High Ridge Center Reopens With New Purpose

ELLICOTT CITY, MD — Howard County Executive Calvin Ball joined the National Pan-Hellenic Council of Howard County, Inc. recently to celebrate its new home and the official reopening of Howard County’s High Ridge Center at 8510 High Ridge Road in Ellicott City.

“Throughout nearly 21,000 square feet we, united in purpose and powered by legacy, will hang our tapestry, breathing new life into this building and to our missions. Not as isolated letters, but as living legacies,” Ball said at the news conference. “For over 100 years, our Divine Nine and Sigma Pi Phi Fraternity, Inc. have led with scholarship, service and social action by uplifting communities, expanding opportunity and standing on the front lines of justice. Now, from the hallowed halls of our historic organizations, may this historic day usher in our next chapter, one we will write together, united in impact and unwavering in purpose.”

Originally constructed in 1962 as Rockland Elementary School, the High Ridge Center was decommissioned in 1982 and ownership was transferred from the Howard County Public School System to the county. Since 1979, the High Ridge Center’s lower floor has housed the Community Action Council of Howard County’s Head Start program and since 1983, the High Ridge Center’s upper level has been the headquarters of the Howard County Arts Councill.

In December of 2025, the Howard County Arts Council relocated its operations to the new Capitoline Center at the historic Circuit Courthouse building in Ellicott City, which has been transformed into an 80,000-square-foot facility dedicated to arts, culture and history, the upper level recently became available for adaptive reuse. The lower level of the High Ridge Center will remain home to the Ellicott City Head Start program, which serves three- and four-year-old children enrolled in Head Start. During the building renovation, the county added sprinkler systems and made facilities improvements for Head Start. Future renovations will include a new, geothermal energy system for the building and improvements to the Head Start playground.

The county entered into a formal agreement of lease with the nonprofit NPHC Howard County to lease the upper level for $1 for the term March 1, 2026, to February 28, 2027, for use by Howard County’s Black Greek Letter organizations: Sigma Pi Phi Fraternity, Inc.; Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc.; Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.; Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc.; Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc.; Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.; Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc.; Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc.; Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc.; and Iota Phi Theta Fraternity, Inc.

"At a time where so many of our families are in need, the grand opening of the High Ridge Center — County Executive Ball’s visionary project — is critical to the wellbeing of our communities. This is one of the first spaces of its kind, bringing all Divine 9 organizations under one roof. More than a building, the High Ridge Center is a hub for service, fellowship, community, and leadership," said U.S. Senator Angela Alsobrooks.

Each organization will have a dedicated office for their operations. The facility also features two shared multipurpose rooms that may be utilized for meetings and events. NPHC Howard County will work with additional nonprofit partners to make available space within the building for their use.

“This is what fraternity and sorority looks like beyond colors and letters, it is leadership, policy and transformation. We are not guests in history. We are architects of it," said Darshal Smith, NPHC Howard County Chapter President and Omega Eta Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.