BRUNSWICK, Maine — While Maine Army National Guard leaders wait to learn the fate of a controversial plan to transform the state’s 133rd Engineer Battalion into an infantry regiment, they are moving forward with a ribbon cutting for the battalion’s new headquarters.
Brig. Gen. Gerard Bolduc, acting adjutant general for the Maine National Guard, will officially open the newly completed Brunswick readiness center Saturday during an invitation-only ceremony at the new 59,500-square foot facility built on the former Brunswick Naval Air Station.
The $23.5 million readiness center took approximately three years to build and is home to approximately 200 soldiers from three separate units within the 133rd Engineer Battalion — the Headquarters Company, Forward Support Team and 1035th Survey and Design Team, a news release about the ribbon cutting states.
“This state of the art facility will provide our Soldiers with the very best training space for emergency preparedness,” Bolduc said in the statement. “Not only does this new readiness center provide these capabilities to our Guardsmen, it accomplishes its mission while being highly energy efficient.”
In addition to the main building, there are two unheated storage buildings and a controlled waste handling building, which all have been constructed to be environmentally sustainable with low-flow fixtures, a 16,000-square foot roof with plants growing on it, rainwater harvesting to operate the toilets, 36 geothermal wells for heating, as well as 160 solar photovoltaic panels rated at 38 kilowatts to supplement the facility’s electrical needs.
The readiness center carries the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design “silver” designation, which is awarded to facilities that meet requirements of design and construction that maximize efficient use of energy, water and building materials, while providing a long-term benefit to occupant health and a reduced impact to the environment, the news release states.
The Maine Guard had received initial approval in January to change portions of the 133rd into an infantry unit in order to save jobs under the leadership of the former state guard leader, who was fired in March over the controversy.
The U.S. Army’s command plan for fiscal year 2017, which is expected to cut thousands of soldiers from active duty, Reserve and National Guard forces, was formally approved in draft form in June. The Army’s command plan will include how Maine and 53 other states and territories and the District of Columbia will be affected by the projected reductions in forces, and it will finally answer the question about whether Maine will keep the 133rd.
“The general has conveyed his intent to keep the Engineers here and has confidence that a mutually beneficial outcome will occur between [National Guard Bureau] and the Maine Army National Guard,” Maj. Norman Stickney, spokesman for the Maine National Guard, said Wednesday in an email. “We expect a final answer by October.”