Guard opens armory at site of former state fire academy in Northern Nevada
CARLIN — The University of Nevada’s former Fire Science Academy is now the home to a new Nevada National Guard facility in Carlin.
The 5,300-square-foot Elko County Readiness Center opened its doors on Thursday along Interstate 80, 25 miles west of Elko.
Guard Brig. Gen. Bill Burks told the Elko Daily Free Press it’s a state-of-the-art Guard armory, the largest in Nevada.
It includes high-security storage of small arms, encryption devices and truck-mount weapons. The primary users will be the 593rd Transportation Company.
The training center cost nearly $16 million, about half federal and half state funds.
State and university officials struggled for years to overcome cost overruns at the academy before closing it in 2011. The original classrooms and fire station buildings have been remodeled as a learning center.
