For More Than 20 years Residents in Salem and Dent County…

…have dreamed about creating a local community center and have continually worked to make that dream a reality. Today, we invite you to be part of the capital campaign for “Salem Community Center @ the Armory.” This facility has a unique history in our community, and our plan is to continue to grow this facility as the hub for community health, wellness and learning for all our residents.

The Capital Campaign that is being launched this year allows us to build on a strong history of community collaboration and generosity from individuals, businesses, organizations, and local, state and federal government. The Armory is a former National Guard Armory building that was donated to the City of Salem in 2004. Since then, the facility has housed local community organizations including Salem TCRC (an educational facility), Salem Fitness Center, City Parks & Recreation program, and Healthy Dent County. These organizations, with significant support from community stakeholders and partners, have been working to improve health and wellness, physical activity, and educational opportunities for our residents.

Now it is time to bring those organizations together into one newly improved, renovated facility, and you can help make this dream come true! Click here to download a PDF of our brochure describing the project.

The current Armory building is a 16,540 square foot, one story, brick masonry and steel frame structure. The site consists of two pieces of property on opposite sides of South Rolla Road (also known as Missouri State Highway J) — the “North Property,” consisting of approximately 2.1 acres, is occupied by the Armory building; the “South Property” consists of 2.9 acres of undeveloped, vacant land. Although the “Old Armory” is not a registered historic landmark, the building is genuinely architecturally interesting, significant in style and history, and locally recognized.

It is the wish of Healthy Dent County, as well as the various members of stakeholder groups, that the architectural character of the “Old Armory” be respected when considering building improvement and expansion. The facility is in need of significant improvements to create Salem Community Center @ the Armory. Physical site access and parking are inadequate, the condition of site and building infrastructure is questionable, internal spaces and space relationships are dysfunctional and upgrades are needed to continue to provide current and future programs and services to the community.

Programming revenues, membership fees, and partner contributions will continue to support our ongoing operational costs beyond the building renovation campaign. Our primary focus during the next two years will be successful completion of Phase One of a multi-phased Community Center project. We invite you to be part of this important challenge so our entire community can be active, eat smart, and live well @ the Armory!

Sincerely,

Sherry L. Lea, Executive Director      Liz Gruendel, HDC President