Leaders with the Michigan National Guard said women soldiers have lacked equitable access to bathrooms and facilities for several decades at the Michigan Army National Guard readiness centers, known as armories.

Planning is underway to spend millions of dollars in state and federal funding to renovate bathroom and locker room facilities at Michigan National Guard's 34 armory facilities, including the Kalamazoo armory facility.

"When we look at our facilities, it’s easy to see that they are not adequate for women, particularly," said Gen. Paul D. Rogers, adjutant general and director of the Michigan Department of Military and Veterans Affairs.

Rogers toured the Kalamazoo Army National Guard Armory on Parkview Avenue, which was built in 1976, on Friday along with various local and state elected officials.

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He said the Kalamazoo facility will undergo a $4.8 million renovation to add and replace toilet and shower facilities for men and women. Rogers said the renovation work will begin early 2021 and take nine months to complete.

The project is part of Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's $50 million proposal to update Michigan National Guard facilities to create more equitable Army National Guard readiness centers as more women are welcomed into the armed forces. Matching funds from the federal government will be used toward the project.

Sixty-six female soldiers make up the more than 300 soldiers who report to the Kalamazoo armory, officials said. Women soldiers currently have access to three bathroom stalls and two individual showers. There are no accommodations for breast feeding mothers or changing tables.

Rogers said the planned renovation would add modernized bathroom stalls, shower facilities and add lactating tables for mothers.

"With woman serving greater and greater roles, the talent we attract through the Michigan National Guard, our facilities now need to be bright up to standard to support them adequately," Rogers said.

State Rep. Julie Rogers, D-Kalamazoo, also toured the facility Friday.

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Julie Rogers, a physical therapist, said she's heard stories about the inadequate armory facilities from soldiers she helped to rehabilitate over the years.

"Sometimes people hesitate to shower there and find workarounds," she said.

Renovations at the state's 34 Army National Guard armory facilities will be completed in the next 18 to 24 months, the Michigan National Guard said.