The U.S. Army Reserve 81st Readiness Division, in coordination with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Louisville District, hosted a groundbreaking ceremony for the new Equipment Concentration Site in Gainesville, Florida, July 14, 2022.

This will be the first U.S. Army Reserve equipment concentration site in the state of Florida and will help eliminate the need for some Army Reserve units to travel more than 600 miles to neighboring states to store or draw equipment.

The Louisville District awarded the $33.1 million contract last fall. The construction project includes a 45,694 square foot Tactical Equipment Maintenance Facility, also known as TEMF, and the alteration of a 26,642 square foot storage building while adding an additional 4,300 square feet to the existing building. The site will also include a 161,650 square yard military equipment parking area.

Additionally, supporting facilities will include land clearing, paving, aprons, fencing, wash rack, bi-level equipment loading ramps, general site improvements and utility connections. The project will be Americans with Disabilities Act compliant and will meet Anti-terrorism Force Protection and physical security measures. Sustainability and Energy measures will also be provided.

“The Corps of Engineers works diligently to strengthen our nation’s security by building and maintaining America’s infrastructures and providing military facilities, like this, where our service members train,” said Representative Yvonne Hayes Hinson, Florida House of Representatives. “This is a large project and an important one. I have no doubt the many team members will be able to complete it and have no doubt that this will be a facility that enriches our community, our nation and our world for years to come.”

Other speakers at the event included Brig. Gen. Bob Krumm, commanding general of the U.S. Army Reserve 81st Readiness Division, Senator Warren ‘Keith’ Perry, Florida Senate, and Commissioner Marihelen Wheeler, Alachua County Commissioner.

According to the 81st Readiness Division, Army Reserve units in the state of Florida rely on ECS facilities in other states, at times traveling distances over 600 miles to draw equipment for training purposes. A Florida ECS/TEMP will alleviate overcrowding at other ECS’s in the southeast region of the U.S. ECS’s by design are stationed on military installations that can support unit training exercises to include annual training, WAREX, mission training for mobilizing and or re-deploying AR units. This Florida ECS will be a standalone model outside of any military installations.

The project is scheduled to be complete in 2024.