The top administrators for the city, county and school system met Tuesday afternoon to address the future of the former National Guard armory on Dabney Drive.
While that meeting isn’t expected to produce any quick results, City Manager Eric Williams indicated Tuesday evening that it was a productive session for him, County Manager Jerry Ayscue and Schools Superintendent Norm Shearin.
The next move is the school system’s, Williams wrote in an e-mail message, but it could be a month or more before any progress comes on that front.
Williams reported to the City Council on Monday night that the school system is the No. 1 choice of a special city-county committee on what to do with the armory if it is renovated and remains publicly owned. That committee consists of council members Harriette Butler and Mike Rainey and Vance Commissioners Deborah Brown and Tommy Hester.
The city and county jointly own the old armory, which the National Guard abandoned several years ago. The property was appraised at $1.1 million last year, but it was estimated that it would cost $1 million to renovate the decaying building. The special committee has discussed whether to sell the site, raze the building or renovate it and what to do with the prime site if the city and county keep it.
“The final resolution to the Armory’s future is not ‘right around the corner’ or probably even close and money for even marginal repairs does not appear to be readily available, from either the City of County,” Williams wrote in an e-mail March 11 to the City Council, Mayor Clem Seifert and Fire Chief Danny Wilkerson.
Seifert said during the Speak Up Henderson forum Monday night that the armory defies easy answers because of its joint ownership. Instead of eight City Council members making a decision, the armory involves those eight people plus the seven county commissioners, each with his or her particular interests and ideas.
One recurring idea involving the school system is to renovate or replace the existing building for use as a recreation facility. E.M. Rollins Elementary School, which houses about 600 children across Oak Street from the back of the armory, has no gym. A renovated armory could perhaps serve Rollins during the school day, then provide an in-city recreation facility after school.
At the Speak Up Henderson forum, Terry Moore presented one idea for the armory that was based on a similar goal: giving kids something to do inside the city.
Moore suggested renovating the armory to serve as the home of what would be Henderson’s first Boys & Girls Club. A representative from Boys & Girls Clubs of America met with members of the Vance County Coalition Against Violence last week to discuss the possibility of opening a club here.
“It’s time for the city to step up to the plate for its children,” Moore said.
Her proposed use of the armory would serve a communitywide goal of reducing crime by engaging youths during the after-school hours when juvenile crime is most common.
“It’s a great idea,” Seifert said.
Rainey also liked the idea. “It’s a possibility we have to look at.”
Williams added that while a Boys & Girls Club hadn’t specifically come before the city-county committee as a possibility, the general idea of opening the facility to nonprofit groups has won support.
“We need to get our facts together for you,” Moore told the city officials at the forum.
As Seifert noted, the armory is not just a city matter.
The complications of reaching a long-term decision could be seen Monday night in the council’s discussions about whether to reverse a decision made in the fall to stop renting out the armory because it’s unsafe.
Groups continue to inquire about using the facility. Seifert said he has rebuffed at least five requests to use the armory.
But Vance County Humane Society Chairwoman Jamie Janke made a request through Ayscue for the use of the facility May 14 for a dog show. The purpose would be raising money to buy oxygen masks for the local fire departments to use on dogs during fires.
“I realize that we are not renting the facility now; however, is this feasible since they will be donating items to the fire departments?” Ayscue wrote in an e-mail March 10.
Williams and Wilkerson were prepared to allow the Humane Society to use the armory until Seifert questioned whether the move would open the armory to any group with a good cause and thus undo the moratorium on using the building.
The City Council put that issue to rest on a motion from John Wester that Rainey seconded. On a 7-0 vote, with Butler absent, the council reaffirmed the policy that the building is off-limits to all potential users, including the Humane Society.
But Monday night’s forum and council meeting raised a new armory-related issue: the rental of the parking lot and other land surrounding the armory.
Michael Williamson and Bill Jordon of the Henderson Shrine Club appeared during the forum to follow up on a request Jordon made to Williams on March 11: to allow the Shriners to continue tradition and hold their annual spring fish fry at the armory. Instead of setting up tables inside the building, the Shriners this year would erect tents in the parking lot for the 20 percent of patrons who eat in at the fish fry.
Williamson said it will be the 60th-annual Shriner fish fry in Henderson. If it is at the armory, the Shriners will put up four or five tents, bring in port-a-johns and hand-washing facilities, and operate a Coca-Cola truck for diners eating on site.
The Shrine Club leaders explained that the key appeal of the armory is the takeout traffic pattern the facility allows. The Shriners cook their fish behind the building and have a conveyor belt to bring the dinners to Oak Street, where drivers pull up, pay and pull out with no problem.
By comparison, if the fish fry moved to the Operations & Service Center, takeout customers would have to deal immediately with the 45-mph traffic on Beckford Drive.
Police Chief Glen Allen said the Oak Street traffic pattern works flawlessly and is familiar to the Shriners and their customers. If the fish fry is to remain in the city, “from a traffic safety perspective, I’d like to see it stay at the armory.”
The City Council went one step beyond granting the Shriners’ request later Monday. Rather than make a one-time decision, the council voted 7-0 in favor of a resolution moved by Elissa Yount and seconded by Mary Emma Evans to open the rental of the armory grounds to the public.
Under the policy, which covers the Shriners, a group must pay a $75 rental fee and a $75 cleanup fee. The group must provide portable toilets and hand-washing facilities and, if it is serving food, must comply with the health code.
The fees aren’t meant to make rentals profitable for the city and county but to prevent anyone and everyone planning a yard sale from requesting the site.
Seifert said he would rather have a fee and waive it in rare special circumstances than be overwhelmed with requests to use the armory grounds at no cost.
Wester said a consistent policy is important, and Yount’s Land Planning and Development Committee could address the armory policy during a meeting this afternoon.