The Maine Army National Guard plans to build a $15.5 million, 43,000 square foot regional readiness center in Presque Isle to replace the current facility in Caribou, which houses the 185th Engineer Support Company, a unit of the 133rd Engineer Battalion.
Col. Dwaine Drummond, the Maine Guard’s director of facilities and engineering, says the center in Caribou has reached its life expectancy. He says the new Northern Maine Readiness Center will contain all the administrative support offices for full-time staff.
“As well as office space for the soldier leadership. It includes a kitchen and a multipurpose cafeteria area and training area. It’ll have a maintenance bay and it’ll have a locker room space and a small fitness room,” he says.
Drummond says the Guard is excited to build a new facility in The County, which he says has seen a reduced Guard footprint for a number of years.
“The location being close to both the University of Maine at Presque Isle and Northern Maine Community College is something we think benefits us from a recruiting standpoint and, hopefully, gives back some skill sets to the local community that will come from the experience and quality of soldiers that we get from recruiting in The County,” he says.
Drummond says the new center will sit on a corner parcel overlooking the airport and across the street from Northern Maine Community College. He says construction should start sometime in 2018.
