Cities look forward to armory closures
Cities look forward to armory closures

The Wewoka Oklahoma National Guard Armory is one of 59 across the state that will soon close, and city leaders couldn't be more excited.

The Guard plans to close old armories as it shifts training to seven regional training centers to be built across the state by 2011. The state is offering the old buildings to local governments already planning ways to put them to good use.

Wewoka is the first city to take over one of the armories. City Clerk Karen Johnson said the city will use the building to boost its economy. City leaders have agreed to make the armory available to a local company that wants to expand and create at least 30 jobs.

"I think all cities appreciate any kind of a building they can get, especially small towns who do not have resources to purchase or buy a building of that size,” Johnson said. "It's a very good thing for Wewoka.”

Military leaders announced the plan to close old armories and build the new training centers in 2005. Centers in McAlester and Enid are scheduled to open in 2009. Norman, Oklahoma City and Lawton will get their new training centers in 2010, and the final two centers will open in Muskogee and Broken Arrow in 2011.

The cheapest of the training centers will cost $15 million and the most expensive is estimated to cost $66 million. The Guard is using a mix of state and federal funds to pay for land and construction.

A few of the armories on the closing list weren't being used, and they are among the first being offered to local officials, said Col. Pat Scully, a spokesman for the Guard.

"There have been several communities that have contacted us about possibly taking over the armories,” Scully said.

Legally, the buildings can be offered to local governments, schools or state agencies. If no state or local entity shows interest, the Guard can sell them through auction.

"We would rather give the facilities back to the communities,” said Col. Brent Wright, who manages the Guard's buildings.

Wright said the buildings probably won't need to be auctioned. Interest in the armories has been high, so Gen. Harry M. Wyatt III, the state's adjutant general, has turned to state legislators to help determine the best way to use the armories in each area.

The historic armory in Chandler, closed years ago, could serve as a model for how communities can use the buildings, Chandler City Manager James Melson said.

The front part of the building has been turned into a Route 66 Interpretive Center and gift shop, promoting the history of the old highway and Chandler's place in it.

The drill hall has been renovated and a new roof added.

"We can use it as not necessarily a convention center, but a meeting place where large groups can use that for meetings and banquets and weddings,” Melson said.

"It's just a real drawing card for us. We plan to market it and put in our travel brochures.”

Many of the buildings require environmental cleanup before they can be turned over for public use because of lead contamination from the armories' firing ranges.

The Department of Environmental Quality is footing the bill for cleanup, which averages about $100,000 per armory.

Military officials said 15 of the armories are vacant and ready for cleanup. Those will be the first transferred to local officials.

The others can't be closed until the new training centers are completed.

Melson said there is no reason communities can't turn the closing armories into something worthwhile.

"It's a total positive,” Melson said. "It's been a magnificent facility for us. As a community benefit, it's an A-plus.”

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