The Oklahoma Military Department plans to close 58 National Guard armories, Major General Harry M. "Bud" Wyatt III, adjutant general of the Oklahoma National Guard, said today.
The armories are of historical signficance and once were centers of community activity, as was the one pictured here in Watonga.
Wyatt said Land given to the department to build armories will be returned to the original owners if a reversionary clause is invoked. In other cases, the Guard wants to transfer the property to another agency or municipality.
The facilities also could be appraised and sold, but Wyatt said he doesn't envision that happening because of the cost involved,
The Associated Press reports. Last month, Wyatt told lawmakers that he was seeking legislative input on what to do with the facilities.
"A lot of people remember that it is an armory and if it is turned into something of questionable value, we don't want to be associated with that," Wyatt said. "So far, the community response indicates they seem to be in demand."
Of the 58 facilities, 52 need to be cleaned up because of lead contamination, said Angela Brunsman, a Department of Environmental Quality environmental programs manager. Wyatt said the armories contain low levels of lead contamination, caused by indoor firing ranges in use for long periods of time.
The DEQ also will conduct asbestos abatement, removal of lead-based paint and take other actions so they can be used by schools and communities for purposes ranging from classrooms and warehouses to fire departments and office space, she said.
The average cost of cleanup could exceed $100,000 per armory, Brunsman said.
A reduction in the size of the Guard resulted in the need for fewer operational armories, Wyatt said. Many of the armories were built between 1935 and 1938, he said.
Significance Of Oklahoma's Armories The Federal Emergency Relief Administration, established in May 1934 by the Roosevelt Administration, under the New Deal, provided direct relief, and by the time the Works Progress (later, Projects) Administration came into being in 1935, 33 percent of Oklahoma families qualified for aid. The WPA created make-work projects for Oklahoma's 127,416 jobless men. Among the programs was an armory-building focus.
Approved as a nationwide project in September 1935, through the efforts of Oklahoma National Guard Commander General William S. Key, the armory program began in earnest in the last two months of 1935. Key assigned Bryan F. Nolen, a National Guard major and architect, to the project. Across Oklahoma, towns donated or purchased land for the proposed armories. The first to begin construction was Wewoka, on October 8, 1935. Other towns followed in October and November, with men employed in site preparation, foundation excavation, and stone quarrying. Despite financial and political setbacks during 1936, by the end of that year the first armory was completed, at Kingfisher. By mid 1937, 126 armories had been built nationwide, of which fifty-one were in the state of Oklahoma. Each cost from $30,000 to $60,000, and all in Oklahoma were completed by March 1937. Generally, each community held elaborate dedication ceremonies, usually including a parade, a speech by Key or by Gen. Charles F. Barrett, banquets or barbecues, facility tours, and concerts or dances. The new construction infused $3.5 million into local economies and gave work literally to thousands of citizens. The Public Works Administration, another New Deal program, also built large armories in Tulsa and Oklahoma City before World War II.
Oklahoma's armories are immediately recognizable by their style. Architect Nolen used standard plans for one-, two- or four-unit armories. The buildings were either one or two story, built of stone or brick. Each had its own adaptation of Art Deco decoration that ranged from plain, such as Guthrie, or Konawa, which is detailed with extensive inlays of molded concrete. The strongly horizontal buildings are made to look military by the use of parapets, false towers at the corners, arched entryways, and castellated parapets that look like battlements. Inside each armory were a huge central drill hall and a subterranean rifle range, as well as garages and offices. Following the WPA's practical make-work philosophy, construction was accomplished by unskilled workers, and consequently, artistry and craftsmanship were minimal and depended on the supervisors' skill level and the laborers' experience level and adaptability.
Oklahoma's National Guard was originally part of the Thirty-Sixth Infantry Division and after 1921 formed part of the fabled Forty-fifth Infantry Division. Due in large measure to the WPA and PWA armory-building program, the Forty-fifth Infantry Division was able to achieve a level of military efficiency and readiness that prepared it to be among the first four National Guard divisions that were federalized in late 1940 and pointed toward the nation's emerging involvement in World War II.
National Guard armories became a part of the architectural and social landscape of Oklahoma's communities, the huge drill halls providing a place for concerts, social gatherings, and exhibitions.
With the onset of war, some became holding centers for German prisoners of war detailed from POW camps to perform local agricultural labor. In most cases the building was the most imposing one in town. Many of Oklahoma's armory buildings, but not all, were still in use by the Oklahoma Army National Guard in 2002. Some, like those at Tahlequah, Duncan, and Chickasha, now serve as museums or community centers.
