Ribbon Cutting at the New Richland Readiness Center

On Dec. 7, 2022 at 11:00 am, leadership from the Washington National Guard and soldiers from the 1st Battalion, 161st Infantry Regiment will host a ribbon cutting ceremony at the new Richland Readiness Center, located at 2655 1st Street, Richland ,WA.

“This Readiness Center was a design build project with the team of TVA Architecture and Fowler General Construction,” said Mr. Brad Olson, construction project manager with the Washington National Guard’s Construction Facilities Management Office (CFMO). “Fowler General Construction is a Richland based contractor with their office located two miles from the project sited.”

The 39,706 square foot readiness center project moved at record speed, as the general construction team went from ground-breaking to substantial completion in just 14 months. At a cost of $14.2 million, the new facilities provide ample training, storage, classroom, common areas and office space for a company of soldiers of the 1-161st Infantry. This will also become the first Washington National Guard facility that is on track to meet a LEED Gold rating for environmental considerations and green cost saving measures. LEED certified buildings save money, improve efficiency, lower carbon emissions and create healthier places for people. They are a critical part of addressing climate change and meeting environmental, social and governance goals, enhancing resilience, and supporting more equitable communities.

“From a user standpoint, seeing it in person and how it looks was almost exactly the vision we had when we started designing this,” said Lt. Col. Bill Cooper, commander of the 1st Battalion, 161st Infantry Regiment. “To have soldiers see it before opening they could see how it all flowed and how the CFMO delivered us a new quality building to train at.”

The new Readiness Center will house a company from the battalion, but only takes up a small portion of the 40-acre lot. The Washington Military Department has proposed building a second Washington Youth Challenge Academy on the site.

“In my 15+ years on project management this is one of the top two or three projects I have been involved in,” said Olson.

Parties interested in attending the event can RSVP at 253-512-8989