City inks deal with National Guard for new home

The current National Guard headquarters on Washington Street will soon be replaced by a new facility at Coker Park in Monroe. Photo credit: Stephen Milligan | The Walton Tribune

Thanks to a $28 million appropriation Rep. Bruce Williamson helped secure in the state budget during this year’s session of the Georgia General Assembly, the 178th Military Police Company, a National Guard unit headquartered in Monroe, will be getting a new home on 27 acres at the city’s derelict Coker Park on South Madison Avenue.

And, as the result of a property exchange agreement with the Georgia State Properties Commission approved unanimously Tuesday by the Monroe City Council, the city will acquire the Guard unit’s current property at East Washington Street and High School Avenue in downtown Monroe as soon as its new Monroe headquarters is ready for occupancy.

The state commission also must sign off on the agreement, but that is not seen as an issue, the council was told Tuesday.

The agreement marks the end of years of work between the city and the National Guard to find a new home for the 178th Military Police Company, as Coker Park, which has fallen into disrepair over the years, was identified as an ideal location for the unit to relocate and build new facilities.  

“This is a huge win for Monroe,” City Administrator Logan Propes told the council before their approval of the exchange agreement. “It keeps the National Guard here, when I know that they’ve been contemplating moving to other cities in the state, and they’ll be able to expand, too.”

The city’s plans for the downtown National Guard property call for it to be turned into municipal government office space, likely for city’s parks department. The property could also host a community room, Mayor John Howard said in a Wednesday interview.