The Korte Company of St. Louis has begun construction on the U.S. Corps of Engineers Louisville District’s Armed Forces Reserve Center on State Highway 31 in west Tyler. Corps officials said they expect the center to open by March 2011. Paul Bryant Photo TYLER — Construction has begun here on a $25 million property to be used to train National Guard and Reserve soldiers, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers officials told the Statesman.

“The Korte Company has started it, and we’re projecting completion in late March 2011,” Steve Farkus, project manager for the Corps of Engineers Louisville District, said. “It’s relatively early in the process. It will be a twostory office building with all the elements that help conduct training, and will include paving and parking for military equipment, and a recruiters office for reenlisting soldiers.”

The Armed Forces Reserve Center on State Highway 31 near Spur 364 is a Military Construction Program, or MILCON, project. The program is divided into five appropriations: Military Construction Army, Military Construction Army Reserve, Military Construction Army National Guard, Army Family Housing Construction, and Base Realignment and Closure Act.

“The Corps of Engineers is very happy to implement the Army Reserves construction program,” Ken Beyer, the Louisville District’s public affairs specialist, said. “We love to help soldiers all over the country.”

MILCON was appropriated $10.8 billion for fiscal year 2009-2010, to “add, replace, or upgrade 186 mission, operational readiness, and training support facilities,” according to a Corps of Engineers Web site.

At the Armed Forces Reserve Center in Tyler, about 20 full-time positions will be filled.

“And the largest drill weekend will have approximately 312 personnel using the facility,” Farkus said. “It is anticipated that the facility will be used three weekends per month for training activities. A total of approximately 800 Army Reserve and Army National Guard personnel will use the facility.”

Korte, a St. Louis company, was awarded a $21 million contract in July 2009 to build the center in Tyler. According to Korte’s Web site, the property will include a 65,286-square-foot, two-story office building, a three-bay, 13,199-squarefoot vehicle-maintenance shop and a 1,500-square- foot pre-engineered metal storage building.

Korte also secured a bid last July to built a reserve center in Round Rock.

Farkus returned from a 12-month deployment in Iraq last July. He managed about $180 million in military construction projects while assigned to the Gulf Region South District.