The Illinois Army National Guard is planning to move its operations out of Chicago’s Midway Army Aviation facility.
The Illinois National Guard expects to spend more than $48 million to construct a new Readiness Center and Army Aviation Support Facility. The Guard has signed a 50-year lease for the new 30-acre site at the Greater Kankakee Airport. The state is expected to cover about $6.25 million of the construction, and the federal government will pick up the rest.
Officials have been looking for a new center since 2002 because they say the Midway facility doesn’t meet the space and training needs for the aviation units. Two guard aviation companies with a total of about 200 soldiers are expected to move to the new place in about six years after construction is complete.