Staff photo by Fritz Busch An architectural illustration of the front view of the new Field Maintenance Shop (FMS) being built west of New Ulm just south of U.S. Highway 14. Estimated completion date is spring or early summer 2022. A new National Guard Readiness Center is planned to be built adjacent to the FMS.

NEW ULM — Ground was broken Thursday for a new Minnesota National Guard Field Maintenance Shop (FMS) and Readiness Center to be built on the west edge of New Ulm, just south of U.S. Highway 14.

“We’re here to bring everybody together. This is about the community, not just the Minnesota National Guard,” said Lt. Col. Mark D. Gile, Minnesota Army National Guard Field Maintenance Manager.

“This will be a wonderful addition to our field maintenance shops,” Gile said of the $11 million facility, replacing a 1950s-era building, is scheduled to open in the spring of 2022.

Gile said the federal government will pay for most of the project’s costs but it will not pay land costs.

The new FMS increases the number of maintenance bays, capabilities, and parking, allowing southwest Minnesota units the ability to train on more of their equipment.

Subject to the Congressional budget, a new, $17.2 million National Guard Readiness Center is planned to be open adjacent to the FMS in 2025. Ground could be broken for that facility in the spring of 2023, said Minnesota National Guard Construction and Facilities Management Officer Col. Sol Sukat.

The new readiness facility that would replace the century-old, fortress-like New Ulm Armory on N. Broadway, will bring more classrooms and a larger drill floor to make training more accessible to soldiers and create more alternative community space in New Ulm.

The new 55,000 square foot readiness center could mean bringing in three times as many soldiers for weekend training drills.

New Ulm City Councilor Les Schultz said the City of New Ulm bought 30 acres of land for $1 million on the west edge of New Ulm several years ago in preparation for the Minnesota National Guard facility projects.

In 2017, the city transferred the land to the Minnesota Army National Guard.

“It makes long-term sense for our community. If we said ‘no,’ I was told the National Guard would go to Mankato,” Schultz said.

Currently about 100 soldiers drill monthly at the New Ulm Armory. With the new facilities, that number could triple as soldiers from other Minnesota National Guard units may be transferred here.

“We’re saving quite a bit of infrastructure money having two projects on one site. It’s a more efficient way to go,” said Sukat.

Last summer, construction crews began preparing a road that leads to the new FMS and armory, south of Menard’s and will connect with the roundabout on U.S. Highway 14.

The fate of New Ulm’s existing armory remains undetermined. Schultz said the armory will be appraised after the new facilities are operational.

“The armory will be offered to the City of New Ulm first. If the City doesn’t want to buy it. it will be offered to Brown County. If they don’t want it, it will be offered to School District 88. If they don’t want it, it will be offered to the general public at a fair price,” said Schultz.

Fritz Busch can be emailed at fbusch@nujournal.com.