After 57 years, the National Guard closed its armory in Winfield Monday and handed the keys to the place to the city.
Maj. Gen. Tod Bunting ? the state’s adjutant general ? was in town for an afternoon ceremony to mark the end of the armory’s run here. The building at 407 Harter is now the city’s through an interim use agreement in place until the title passes from the state to the city. That’s expected to happen in late May.
Four members of the National Guard were assigned to Winfield and will be reassigned to other facilities.
Bunting praised Winfield as an armory city and for the number of high-quality service men and women the town has produced over the last few decades. State budget concerns led to the closing of armories in Winfield and 17 other locations across the state.
"We’d much prefer to stay," Bunting said. "But it’s a reflection of the times."
Instead, the building soon will become property of a city whose leaders are not quite sure what to do with it. The best idea brought forward so far, city manager Warren Porter said, is a proposal by the local school district to turn the facility into its transportation center.
While the armory building has played host to dances, wedding receptions and other events, Porter said operating it as a community building would require city spending. With the number of community facilities already subsidized by tax-payer money, it doesn’t seem feasible to pursue that avenue, he said.
Winfield Mayor Phil Jarvis said the closing of another Winfield facility is sad for the community.
"It’s not a good thing," he said. "We’re dealing with people’s lives here, we wish them the best."
