Guard unit unveils new ‘readiness center’ in Aroostook County
COURTESY / MAJ. CARL LAMB
The Maine Army National Guard's new readiness center in Presque Isle includes meeting rooms, full service kitchen, assembly hall, classroom space and a maintenance bay (pictured).
COURTESY / WBRC
A rendering of the exterior of the Maine Army National Guard's readiness center in Presque Isle.
The Maine Army National Guard unveiled a new, $18 million readiness center in Presque Isle.
The 44,000-square-foot center replaces the 185th Engineer Support Company’s former site in Caribou. It includes training rooms, a full-service kitchen, assembly hall, classroom space and maintenance bay. It will be available for community use through the Maine Army National Guard's armory rental program.
The readiness center will house 75 of the unit's 100 soldiers, with others based in Houlton.
Devoe Construction, which is based in Eagle Lake in Aroostook County, oversaw the project and the design was led by Bangor-based WBRC Architects & Engineers.
The site was unveiled at a ribbon cutting on Sept. 10. City officials, local state representatives and veterans attended the ribbon cutting, as well as Reed Devoe of Devoe Construction and representatives for U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and U.S. Rep. Jared Golden, D-Maine 2nd District. Robert Frank of WBRC Architects & Engineers and Marc Dube, Maine Army National Guard project manager, said the project was a collaborative effort, according to a news release.
"Our thanks to Devoe Construction, WBRC, and all subcontractors involved," said Maj. Gen. Douglas Farnham, Maine's adjutant general. "We all recognize the challenges in a project like this, under normal circumstances. But with over 18 months of responding to COVID, my guess is the challenges were extraordinary. Thank you to our congressional delegation. We are very lucky in Maine to have a delegation willing to work together on issues related to the National Guard — their support is critical to making this type of project possible."
The unit commander, Capt. Evan Richards, was presented with a commemorative shovel used to break ground on the facility in November 2018.
"Our organization has had a rich history in Aroostook County since 1894," said Farnham. "It began with Company L, 2nd Maine Infantry Regiment in Houlton. In 1922, they were reorganized into the 152nd Field Artillery Regiment. Artillery maintained a foothold in the County through 2007, when the battalion was consolidated into the 185th Engineer Support Company, who proudly retains the motto 'County Thunder,' an homage to their field artillery days."
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