$4.8M bond sought for armory repairs

AUGUSTA – As the former commissioner of Defense and Veterans Services, Earle Adams recalls a memorable moment when he was touring the Skowhegan Armory with Gov. Angus S. King in the middle of a spring downpour.

A young army sergeant who was cooking in the old building’s kitchen approached the governor and asked if he could show him “something for just a minute.” When King entered the kitchen where meals were being cooked for soldiers about to be deployed overseas, the cook stopped and pointed toward the ceiling overhead.

“They had pieces of plastic draped up by the ceiling to run the incoming rainwater away from the food, stove and cupboards,” Adams said. “That obviously got the governor’s attention, and he told us to try and put some priority onto that roof. And we did. But because of reduced funding available, we didn’t do the job that certainly should have been done.”

Lawmakers on the Appropriation Committee heard about King’s visit to Skowhegan Tuesday while proponents made a case for a $4.8 million bond package to fund repairs to the state’s armories and to assist the Challenger Learning Center of Maine located in Bangor. The final chapter of the Skowhegan Armory story was written last November when a fire destroyed the structure. State officials estimate the building will cost more than $1 million to replace.

“The swift-moving fire quickly destroyed the building,” said Rep. Paul Hatch, D-Skowhegan. “Further investigation revealed that an inadequate sprinkler system and a hodgepodge of roof repairs frustrated the work of firefighters.”

Supporters of the bond proposal want to prevent another catastrophe at any of the state’s aging armories by using the bond money to acquire matching federal funds and provide some real renovations to the facilities. Some of those funds are dollar-for-dollar matches while others are two-for-one and three-for-one matches. If the package is approved, the state’s share of spending for roof repairs alone would include:

. $280,000 for Camp Keyes in August.;

. $225,000 for the Waterville armory.

. $200,000 each for armories in Fort Kent and Gardiner.

. $150,000 for the Calais armor.

. $130,000 for the Presque Isle armory.

. $100,000 each for armories in Westbrook, Houlton, Sanford and Bangor’s Building 345.

The package also includes $283,000 to demolish the Caribou Armory and a little more than $500,000 for anti-terrorism improvements, including new electronic security systems at all Maine Army National Guard facilities. Total state share of infrastructure improvements under the bond is a little more than $4.5 million with an additional $300,000 for the Challenger Learning Center in Bangor, which ultimately will host 9,000 students annually.

“With the repairs this bond money makes possible, the armories can become a source of pride both for local communities and the soldiers assigned there,” said Col. Don McCormack, president of the National Guard Association of Maine. “It would certainly be a wonderful day if fully repaired armories welcomed the soldiers back from Afghanistan and Iraq.”

Maine Speaker of the House Patrick Colwell, D-Gardiner, called on lawmakers to back the bond proposal, which will need a two-thirds vote in the House and Senate. Colwell said a record number of Maine servicemen and -women are now deployed overseas and agreed Mainers could show their support by restoring and improving the armories where soldiers meet and train.

“We’ve been trying to patch up the armories for years, without committing adequate funding,” Colwell said. “Now is the time to do the job right.”