Military

Sacramento Army Depot (SAAD)

The Sacramento Army Depot (SAAD) was a U.S. Army support facility that operated as a repair center for high-tech military hardware, such as night vision goggles, electronic circuit boards, and radium-dial instrumentation. The 1988 Base Closure and Realignment Commission closed Sacramento Army Depot. On March 3, 1995, the Depot officially closed. No Army maintenance capability remains. The Sacramento Army Depot has always been an important part of the Sacramento community. Since its establishment in 1941, the Depot has supported the nation by performing vital defense-related services and operations. It has also supported the community by providing more than 3,000 jobs in the Sacramento area.

The Sacramento Army Depot occupies 485 acres within the city limits of Sacramento, Sacramento County, California, approximately 7 miles to the southeast of the Sacramento business district. Morrison Creek enters the SAAD eastern boundary. The creek parallels the depot perimeter to the south and discharges on the western boundary. These essential services required the use of hazardous materials, such as solvents, degreasers, acids, and even radioactive paints, in daily operations. Operations conducted at the facility include electro-optics equipment repair, emergency manufacturing of parts, shelter repair, metal plating and treatment, and painting. In conjunction with these operations, the Army maintains unlined oxidation lagoons and burn pits, a battery disposal area, areas designated for mixing pesticides, and a firefighter training area.

On the day the Depot officially closed, the City of Sacramento leased approximately 370 acres of the total 485-acre depot to Packard Bell for its world headquarters, an important first step in the revitalization of the Sacramento community. While the BRAC Cleanup Team and the Restoration Advisory Board were working to clean up the Depot and keep the community informed of ongoing restoration activities, the Sacramento Army Depot Economic Adjustment Reuse Commission diligently continued its efforts to secure reuse opportunities and maintain the jobs of the people employed at the Depot.

In the Fall of 1994 Packard Bell, the computer company whose plant in Northridge was damaged by an earthquake decided to relocate a 3,000 employee assembly plant and distribution center at the Depot. As of April, 1996, Packard Bell had 3,500 employees working at its Depot facility (down from 5,000 in August 1995) and in February 1998 there were 3,100 employees, in October 1998 3,400 employees. This is the only Packard Bell manufacturing plant in the U.S. In mid-2000, Packard Bell NEC, Inc. announced it would shut down all manufacturing operations by year's end and layoff 1,400 of its 1,550 workers at the former Sacramento Army Depot.