VNDnationalGuardalley City  (CSi)   Senator John Hoeven Friday visited with officials at the North Dakota National Guard (NDNG) maintenance center in Valley City to discuss the constraints of the existing facility and review plans for the construction of a new vehicle maintenance, training and administrative facility. Hoeven serves as a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, where he worked to include $10.8 million in the annual military construction funding bill to replace the outdated facility.

Hoeven said, “We depend on our National Guard members in many ways both at home and in our nation’s missions abroad. It is vital that we provide them with the tools and infrastructure they need. We worked hard to make sure this much-needed update was supported.”

The current facility consists of 3,230 square feet, and as the Defense Department noted in its long term construction plan, the facility no longer meets the needs of the National Guard in North Dakota and cannot be expanded.

The new 45,000-square-foot facility will allow Guard units to meet operational readiness and training objectives, provide adequate training areas, administrative space and space for physical fitness, supplies and parking. The new facility will also meet the requirements of Americans with Disabilities Act and Antiterrorism Force Protection guidelines.