Arcadia : Armory Will Close Aug. 1
The Arcadia National Guard Armory, which opened when Harry Truman was President, will shut down Aug. 1 and the 220 guardsmen based there will be transferred to Burbank, officials say.
The closure stems from a deal struck five years ago between the military and the city, said Peter Kinnahan, assistant city manager. In 1988, the state sold the 2.1-acre site to the city for $1.4 million.
As part of the deal, the guardsmen were allowed to stay for five years rent-free.
After that, the state Department of General Services and the Military Department agreed to pay the city $10,000 per month to rent the facility, Kinnahan said. However, the National Guard can no longer afford the rent and plans to vacate Aug. 1, city officials said.
The armory occupies a prime position in the city’s civic center between the police station and Methodist Hospital of Southern California on Huntington Drive. The city is considering turning the site into a new police facility, said Kinnahan.
In April, the armory was one of several staging posts for the National Guard following the verdict in the Rodney King civil rights trial.
Kinnahan said the state bought the land for the armory in 1947 for the bargain price of $1 from the city.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
