PIKESVILLE, Md. — Plans are moving forward to turn the historic Pikesville Armory site, off of Reisterstown Road, into a major community resource.
The Armory is sprawled across 14 acres, with 225,000 square feet of buildings; the property dates to 1903 and is just north of Slade Avenue.
Now the state of Maryland will transfer the property to Baltimore County. County officials announced today that the transfer will move forward, after the state Board of Public Works approved it. It'll be transferred for a nominal cost of $1.
The county will ultimately transfer it to the Pikesville Armory Foundation, a local nonprofit that has been working on the plans to revitalize the Armory. The foundation has a far-reaching vision of turning the space into a center for arts and recreation, including a destination playground and maybe even a restaurant and mini-golf course.
Baltimore County planning director Steve Lafferty said in a statement:
The transfer of the Armory is a momentous event that will open up new opportunities for the northwest Baltimore County community. We applaud the Foundation’s efforts and tenacity to convert this declining property into an activated community asset. We look forward to working with them to further revitalization efforts in Pikesville.
The website shows plans to turn the Armory into "a center for recreation, cultural arts, historic preservation, and community engagement."
Shelley Morhaim, board president of the Pikesville Armory Foundation, said in a statement that it's a "once in a generation opportunity to provide much-needed community services and to create an exciting venue for arts, recreation, open space, and historic preservation."
She added that "one of the things we're really excited about" is building a destination playground.
"We lack any public playgrounds, actually, in this part of the county," she said.
Morhaim said the main building will be modernized and made ADA-compliant. It would become a home for county offices, a Baltimore County Public Schools' culinary arts program, and other community groups. She also hopes to have at least one restaurant there.
The hope is for the Armory to serve as "an anchor for some of the redevelopment" that will happen in Pikesville, which Morhaim said "has been kind of on a decline for a long time."
The entire project isn't expected to be done until 2028. The foundation plans to start a fundraising campaign and solicit private funds, now that the transfer from the state is officially happening.
