The Athens Armory, located at 2 W. Carpenter St., a historic building that has been part of the City of Athens since 1997, will likely have a new look by this time next year as the city is working toward redeveloping the building into a community and business center for residents.
Mayor Steve Patterson said, once the $4.9 million project is completed, there is a variety of events – small conferences, wedding receptions, musicals and other performing arts productions – it could host depending on the needs and requests of the Athens residents. There will also be a space dedicated to remote work.
City Council President Sam Crowl said a local organization called BlueDot Networking will manage the office spaces, which are to be flexibly designed. The space will have movable kiosks, cubicles and conference tables. However, a part of the second floor will be dedicated to the Athens County Foundation.
“It’ll have a little stage and infrastructure to encourage that kind of community,” Crowl said. “Those are the most exciting pieces, I think about bringing the armory back and having the public in there utilizing it, and the plans are beautiful, so I’m really hopeful.”
Patterson said there are not many city-owned spaces that have a big enough capacity for some events, which turns people to utilize Baker Center. But with the addition to the armory, he said, it can be another larger option for residents.
Crowl said a big piece of funding for the project came from state-level money in the capital budget of $600,000. The city also acquired additional support funds from the city’s ARPA fund for $500,000, the city’s General Revenue Fund for $400,000 and the Appalachian Community Grant Program for $2 million.
Patterson said a Community Development Block Grant covered costs of non-construction, which includes a lot of the furnishings of the building.
Further indoor renovations include adding a veterans’ hall of honor in the foyer, which will recognize service members who were stationed in the armory, Patterson said. He added there will likely be revolving displays honoring the regiments, done with the help of an Ohio National Guard historian in Columbus.
Patterson said the city had some difficulty finding a contractor willing to construct the renovations within the city’s budget. He said a lot of contractor's proposals were $800,000 more than what the engineers estimated costs; however, since then, they found areas to trim some additional costs down. At this point, he said they are going to start construction as the changes should not increase the completion date.
Crowl said the facility will be solar-powered, the money coming from the Athens carbon fee, SOPEC. The solar power will cost around $130,000 of the fund’s estimated $160,000 pool.
“Anytime we have the opportunity like this one to use (the fund), it's definitely a good thing,” he said.
Patterson said the roof of the armory will also need to be replaced to ensure the solar apparatus is secure. He said there is another community improvement fund that can be applied for the roof replacement.
Bringing together young student veterans and older local veterans is a favorable prospect to Seth Rogers, Student Senate’s director of veteran affairs. Rogers said he hopes the project can create a welcoming common space for new and old veterans to utilize and feel appreciated.
“Seeing that this is something from the city, I think would be nice for them that it’s not just OU putting it on for them, the city cares as well (and) this is a welcoming community to be in,” Rogers said.
