FORT LUPTON, Colo. (8/6/11) – “Now I have an Army!” said Tommy Holton, the mayor of Fort Lupton, Colo., during the ribbon cutting ceremony for the Colorado National Guard’s newest readiness center Aug. 6.

A readiness center is a facility that provides space for administration and training of the assigned units, and also is used to provide military support to civil authorities during state emergencies.

The 25-acre property, which includes a 35,052 square-foot building, will provide ample training space for the soldiers of Company B, 1st Battalion, 157th Infantry.

Until now, the Colorado National Guard has not built a new readiness center since 1998. The Construction and Facilities Management Office has taken full advantage of this fact by emphasizing the modern features of the building including being able to meet current Leadership in Environmental and Energy Design standards. The CONG is striving to attain a gold rating.

 Sustainability features of the building include water and energy saving measures, indoor environmental quality, and using local building materials during construction.

Other unique features of the readiness center include having many classrooms that are equipped with Star Boards, which make it easier, more economically efficient and less time consuming to network between different readiness centers.

The Fort Lupton Readiness Center is the first completed site of five planned within Colorado.