Governor Wes Moore, Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski, and other local officials this week attended a groundbreaking ceremony to celebrate the upcoming transformation of the Pikesville Armory in Baltimore County. The historic military site is set to be revitalized into an intergenerational regional hub to support recreation, sports, and the arts in the community.
“We are here to celebrate not just a single neighborhood, but to celebrate a new direction for the entire city of Baltimore,” said Governor Moore. “Once complete, the Pikesville Armory project will leave a lasting legacy on our communities: a legacy of the children who will benefit from new sports, arts, and education opportunities, of the veterans who will benefit from programs specifically designed for them, and of the partnerships forged among Maryland leaders. But most importantly, this project will help cement the legacy of a city that is going to take its rightful place among the great American cities.”
The governor was joined by U.S. Senator Ben Cardin; Congressman Dutch Ruppersberger; Comptroller Brooke Lierman; House Speaker Adrienne A. Jones; County Executive Olszewski; and veterans and local community leadership to honor the history of the armory and celebrate its future. The 14-acre site will include renovation of the main armory building into a recreation facility for veterans and youth—converting smaller spaces for educational use—and utilizing the 10-acre green space for sports fields and play spaces for all ages. Working with the Seawall Company and Onyx Development, the armory campus will offer space for sporting events, cultural events, walking paths, public art, a playground for all abilities, perennial gardens, and classrooms.
This once-in-a-generation opportunity will be a catalytic project to revitalize the Reisterstown Road corridor. The first phase of redevelopment will begin in April. Pikesville Armory Foundation, made up of local organizations, will steward the revitalization project within the community with public input.
The armory was part of the expansion of the National Guard and has been in continuous military and community use since its construction in 1903. The location was added to the National Registry of Historical Places in 1985. The state is proud to have contributed $8 million to the project through bonds and grants over the last four years.
