Activity at the site of the new $14 million Kentucky National Guard Readiness Center, the replacement for the Guard's aging armory on West Parrish Avenue, is expected to begin in May, with construction following shortly.

Lt. Col. Steven King, construction and facilities management officer for the Kentucky National Guard, said last week that work on the jointly funded federal-state project will begin as soon as a "military contract cooperation agreement" between Kentucky and the federal government is finalized.

"What Kentucky did was lean forward by fronting the design money," King said. "We are now almost there with the cooperation agreement between the state and federal governments, to allow the federal government to reimburse the state for design and site work. Once the agreement is complete -- we're looking at no more than 30 days but as early as next week to finalize the agreement -- then we can get the money and we'll cut the contract."

The $10.3 million federal portion of funding for the center comes from the $446.8 billion spending bill signed by President Barack Obama in December, Gov. Steve Beshear's office said in February. About $3.5 million of the total cost of the project is state-funded through the Department of Military Affairs. Of that amount, $1 million will come from the city of Owensboro, which will purchase the existing armory on West Parrish Avenue.

By early to mid-May, A&K Contracting of Paducah should begin moving equipment to the site to begin preparing the site, King said.

"We're looking at finishing in the summer of 2011," King said. "We're looking at 420 days until substantial completion."

The center will be built on 20 acres at the Owensboro-Daviess County Regional Airport.

Unlike traditional building projects where an architect designs a project, then contractors vie to build it, the Owensboro Readiness Center is a "design-build" project, which means that specifications for the center were issued and contractors submitted designs of their own making incorporating all the specifications.

"What we needed was a building that meets the requirements," King said. "A&K and Collignon & Nunley/Hafer Associates clearly put together the best proposal."

Collignon & Nunley/Hafer Associates is an Owensboro architectural firm.

Source: Messenger-Inquirer