Old West Palm Beach National Guard Armory

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Old West Palm Beach National Guard Armory
U.S. National Register of Historic Places

Location:	West Palm Beach, Florida United States
Built/Founded:	1939^[1]
Architect:	William Manly King^[1]
Architectural style(s):	Art Moderne^[1]
Added to NRHP:	June 11, 1992
NRHP Reference#:	92000142^[2]

The Old West Palm Beach National Guard Armory (also known as the Palm Beach County Armory) is a historic site in West Palm Beach, Florida, United States. It is located at 1703 South Lake Avenue. On June 11, 1992, it was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.

[edit] History

The Armory building was constructed in 1939 in Art Deco style by architect William Manley King with Work Progress Administration (WPA) funds. It was occupied by the National Guard Armory from 1939-1982. During the 1950s and 60s, the building was used for Palm Beach High School dances and other community events. In 1987, the Norton School of Art decided to close their doors and left 250 students and 40 faculty members with nowhere to have art classes. Robert and Mary Montgomery heard about the lack of space for an art center and made a $100,000 donation to open the Robert and Mary Montgomery Armory Art Center. The Center opened its doors in 1987 and has rented the building from Palm Beach County for $1 a year for the last 20 years. In 2002, Robert and Mary Montgomery donated $1 million to transfer their name to the historic building and remove it from the name of the organization which became simply Armory Art Center.^{[citation needed]}