Howard County Public Schools Seek to Relocate Offices

From Howard County: Executive Allan H. Kittleman signed legislation allowing the transfer of $3.4 million to acquire an office building in Columbia, a necessary step in creating an educational and cultural center in the Harriet Tubman school building. The County Council voted to support the move on Monday.

Once the purchase of the property at 9020 Mendenhall Court is complete, the Howard County Public School System (HCPSS) can move forward on plans to relocate its departments of maintenance and school construction out of the Harriet Tubman building and into the Mendenhall location. HCPSS has used Harriet Tubman for maintenance, construction, storage and offices for more than three decades.

“I want to thank the Council for supporting this project. Everyone worked hard to find a solution, and this is going to be a win-win for the school system and the community,” said Kittleman. “The community has wanted to do this for decades, but finding a suitable relocation site has been a challenge. We can now look forward to celebrating Harriet Tubman Day at the school this fall and to seeing it preserved for future generations.”

The Harriet Tubman School, which opened in 1949, served as the county’s only all-black high school until it was closed through desegregation in 1965.

The Mendenhall property in Columbia’s Village of Owen Brown is currently owned by Howard MD Green LLC. The 49,000-square-foot office building was constructed in 1981, and the property includes parking for more than 200 vehicles, allowing HCPSS to further consolidate some of its operations from leased property on Ridge Road in Ellicott City. The county also plans to relocate its police evidence storage and fire department’s quartermaster to the Mendenhall property from their current location at the Dorsey Building on Bendix Road.

The $3.4 million transfer would come from a variety of funds that had been allocated for acquisition of school sites, remediation and facilities. The total purchase price of the property is expected to be $5.2 million.

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