Maryland Department of General Services Breaks Ground on New Readiness Center

SYKESVILLE, MD – The Maryland Department of General Services (DGS) today participated in the groundbreaking for the new Freedom Readiness Center in Sykesville, MD. DGS, along with the Department of Maryland Military and National Guard, have been working together to build this state-of-the-art facility.

“The Department of General Services worked closely with the National Guard to ensure that this new readiness center will meet its needs,” said DGS Secretary Ellington E. Churchill, Jr. “As the lead agency for state building construction, we know the importance of delivering a quality project on time and on budget to our clients, and ultimately to the people of Maryland.”

DGS is responsible for overseeing the planning, budgeting and design of the $24.5 million Freedom Readiness Center. The agency helped refine the project program and budget for submission to the Department of Budget and Management. DGS also oversaw all design aspects for the center, including reworking the building and site layout to make the best use of the existing site topography and reduce costs as much as possible.

The Freedom Readiness Center is a 67,121 square foot LEED Silver certified building with a 6,700 square feet detached storage structure. The center will house approximately 10 full-time staff with 326 individuals on weekend drills. It is replacing the existing Catonsville and Ellicott City armories and will be the largest readiness center in the state. The center combines the 200^th Military Police Company in Catonsville and the 729^th Composite Quarter Master Supply Company in Ellicott City into the one facility. This plan will create efficiencies by allowing the companies to share the same facilities on alternating weekends while providing capacity for both to operate simultaneously in the event of an emergency.