Construction will begin soon on a new armory in Davenport for the Iowa National Guard. On Wednesday the guard held a groundbreaking ceremony on West Kimberly Road at Wisconsin Avenue, for its new "readiness center."
Spokesman Colonel Greg Hapgood says it will replace the current armory on Brady Street that's old, outdated, and small. And it took about 30 years to put this new project together.
"We were able to secure land from the Davenport schools - we swapped them for a parcel on Brady Street for a piece on West Kimberly and received funding from Congress which put everything into place, and also from the Iowa legislature. So the stars lined up beautifully and we're ready to build a beautiful new armory."
The current armory has one building that dates back to 1916, and is the oldest still in use by the Iowa guard, and another building from 1952. The Davenport School District has been interested in the property because it's next to the Brady Street Stadium.
Once it's completed in the spring of next year, the 23 million dollar new armory initially will be used by Company B of the 224th Engineer Battalion, but other units will probably be added in the future.
