Take a look inside the old Armory building Olympia plans to turn into an arts center
As soon as you walk inside the Olympia Armory, your feet are touching history.
The front doors of the 1939 Art Deco building on Eastside Street lead straight into a wood-tile basketball court. The floor has seen countless games in its years, but that’s just a small part of its more recent history.
Starting with World War II, it was the regional Army National Guard base, where National Guard members were stationed before being deployed. It also has a deep history as a venue and gathering place. Festivals, car exhibitions, inaugural balls and more have taken place within its walls.
The city of Olympia is in the process of turning the now-vacant building into a Creative Campus, filling the more than 50,000-square-foot facility with artist spaces, studios and more.
The city acquired the building from the state last year and formally closed on the transfer in March. Since then, city staff have been working in the building to get it prepared for its future.
Angel Nava, Olympia’s arts program specialist, said the city has been trying to get people into the building since they gained access to it to help shape a “community vision.” Public tours will be offered the first Thursday of every month until August.
Nava said the city is still working to finalize the business plan for the building as well, including how much it’s going to cost to renovate and operate it, and who’s going to operate it. But the city is already pursuing grant funding for the project.
“We’re making the ship while we’re sailing it,” Nava said.
Walking through the old armory on Thursday, May 5, Nava directed a crowd of about 20 people to peruse the U-shaped second story that was once full of military offices. In the future they might be spaces for nonprofits. With dozens of rooms to work with on all three floors, there’s plenty of space for ceramics studios, painting studios, community spaces and more.
In the basement, where patrons can see the giant exposed beams holding the building up, Nava said she envisions the main space holding events and being filled with couches and tables when it isn’t being rented out, so people can relax together.
The old building sits on a slight hill and allows for a garage door that leads into the basement. One person on the tour said it’s rare to see a venue with that sort of access, which would make it easier to bring in stages or half-pipes for skating.
Just off the main basement area is an old shooting range that Nava said was most recently used for storage. She said she envisions it being filled with artists’ lockers and the like.
Not long ago, the room was sealed off and the building was closed to the public after lead and other contaminants were found in that room and other parts of the armory. Nava said that’s no longer a problem, and historic structure reports have shown the building doesn’t need much foundational work, only cosmetic.
“There was nothing that was scary or seemed unmanageable,” she said. “It’s solid, it’s built like a tank.”
The main issue is ADA accessibility. The building has many flights of stairs, even small sets of stairs in some halls, and there’s no elevator. But Nava said there’s going to be an elevator installed and ramps put in throughout the building where they’re needed.
Included in the property is an almost 10,000-square-foot outbuilding that Nava said could be used for more industrial arts such as welding and ceramics. The space could be outfitted with its own ventilation system.
Nava said one of the spaces that inspired the armory project was the Youngstown Cultural Arts Center in Seattle. She said it has multi-purpose art spaces, a theater, dance rooms, recording studios and more. They also have an alternative high school in the building, as well as low-income housing and artist live/work spaces.
The city is still working on the draft plan for how the armory space will be used, what it will cost and more. Nava said it will be presented to the public during an event sometime this summer.
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