Berryville's veterans say goodbye to 1959 armory

Berryville Mayor Tim McKinney (right) thanks Maj. Gen. Mark Berry at the end of a ceremony Tuesday at the Arkansas National Guard armory in Berryville. The Guard handed over ownership of the building to the city under a cost-saving plan approved by the governor in June.
Berryville Mayor Tim McKinney (right) thanks Maj. Gen. Mark Berry at the end of a ceremony Tuesday at the Arkansas National Guard armory in Berryville. The Guard handed over ownership of the building to the city under a cost-saving plan approved by the governor in June.

BERRYVILLE -- Standing outside the entrance to an Arkansas National Guard armory Tuesday, two former soldiers reminisced about their time spent there -- about the lack of air conditioning, their deployment during the Persian Gulf War and the reprimands they received for ignoring the U.S. Army's mustache policy.

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Berryville Mayor Tim McKinney (second from left) looks around the former Arkansas National Guard armory Tuesday with members of the guard and city residents. McKinney said the city wants to convert the building into a continuing education center.

Sandy Williams and Truman Stark joined about 20 others who live in the community of Berryville as they said goodbye to the building on South Main Street as it ended its role as a military installation. In front of the crowd, Arkansas National Guard leaders terminated their lease and signed the deed over to the city.

Williams, 62, worked full time at the location from 1985 to 2004. He remembered tending to rosebushes in the flowerbeds out front, which had long-since been replaced by hydrangeas that sat under the hot sun Tuesday afternoon.

"They called me last night and said they were turning it over today," Williams said. "I hate it, but since I retired, lots of things have changed."

The Berryville building is the first of seven state armories, formally known as readiness centers, that will be turned over to the cities in which they are located as part of a cost-saving plan Gov. Asa Hutchinson approved in June. The plan pares the number of state armories from 62 to 55.

On Sept. 3, a similar ceremony will be held at the Blytheville armory, followed by the Crossett armory Sept. 8, said Col. Greg Bacon, the state Guard's chief of staff. The armories in Brinkley, Helena-West Helena, Rector and Wynne also are set for closure.

To end Tuesday's ceremony, Maj. Gen. Mark Berry, adjutant general for the state National Guard, handed over the armory's keys to Berryville Mayor Tim McKinney, saying, "It's all yours."

McKinney said the city wants to convert the building into a continuing-education center. Details on what the center will include and when it will open have not yet been worked out, he said.

"It's a win-win," Berry said. "It's a win for the taxpayer; it's a win for the National Guard, as well as a win for the community of Berryville.

"What's important for everybody to understand, the National Guard is still going to be here. We have soldiers living in the Berryville community, and we'll always be here any time the citizens need us."

The Arkansas National Guard first opened an armory in Berryville in 1947. The building handed off to the city Tuesday was constructed in 1959.

At its peak, approximately 95 soldiers were assigned to the Berryville location, said Doyle Lynch, a manager of the facility from 1959 to 1991. When the Arkansas National Guard announced in June it would shut down the building, only 10 soldiers were assigned to the unit it houses, a detachment of the 142nd Fires Brigade.

The 10 soldiers, who had already been conducting most of their drills at Fort Chaffee Maneuver Training Center in Fort Smith, were reassigned to Bentonville. The 233 soldiers located at the six other armories set for closure also were reassigned.

Lynch, 80, took a look inside the approximately 7,500-square-foot space Tuesday and remembered when soldiers practiced formations in the armory's main room.

"It's sad to me," said Lynch, who is McKinney's uncle. "There's a lot of memories."

Shutting down the seven armories was the Arkansas National Guard's plan for saving maintenance dollars when faced with a shortage of funds.

The National Guard Bureau decreased the Arkansas National Guard's maintenance budget to $8 million for 2015. Last fiscal year, the state Guard spent approximately $10.2 million.

Returning the seven armories to the cities is expected to save the Guard about $268,500 annually -- the amount spent last year in utilities and maintenance on the seven armories.

The Berryville building and five of the other six are being transferred to the cities where they are located free of charge. Because the property in Brinkley was donated by an individual, it will be offered for sale to the heirs of the original owners.

"Today is kind of a historic moment," Bacon said. "This is something we've been working toward as an organization. It's an opportunity to be able to hand off this facility, which has been in the Arkansas National Guard inventory since 1947."

After Tuesday's ceremony, community members grouped near the armory's entrance around two granite slabs -- one inscribed with the names of those who were called into active duty in 1950 during the Korean War and the other listing those who deployed as part of the Persian Gulf War in 1990.

City Council members and former soldiers looked over the names, telling stories about those listed. Williams' and Stark's names were included on the Gulf War marker, as was Lynch's.

McKinney's father, James McKinney, was one of 97 named on the Korean War marker.

"I see so many faces here that have served our country out of this facility," McKinney said. "We plan to leave the plaques with all the names, and I encourage you to look at them. They aren't just people who served our country; they're people who served our community for many years.

"I want to thank the Guard and all the members of the Guard and former members. As a city, what we pledge to do is not let the memory of the 142nd die. This building will be used for the betterment of our community."

Metro on 08/26/2015

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