LINN COUNTY - A new National Guard Armory is slated for Linn County. Guard members anticipate the benefits it'll bring to eastern Iowa.

The Guard will call the new $42-million facility a Readiness Center. It will house classrooms and training programs and will support soldiers, veterans and their families.

The guard says it continues to grow in eastern Iowa. And this new center will be big enough to support 680 soldiers. With federal funding secured for the facility, the guard looks forward to opportunities it will offer. "We've looked at all of our facilities and this one happens to be high on the list to be replaced," says General Tim Orr.

Large classrooms, small classrooms, digital training rooms, supply rooms a nd more will soon sit on 25 acres just off Wright Brothers Boulevard near the Eastern Iowa Airport. It will replace the reserves building in downtown Cedar Rapids and the current Armory, which wasn't designed with air conditioning and lacks space. "It's about half the size it should be and we also have inadequate space in terms of parking," says Colonel Scott Ayers.

Last June, local members of the Iowa National Guard said they couldn't believe one of their largest deployments was in their hometown. The armory staged a lot of soldiers who came to Cedar Rapids from across the country.

Congressman Dave Lobesack says he's confident funding for the facility will come through in 2010. That gives the guard hope that it will soon be able to better serve eastern Iowa and prepare soldiers for war.

If all goes as planned, the guard hopes to break ground on the center in the fall. As for the vacated spaces, the airport will take ownership of the armory and lease it to businesses in exchange for the land for the new facility. The downtown reserves building will be sold.