Army National Guard Readiness Center Addition (ARNG) Project Tops Out at Arlington Hall Station, Arlington, VA

Tompkins Builders was proud to host the Army National Guard Readiness Center Addition (ARNG) topping out ceremony on January 8, 2010 at the Arlington Hall Station in Arlington, VA. This is the second National Guard Readiness Center Tompkins has been selected to build; the first center was completed in 1993. Additionally, this is the 3rd Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) project awarded to Tompkins Builders.

Construction includes a new 250,000 SF, nine-story addition to the current Army National Guard Center that is designed to meet all force protection (ATFP) requirements, as well as corresponding site work improvements. Upon completion in 2011, the project will seek a LEED® Silver certification from the United States Green Building Council. The second component of the project is a five–story precast parking garage. The parking garage will consist of approximately 3.5 stories below grade and 1.5 stories above grade.

In topping out, the ARNG project has come a long way since the ceremonial groundbreaking on December 1, 2008. The building’s cast–in–place concrete structure is complete, structural steel work is in progress, interior work at lower levels is in progress, MEP installation is ongoing, and close–in material construction has begun. Between Tompkins and its subcontractors, there have been approximately 250,000 man–hours recorded as of the job’s start date on December 1, 2008. Tompkins plans on meeting the aggressive schedule which is scheduled to reach substantial completion in the second quarter of 2011.

Tompkins’ upper management, project team and staff, representatives of the Army National Guard, architect/engineer team, and subcontractors involved in the completion of the construction today were all present at this benchmark topping out event. As a part of the festivities Tompkins and its subcontractors provided a variety of prizes for raffle to all workers on the job. Prizes included gift cards, t–shirts, hats and several flat screen TVs.

The event proved to be a celebration of the achievement of one of the project’s major milestones, completion of the building’s cast–in–place concrete structure. Ambitions are high as the team moves forward to meet the challenges on the road to completion. There is every confidence that all significant milestones will continue to be reached by the ARNG team throughout the duration of this project.