Black Officers Club Gets Repairs
By Margaret Foster | Online Only | Feb. 18, 2010
?The Mountain View Black Officers Club is where 20th century military history, African-American history, and southern Arizona history converge,? says Jim McPherson, spokesman for the Arizona Preservation Foundation, which placed the building on its list of the state?s most endangered sites in 2006.
Credit: Southwest Association of Buffalo Soldiers, Inc.
During World War II, Lena Horne and Louis Armstrong entertained black troops stationed at Fort Huachuca in Sierra Vista, Ariz. Today, the 1942 building where they performed, the Mountain View Colored Officers Club, is being repaired by a local association.
Established in 1887 by Buffalo Soldiers, a nickname for African American troops in the Southwest, Fort Huachuca remains an active military base. The "old fort" was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1977.
The Mountain View Colored Officers Club, which is outside the landmarked area, narrowly escaped demolition in 1998. A local veteran heard of plans to tear down "Building 66050" and alerted the Southwest Association of Buffalo Soldiers, Inc., which informed the U.S. Army of its significance. Later that year, the Army Corps of Engineers deemed the structure eligible for the National Register of Historic Places, essentially saving the building.
Now the Southwest Association of Buffalo Soldiers, Inc., is trying to raise $3 million to restore the 17,000-square-foot building as a research center and theater. So far the group has only raised $150,000, but it is putting that money to use: Last summer workers began replacing rotted wood and windows and removing lead paint. The exterior upgrades will be completed by this summer, according to association president Joan Way.
The group faces some fundraising hurdles, Way says, because of its five-year lease with Fort Huachuca, which stipulates that the building cannot be listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
"Because of that little clause, grant writers have indicated that it's difficult to get grants for a project such as ours," Way says.
The lease, which expires in October 2011, states, "The lessee will be responsible for the operation, maintenance, restoration, and rehabilitation of the premises at no cost to the government," according to Tanja Linton, fort spokeswoman. "[The Southwest Association of Buffalo Soldiers] has some obligations to meet the terms of this lease, and it's a challenge," she says. "Their plan is very ambitious. It's very much an uphill struggle."
Linton points out that the Mountain View Colored Officers Club, along with most of the fort's now-demolished World War II-era buildings, were built as temporary structures. One of those, a 1940s lakeside officers club, is in the process of being demolished this month. Before demolition began in January, Way's group salvaged doors, kitchen equipment, and railings, which she says will be reused in the renovation of the black officers club.
Next month, the Army will begin a month-long asbestos remediation on the club, Linton says, which will enable the association to begin work on the building's interior.
"The Army's hands in preserving historic buildings are very much tied," says Linton, the daughter of a black officer. "They are expensive to maintain. They take money away from our structural maintenance funds that we need for the Army's mission."
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Comments
Submitted by Jim at: March 13, 2010
If you're in and around Sierra Vista on the third Saturday of each month, take a tour of Buffalo Soldier history. Details in this Arizona Republic article: http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/arizonaliving/articles/2010/03/13/20100313makeplans0313.html
Submitted by Trooper at: February 25, 2010
Fort Huachuca was founded 1877, not 1887. It was not founded by Buffalo Soldiers, who did not come to the fort until 1892. It is good to hear that the Army will be doing asbestos remediation, finally.
Submitted by beatrice at: February 25, 2010
I doubt very much had Patton a strong connection with this building that the same excuses would be had by the military.
Submitted by dbeaumarie at: February 25, 2010
I am interested in reading more.