CONTACT: Eric Durr, 518-786-4581 (cell) 518-429-5186.

FOR RELEASE: Wednesday, Oct 19, 2011

KINGSTON, NY (10/19/2011)-- Soldiers of the New York Army National Guard’s 204th Engineer Battalion began demolishing the Kings Inn yesterday. The Army National Guard ’s demolition of the deserted motel, located on Broadway, eliminates an eyesore and paves the way for development of the site. The demolition work will also allow the New York National Guard and Ulster County emergency responders to use the site for a joint civil-military emergency response drill on Nov. 5. Work on the site is being conducted by 25 Soldiers of the Kingston-based 1156th Vertical Engineering Company and the 827th Horizontal Construction Company, which has elements in Walton and Horseheads. Work is due to be finished on October 25. The Soldiers will partially demolish the site. Part of the complex will be totally demolished into rubble piles, one building will be partially demolished and another left intact. This will allow New York National Guard emergency units and local civilian first responders to exercise a scenario in which a building has been hit by a suspected bomb. The demolition work is also valuable training for the engineering Soldiers. The Nov. 5 exercise will involve a New York National Guard unit that is specially trained to respond to terrorist attacks involving chemical, biological, or radiological weapons, rescue victims, decontaminate them, and provide immediate medical care. The Ulster County Sheriff’s Office and Ulster County Health Department, as well as Kingston Police and Fire, Kingston Hospital, the New York State Police and New York City Department of Environmental Protection are also expected to participate in the Nov. 5 drill.