Foley is home to the newly opened Alabama National Guard’s state-of-the-art “super armory” called the Foley Readiness Center.
The new center will be used for domestic support operations and can also be used as a platform to stage troops and provide services in case of storms in the area, according to Adjutant General Maj. Gen. Sheryl E. Gordon.
Fourteen years in the making, several legislative bodies and organizations had a helping hand in making the new readiness center a reality.
The 30,540-square-foot facility is located on approximately 30 acres in Foley’s Industrial Park on the Foley Beach Express. It includes two buildings. One offers a 1,726-square-foot multi-purpose room for training events and disaster response, as well as a kitchen, administrative offices and classrooms. The second building includes maintenance bays, offices, storage and equipment.
The facility was built with state-of-the-art geothermal wells for efficiently heating and cooling, which will reduce gas and power costs.
The armory is now the home of the Charlie Company of the 1-173rd Infantry Regiment.