Franklin to annex 40 acres for $35 million National Guard armory

Daily Journal of Johnson County

Franklin will annex land for a facility to train soldiers.

The Indiana National Guard asked the city to annex about 40 acres where it plans to build an armory. The land, south of State Road 44 between Interstate 65 and Lovers Lane, also will have to be rezoned from residential to institutional use.

City council members on Monday voted 6-0 to approve the annexation. Member Joe Ault was absent.

Construction is set to start in May and take about two years.

The 166,000-square-foot armory will be the second-largest facility of its kind in Indiana and will include offices, a gymnasium, classrooms, storage space and a landing pad for helicopters.

Johnson County is the only county surrounding Indianapolis that does not have an armory.

The project is federally funded and is expected to cost at least $35 million.

The armory will be used by nearly 1,000 National Guard and Army Reserve soldiers, according to Staff Sgt. Jeff Lowry of the Indiana National Guard.

Most Indiana Guard units scheduled to train at the armory will come from Camp Atterbury in southern Johnson County.

Moving the soldiers to the new facility will free up space at the camp that will be used to help mobilize service members before they deploy overseas, Lowry said.