New Armed Forces Readiness Center is vote of confidence in area

Although the official groundbreaking has yet to happen, work is progressing quickly -- weather permitting -- on the new Armed Forces Readiness Center in McCook.

It's a reassuring vote of confidence in Southwest Nebraska, both in our future and in our ability to provide the personnel that are vital to our modern system of national defense.

It's also good to note it's a "green"building, to be heated and cooled using a heat pump, heating and cooling the building with the help of the moderating temperatures of the earth, pumping water through tubes in 200 holes drilled 250 feet deep into the ground.

But the more things change, the more they remain the same. One of the first structures going up is a reinforced concrete gun vault, the most important part of armories dating to the Revolutionary War and beyond.

Locating the new facility on airport land seems like a good idea, with both demanding tighter security in the post 9-11 world.

Now the challenge is to find the best uses for the structures the National Guard and Reserves are vacating. The National Guard Armory, in particular, is a solid structure in a prime downtown location, but practical utility rather than nostalgia should dictate its future.