The Vermont Army National Guard plans to buy about 35 acres from Vermont State University-Lyndon to build a facility that will house several Guard units.

The Guard expects to break ground on the $16.9 million project next summer, according to a press release about the purchase. It will include a readiness center, a National Guard facility that is used for military training and for storing military property.

The parcel that’s for sale has no buildings on it and abuts Interstate 91, according to Sylvia Plumb, assistant vice president of marketing and communications for the university system. The exact amount of land will be determined after a survey, Plumb said; the price per acre is $9,016.



The 195-acre Lyndon campus is one of several in the state colleges system that’s expected to change in coming years as administrators of the newly created Vermont State University look for revenues and cost savings.

Lyndon State College merged with the former Johnson State College in 2018 to create Northern Vermont University. On July 1, it underwent another transformation, becoming part of the Vermont State University system through a merger with the former Vermont Technical College in Randolph and Castleton University.

Several of the schools in the struggling state colleges system have seen steep enrollment declines over the past few decades, the result of changes in Vermont’s demographic makeup and in the higher-ed market. Administrators are looking to save by merging programs and selling property and are also seeking to boost enrollment in order to increase revenues.
Former state senator Joe Benning is a 1979 Lyndon graduate who has been watching with concern for years as his alma mater has lost students and programs. Benning, a lawyer who lives in Lyndon, said he has long expected the school to sell property. He thinks the National Guard plan could help the college and the community.

“I know one of the biggest problems in the system has been deferred maintenance costs, and maintenance costs,” Benning said. “If they are designing something that can benefit both the National Guard and the college, more power to them.”

Sharron Scott, chief financial and operating officer for the Vermont State Colleges System, said late last month that the system is working on a strategic planning process to determine which property to sell and how to best use the buildings that remain.

The sale of property doesn't require legislative approval, Plumb said. She said no other property sales are pending.
Once the Lyndon sale goes through, the Guard plans to build a facility called the Northeast Regional Readiness Center that will eventually house several units.

“It is strategically located for the Cavalry Squadron in that two of their units are already located in the Northeast Kingdom, and it positions us well for future response to state emergencies," Adj. Gen. Greg Knight said in the press release.

While Benning understands the decision to sell some of the Lyndon campus, he wasn’t happy to find out that the state colleges system had sold its Lyndon campus radio license. The system announced in December that it would sell WWLR 91.5 to Vermont Public for $80,000, according to VTDigger.org.

Benning was WWLR’s first general manager as a student at Lyndon State.

“That was a terrible idea,” he said of the sale.