A crowd of hundreds attended the grand opening of the Georgia Army National Guard’s Regional Readiness Center in Cumming on Saturday. The facility opened to Guardsmen in April and has held tours for some small groups since then, but Saturday was the first chance for the community to come together to welcome the armory. The 104,000-square-foot facility, located on Aquatic Circle off Pilgrim Mill Road near Ga. 400 at Exit 16, boosts a 300-seat auditorium, a 5,000-square-foot cafeteria, several classrooms and a library space, among other features. During Saturday’s festivities, visitors could tour the facility and talk with Guardsmen about their duties. Many of them worked at demonstration areas where children could experience what it’s like to serve through activities such as looking through telescopic equipment and target shooting. Ann Teasley brought her 7- and 5-year-old sons, Drew and Dylan.“We have two boys so we thought it would be neat to bring them here since they’re interested in a lot of the equipment the military uses,” she said. “They’re having a lot of fun.” The day’s festivities also included an official ribbon cutting ceremony for the facility, which cost about $26 million to build, with 75 percent of that funding coming from the federal government and the remainder from state sources. The city of Cumming donated the 12 acres on which the armory sits. Leaders of the Georgia National Guard spoke during the ceremony, along with local dignitaries including Cumming Mayor H. Ford Gravitt and state Sen. Jack Murphy.
