National Guard Military Kennel Nearly Complete; Opening Ceremony Planned 

By Andrew Gorosko

The Connecticut Army National Guard Military Working Dog Training Facility, or kennel for German shepherds, which is now under construction at Fairfield Hills, is about 90 percent complete and is expected to be operating by the spring.

Lieutenant Colonel Gerald Lukowski, the guard’s construction and facilities management officer, said December 13 that the contractor constructing the complex for the guard is putting some finishing touches on the facility, which will be used to train dogs for the guard’s antiterrorism work.

Oak Park Architects of West Hartford designed the facility. Banton Construction Company of North Haven is building the kennel. Because the project is being built on state-owned land, it is not subject to review by town land-use agencies. The project’s cost is more than $2.5 million.

The kennel complex is under construction near the intersection of Wildlife Drive and Cross Street in the agricultural section of Fairfield Hills, near the Governor’s Horse Guard.

Workers this week erected security fences at the kennel.

Lt Col Lukowski said that some of the soldiers who will serve as dog handlers at the complex are now receiving specialized training at a military base in Texas. The military dogs’ work will include explosives sniffing and drug sniffing. The dogs will be involved in state and federal search-and-rescue and search-and-recovery missions, as well as counterdrug operations and bomb detection.

A soldier with the rank of sergeant first-class has been designated to work as the kennel’s supervisor, Lt Col Lukowski said.

The guard plans to hold an opening ceremony for the kennel in the springtime, according to Lt Col Lukowski. Governor M. Jodi Rell, and other dignitaries are expected to attend. The event will be open to the public.

The guard plans to wait until the spring for the event to allow the site improvement work to be completed, such as the placement of topsoil, turf, and landscaping elements, Lt Col Lukowski  said.

The guard plans to keep six dogs at the complex, with the potential for up to ten dogs being kept there. Each dog will have its own handler. The kennel complex will be fenced in for security reasons.

Eight full-time soldiers will staff the approximately 5,000-square-foot facility.

The complex under construction is the first facility of its type to be built for an Army National Guard unit in the United States. Construction started in late 2004.

Besides their military duties, the dogs to be kept at the kennel are expected to occasionally aid state police.

A farm building at Fairfield Hills, commonly known as “the piggery,” was largely demolished to create a construction site for the kennel. The piggery’s hay barn, however, was retained to serve as the visual centerpiece for the kennel.

The piggery was built in 1932. It was used for hog raising at Fairfield Hills, a state psychiatric hospital that closed in 1995.

To the east of the kennel, an approximately 3.5-acre dog workout site is being constructed. The site, which will contain an obstacle course, will be used for dog training.

Although the kennel site is being built in a relatively isolated area, it has easy access to Interstate 84.