New NY National Guard Headquarters proposed for Colonie location
COLONIE, N.Y. (NEWS10) -- Colonie may become the new home of a New N.Y. National Guard Headquarters. The state-of-the-art facility will reflect the importance of the guard's role in national security, right here in the Capital Region.
“It's kind of going to be built like West Point, kind of look like West Point, a little bit. So, it will be a showpiece,” said Albany County Executive, Daniel McCoy. The County Executive is eyeing the former Heritage Park site.
Eric Durr, Director of Public Affairs for the Division of Military and Naval Affairs says the new facility is needed as they outgrew their old building in Troy. “Our plan is to construct a 150,000 square foot state-of-the-art building there, and it would cost about $130 million. 75% of that would be covered by the federal government.”
“We were getting tight on space, and we were just running out of just all things from office space to desk space and conference room centers. And it was getting very crowded during drill weekend,” said Lt. Col. Jean Kratzer, New York Army National Guard Public Affairs Officer.
But before they can break ground in Colonie, not far from Albany International Airport, they say they need about 90 million from the federal government.
McCoy says the project will make a big impact on the local economy. “Once it's completed, 70% of the stuff is going to be purchased within Albany County.” The County Executive says, “The best impact for this, is there's going to be 500 soldiers one weekend a month that are going to come here. They're going to stay at local hotels in Colonie, which they'll be contracting out.”
Colonie Town Supervisor Peter Crummey says he was caught off guard by the plans and the town was not approached for the planning process. “They're actually talking about a water service and sewer service to this facility which will have, every month, at least 600 soldiers coming from around the state once a month to train. Which is fabulous. But it's like, where did you get the idea that our water system and our sewer system could even accommodate this?”
The supervisor goes on to say he is excited about the possibility of this new headquarters and has been in contact with the Major General working on the project to voice his concerns and plans to meet in person, next week. “What I'd like to do is see if we could come to some kind of agreement on community partnership so we can all celebrate together and not ask our town taxpayer to pick up the slack for the additional police, fire, EMS, road work and the other traffic that's going to be developed out there.”
If all goes well, they'll start breaking ground on the former Heritage Park site in early 2026.
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