A new $31 million structure under construction in Oregon comes with design elements not often found in the average construction project: security and antiterrorism features.
In August 2025, Oregon National Guard senior leaders and elected officials broke ground for the new Hillsboro Readiness Center. Work crews are now clearing the site and preparing for construction.
"As we break ground for the wonderful new readiness center, we look forward to continuing this legacy of connection and collaboration with Delta Company, 2nd Battalion, 162nd Infantry Regiment and Charlie Battery, 2nd Battalion, 218th Field Artillery Regiment," Hillsboro Mayor Beach Pace said. "We are excited for the future and remain deeply committed to the Hillsboro community."
The new Hillsboro Readiness Center, about a mile east of the original armory built in 1954, replaces the original and is expected to meet and extend the National Guard's capabilities in the community for the next 50 years.
The facility was designed under requirements for security and antiterrorism as outlined by federal Department of Defense Minimum Antiterrorism Standards for Buildings, said Rocky Kumlin, provost marshal.
Contractor Fortis Construction, headquartered in Portland, Ore., teamed with woman-owned CIDA Architects, also based in Portland, on the design-build project to create two buildings on the site.
"As a military entity, we have additional security and terrorism-force protection," said Melissa Burns, senior construction manager. "It's commercial construction, so it's a little more heavy duty. The Antiterrorism and Force Protection (ATFP) requirements require us to harden the building where we do different structural things. That may include different kinds of glass, such as blast-proof glass, offsets of the building — making sure that the building's in the right place on the site, and things like that to make sure people are safe."
The project includes two pre-engineered buildings. The main building is the 45,000-sq.-ft. Readiness Center, featuring office space, a drill floor and classroom space doubling as multi-purpose rooms, along with work bays for work on vehicles and a full commercial kitchen for military as well as rental use. It also features a mezzanine for infrastructure mechanics.
"These updates will give the Oregon National Guard proper space to accomplish their mission," said Stephen Bomar, director of public affairs, Oregon Military Department.
The readiness center will host monthly military drills and other training activities and also will be available for community use.
"It's right next to the fairgrounds, and the hope is that when they have events at the Fairground Event Center, we would kind of be overflow for additional classroom space and different things like that, so they could walk across the street and use our facility. Also, we rent out the facilities and people can use them for weddings and different activities. Because it has a big drill floor in the middle of it, sometimes there are local businesses that need a bigger space to train their staff."
The second building is a 20,000-sq.-ft. storage facility for the M777 howitzers with pass-through bay doors, "allowing the field artillery soldiers to safely store and protect their equipment," Bomar said.
Along with the DOD security requirements, the facility also was designed to LEED Silver standards and includes polished concrete floors and rooftop solar panels.
While the ATFP requirements added design considerations, Burns said they haven't had any real challenges so far.
"We're just starting ... there's always unforeseen conditions, she said. "We haven't had anything come up yet. The design team and the contractor and all of us have all worked really well together and come up with good solutions for things, and everything has gone well. Some of the ATFP and additional things we have to do for that are just different.
"Those are things that not every contractor and designer are used to having. But we as a team have come together and worked really well together and made sure that we've met all those requirements." CEG
