Maine Army National Guard Completes Second Armory Bond Renovation, Hosts Ribbon Cutting Ceremony in Sanford

SANFORD, ME (06/13/2018) (readMedia)-- Maj. Gen. Douglas Farnham, Adjutant General for the Maine National Guard, announces that the Maine Army National Guard will be hosting a ribbon cutting ceremony for the newly refurbished Sanford Armory on June 15th at 11 a.m.

The refurbishment is the second overhaul project that the Maine National Guard has completed as part of the 2013 bond referendum. The total facility refurbishment provides a fiscally responsible solution over new construction on aging facilities within the Maine Army National Guard inventory.

55 Soldiers from Detachment 1 of the 262nd Engineer Company (Horizontal), will relocate from Belfast to the Sanford Armory. The unit specializes in construction operations, from earth work to carpentry, plumbing and electrical as well as the administrative and maintenance needs for the unit.

The Sanford Armory was previously home to Detachment 1, 1136th Transportation Company, who relocated with their headquarters element during the renovations and will remain there in Bangor.

The 16,400 square foot facility took 19 months to complete and cost approximately $4.5 million ($1,934,000 of state bond money with the remaining $2,512,000 coming from federal funds).

"This renovation project is another example of the success of the bond," said Farnham. "It has allowed us to match each dollar with federal funds, stretching the budget much farther than we could have previously and directly contributes to Soldier readiness."

The newly renovated facility will provide many necessary improvements to the original building, such as upgrades to office and classroom spaces, the kitchen, lighting, electrical, insulation, and other code improvements.

"We designed the facility to be energy efficient," said Mark Roberts, P.E., engineering branch chief for the Directorate of Facilities and Engineering, Maine Army National Guard. "Many of the spaces include motion sensors to automatically turn on and off the LED lights, we also added heat pumps and our mechanical systems can be remotely monitored."

Col. Normand Michaud, construction and facilities maintenance officer for the Maine Army National Guard, said that these improvements to existing armories are innovative and demonstrate fiscal stewardship of tax payer dollars, but cautions that not all facilities can be saved due to National Guard restrictions on renovation cost limits.

"It's a good news story when you can take a facility that is approaching 60 years old and make it new again for less than half the cost of building new," Michaud said. "But we have buildings in our inventory that exceed the allowable dollar figure to refurbish."

National Guard regulation prohibits the execution of facility restoration, modernization and alteration projects that are estimated to exceed 50% of facility replacement cost.

"Our Soldiers depend on adequate facilities to prepare for the diverse missions they are tasked with," said Farnham. "Its more than just a space to gather, it is classrooms, computers, maintenance bays, and offices, its physical fitness space and simulators to ensure our troops are ready whenever and wherever they are needed." said Farnham.