of Chillicothe, Ross County & South-Central Ohio
of Chillicothe, Ross County & South-Central Ohio April 2006A committee has been appointed by Chillicothe Mayor Joe Sulzer and the Chillicothe City Council to oversee the future of that building in Yoctangee Park. Since being vacated by the Ohio National Guard, the building has been empty except for the 700 square feet used by the Ross County Emergency Management Agency.
As listed in a February 2nd Chillicothe Gazette article, the committee members include:
The committee met Febrary 1st and entertained ideas for the armory. The strongest idea, with a short proposal to back it up, was from the Ross County Veteran's Council, a coalition of various veteran's groups in Chillicothe and Ross County. They proposed to move the "40 et 8" park fish stand and Veteran's Service Office into the building, house the Composite Honor Guard and a Ross County Millitary / Veteran's Museum, possibly allow the Police Athletic League to use it, and open it up to community and veteran's events.
Update 4/26/06 The Ross County Veteran's Council has backed out of their proposal for reuse of the armory. It was announced by armory committee member Jean Malone at the April 17th city council review session. The Veteran's Council could not get enough support from all of its member organizations for a 99-year committment on the building.
If you have a proposal for the use of the armory, it needs to be delivered to the mayor's office by May 3rd.
I spoke briefly with Jean Malone, who is a city council member on the armory committee. She said that there have been a "couple of serious discussions" from groups to put the armory to use, but there are no proposals turned in yet. She acknowledged that they are probably getting finances together, since taking on a project like the armory is "all about the money."
The May 3rd dealine was set by the committee which last met March 2nd. Guidelines for proposals can be found at the mayor's office, gotten from any armory committee member, or read online at the Chamber of Commerce's website.
Jean said that so far there is no word yet from the mayor about the city taking possession of the building. Mayor Sulzer had requested an extension from the Ohio National Guard on deciding to purchase the armory, moving the deadline from mid-February to mid-April.
Although it may not have been open to all the public, many of us joined an open house tour of the old Chillicothe Armory in Yoctangee Park February 7th. I snapped these photos of the interior.
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One of the two brass dedication plaques indicates the importance of the buiding. |
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The first part we saw, the dark and low ground floor hallway, did not prepare us for the upstairs. |
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Part of the heating plant |
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Rich, dark woodwork contrasts with light flooding through the large upper floor windows. |
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The two front corner rooms on the upper floor have elegant tile floors, large arched windows, and a beamed cieling with egg-and-dart mouldings. |
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The gymnasium was bathed in light, with its arched open cieling filled with girders and framework. |
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Council members, veterans, concerned citizens, and other craned their necks in the gymnasium. |
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A look through the front window reverses the veiw from Paint Street. |
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Old plaster damages at seams in the roof were a minor feature of the tour. |
