AUGUSTA — There will be a ribbon-cutting ceremony to officially open the newly completed Camp Chamberlain at 10:15 a.m. Sunday.
The ceremony is open to the public an a brief tour of the building will be given after the ceremony. It is on Civic Center Drive at the intersection of Darin Drive.
The joint forces headquarters is home to approximately 190 fulltime soldiers and airmen from the Maine Air and Army National Guard. The number increases to more than 220 service members during a drill weekend.
The $34 million, 100,000-square-foot building on 43 acres took approximately two and a half years to complete. It is energy efficient, including designed to LEED Silver and includes an 18KW photovoltaic array on the roof, external monitoring of heating controls, automatic sensors for lighting fixtures and use of LEDs throughout.
“The Maine National Guard is fortunate to have such a phenomenal space for its joint forces headquarters and is appropriately named after one of our greatest leaders, Maj. Gen. Joshua Chamberlain,” said Maj. Gen. Douglas A. Farnham, the adjutant general for the Maine National Guard. “This facility is more than just a building, it represents our commitment to the citizens of Maine and provides our Soldiers and Airmen with a headquarters that they can be proud of.”
It provides ample office, classroom and collaboration space for the full-time and traditional National Guard service members, as well as auditorium, multipurpose classroom space, operations center, multiple conference rooms, kitchen and dining area, maintenance bay, gym, showers, locker room and will proudly display our historical artifacts throughout the building.
“Camp Chamberlain incorporated the input of the joint staff and was designed to provide the Maine National Guard with a 100 year facility,” said Col. Normand Michaud, director of facilities and engineering for the Maine Army National Guard. “This facility will provide us with the space that is required by regulation, state of the art, energy efficient and modern facility.”
