The old National Guard Armory on Veterans Drive may soon belong to the City of Thomaston. Mayor Hays Arnold informed the City Council at their meeting Tuesday night that the process to transfer the facility from the state back to the city is underway.
Mayor Arnold stated the city’s effort to gain access to the armory was begun by the late Ed Bell when he was a councilman. Bell was still in office when he passed away July 19, 2011.
“Mr. Ed Bell had worked diligently for some time on getting our National Guard Armory gifted back to the city, since the National Guard is no longer using the facility,” said Arnold. “When Mr. Bell passed away - and there were also some turnovers and issues that went on with the National Guard - things sort of died down.”
Arnold said after City Manager Patrick Comiskey provided him with some files and information, that he started trying to restart the process, and recently received some good news.
“I received a phone call this week – the message being that things looked like they were all clear and that currently the paperwork was at the Attorney General’s Office for the construction of the deed and the language and so forth,” Arnold said. “The comment was that we are in the home stretch.
“We’ll continue to stay on this and hope that in the next few months, that transaction will be completed and, thanks to Mr. Bell and the efforts he began, we can have this asset once again as part of the city assets.”
The mayor said after the meeting that if the city is able to obtain the deed to the armory, that the city electric department, located adjacent to the armory, will be able to use part of the building for more office space, and part of the building and the lot for additional storage.
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