A groundbreaking ceremony was held Monday for the Lima Readiness Center on Bluelick Road, a 53,000-square-foot facility projected to cost $32 million. Major Gen. Matthew Woodruff, commander of the Ohio National Guard and the state’s adjutant general, led the event.
The center is planned on 40 acres just north of the Allen-Oakwood Correctional Institution. The facility will consolidate existing complexes in Lima and Piqua and provide classroom training, administrative and logistics space for two Army National Guard units: Company B of the 837th Engineer Battalion, now based in Lima, and the 1487th Transportation Company, now in Piqua.
Funding is structured as a federal-state partnership: about 75% federal and 25% state. American Structurepoint Inc. of Indianapolis is the designer, and ACI Construction Co. Inc. of Findlay, formerly Alvada Construction Co. Inc., is the builder.
Woodruff said Lima’s current armory on South Collett Street is nearly 100 years old and that the replacement should open within two years. He described the Lima area as blue-collar and hard-working and said the state welcomes a larger presence there. Lima councilor Tony Wilkerson thanked Woodruff for the project’s contribution to the city’s growth, and state Sen. Susan Manchester, R-Waynesfield, attended.