Sadsbury Township facility to serve as home base for Coatesville unit
Pa. National Guard representatives celebrate the opening of a new Readiness Center in Sadsbury Township.
After nearly a year and a half of construction, Pennsylvania Army National Guard officials on Thursday celebrated the opening of a new Readiness Center in Coatesville, a $9.7 million facility borne out of the transformation of the 56th Infantry Brigade, PA Army National Guard to a Stryker Brigade Combat Team.
The 30,280-square-foot Readiness Center stands on approximately 3.22 acres of a 12-acre property owned by the state in Sadsbury Township, a Pennsylvania National Guard news release said.
The center is home to Company B, 1st Battalion, 111th Infantry Regiment, which traces its ancestry to the Associated Regiment of Foot, founded by Benjamin Franklin in Philadelphia in November 1747. Over the course of the next 266 years, Associators were deployed to operations in the American War for Independence, the War of 1812, the Civil War, World Wars I and II, Kosovo, and the Global War on Terror, the release said.
The $9.7 million new facility features energy-efficient components and enhanced security.
The Coatesville unit continues to serve as the backbone of National Guard soldiers in this area. The new energy-efficient facility includes administrative offices, classrooms, unit and personnel storage, an arms vault, an assembly hall, vehicle maintenance bay, and a complete kitchen/food service area, constructed in a manner that incorporates physical security enhancements, the release said.
The supporting facilities include a fuel dispensing station, approximately 3,160 square yards of concrete pavement for military equipment parking, and approximately 7,865 square yards of asphalt pavement for privately owned vehicles and access roads. Site work also included installation of sidewalks, curbing, decorative security fencing, and underground and above ground storm-water management systems, and installation of new water, gas, sewer, telephone and electric services, the release said.
