 Members of the Minnesota National Guard met in St. Cloud today to discuss the future of armories throughout the state. Reporter AJ Feldman was there as a $25 million renovation project was explained. National Guard armories throughout the state of Minnesota are in need of repairs and improvements. As good Minnesota commonsense tells us when the roof leaks, you need to fix it. The upgrades are part of Governor Mark Dayton's $1.5 billion bond proposal. A key part of the need to do this is that these are local projects. This is local work that needs to get done and this is work that impacts safety, it impacts communities that these facilities serve. One of the six armories slated for renovation is in Brainerd. $8.2 million dollars are needed for the proposed upgrades, with half coming from the state and half coming from federal funding. The building's old age means that essential repairs are needed, adding insulation, removing the HVAC system and complying with current health standards. We're going to be going into it, doing asbestos mediation and mitigation, so there were still things like ceiling tiles and floor tiles back when I was constructed that had asbestos packing and materials, so we'll do asbestos remediation on that. Improvements to the armory will impact the entire Brainerd community, thanks to the large amount of use of their facilities. The youth basketball team that comes up there, we have community volleyball that attends up there. So we do blood drives almost monthly. The community definitely will be significantly positive impact on that for them to have those improvements. The upgrades will help preserve the armory that is both important for today's use and remembering yesterday's history. The soldiers that went to the Philippines, I mean, we're looking at 125 families just from that tank company that left, they still come to that armory. We still have that historical delineage from those family soldiers still. Reporting in St. Cloud, A.J. Feldman, Lakeland News. The proposed renovations would begin in the summer of 2020 and take 18 months to complete. If you enjoyed this segment of Lakeland News, please consider making a tax-deductible contribution to Lakeland PBS.