The $21 million request for the Armed Forces Reserve Center is contained in the 2010 military construction bill approved by the Senate Appropriations Committee, according to a statement released by Sen. Frank R. Lautenberg (D., N.J.), a member of the committee. The legislation now goes before the Senate.

A weapons simulator, a library, and fitness areas for the Army Reserve and National Guard would be housed in a 50,000-square-foot training building, according to a bid solicition filed by the Army Corps of Engineers.

Chief Warrant Officer Patrick Daugherty of the state National Guard said the money would be allocated through the Army Reserve. He did not know the exact location of the project.

"It's a great deal for us," Daugherty said. "If we want to send some soldiers there, we have space for us at no cost to the state."

The center also would include a 1,200-square-foot storage building and a 6,900-square-foot maintenance shop.

In addition to providing the military with necessary resources, construction of the center would be "a new source of employment and economic growth to advance Camden's revitalization," U.S. Rep. Robert E. Andrews (D., N.J.) said in a statement yesterday.

The appropriations bill also allocates $9.7 million for construction of a civil engineering complex at McGuire Air Force Base for use by the 108th Air Refueling Wing.