construction.
“It would keep the Schenectady Army Reserve Center at the forefront of our national defense, and be a shot in the arm for our community as it helps to create construction jobs in the Capital Region,” said Schumer in a statement. “Our men and women in uniform deserve the best facilities and resources in the world, as this investment would help achieve exactly that.”
Senate approval of the project funding is included in the fiscal year 2012 National Defense Authorization Act. The bill will be reconciled with the House version and it needs to pass the full Congress before being sent to the president for his signature.
