The exterior walls of the building also are concrete. When it was built, it was designed to have 3,900 seats. Incorporated in the Armory is over 3,000 square feet of retail space in a prime location. Angela talks with Mike Austin from the... Sheboygan County Historical Research Center, Sheboygan County Historical Society and Museum, Accessioning the Armory: Collecting and Preserving Sheboygan’s Municipal Auditorium and Armory, Cinthia Téllez Silva Wants To Create A Healthier Milwaukee, ‘A Sculpted Land’: Wisconsin’s Effigy Mounds Connected People To Spirits, Humanity. “That photo there shows what the Armory was, it was a community facility,” Gross said. We arrived early and were surprised to see an elephant on the sidewalk. … Produced by Wisconsin Public Radio and PBS Wisconsin. We came from a refugee camp back in Thailand. Not too long after, the roof started to become a concern at the Armory. The organization is selling bench seats from the Armory as a fund raiser to help preserve the Armory memorabilia it will house in its collection, and pre-order sales will begin at noon on Monday, September 14th. The building still had its original pair of Kewaunee boilers that kept things relatively warm in the winter. The building hosted the NBA's Sheboygan Redskins from 1942 until 1951. National acts like Roy Orbison, Alice Cooper and Wilson Pickett held concerts at the Armory. Known as “The Spirit on the Lake,” the City of Sheboygan rests on the Lake Michigan shores about halfway along the state’s eastern seaboard on Interstate 43. “As you get further and further away from this Armory and the memories that our citizenry had, will the new citizenry have those attachments, and will that money keep coming?”, Preserving Its Memory For Future Generations. [8] The building was used by the Great Lakes Aerospace Science & Education Center (GLASEC) until 2013 when Spaceport Sheboygan relocated across the Sheboygan River to the city's South Pier District into the former Triple Play Fun Zone building.[9]. My family moved here in 91' just when I was toddler at 2months. Pelishek and the staff at the city have been collecting memories, like Becker’s. That was my... by Sue Hoffmann | Aug 19, 2020 | 0 Comments. Private capital always trumps social capital in Sheboygan. The Armory was built on a former lumberyard of the Freyberg Lumber Co. owned by the Freyberg Novelty Furniture Company with an adjacent factory south of Pennsylvania Avenue and North 4th Street. Sheboygan Municipal Auditorium and Armory (commonly known as The Armory) is a 52,000 sq. “It didn’t matter what it was, when they had an event there it was full.”, SONG: “Sweet Georgia Brown” by Brother Bones & His Shadows, Youth Group Drumline Helps Kids Find Their Own Beat, German Wheel Leads To Circus Training Space For All. On March 23, 2015, the Sailing Education Association of Sheboygan announced they are scrapping plans to demolish the Armory[17] and has instead purchased the old Military Heritage Museum several blocks to the west along the Sheboygan River. However later that month, the city announced plans to sell the Armory and the eastern portion of the surrounding land to the Sailing Education Association of Sheboygan (SEAS) for one dollar. For nearly 80 years, the Sheboygan Armory has overlooked Lake Michigan. For nearly 80 years, the Sheboygan Armory has overlooked Lake Michigan. The Sheboygan Armory was built in 1941 as a Works Progress Administration project. [14] SEAS will bulldoze the Armory by June 2015 and start construction of its headquarters on the land by April 2016. Developers had considered building a 125 to 150-room hotel along the Sheboygan River with renovation of the Armory as a conference. In January 2014, the City of Sheboygan formally requested proposals from developers to rejuvenate the Armory. After numerous unsuccessful attempts by a variety of community groups and developers to restore the structure, demolition of the Sheboygan Municipal Auditorium and Armory is scheduled to begin the week of the July 13, 2020. Will miss the Sheboygan Armory. – 24 hour Concierge The Sheboygan County Historical Society and Museum preserved items from the Armory to keep its memory alive for future generations, said Executive Director Travis Gross. If I recall correctly, that was the last concert of that type that was allowed.