Armory renovation project moving forward

County commissioners on Tuesday heard a laundry list of items that need to be fixed at the National Guard Armory in Apalachicola and hope to see work begin on many of the major issues in the next few months.

Franklin County commissioners have allotted 250 thousand dollars in tourist development money to renovate the 108 year old armory so it can serve as a convention center.

On Tuesday they heard from Emo Architects out of Tallahassee on exactly what needs to be fixed – priority number one is replacing the roof on the one story building connected to the Armory.

The roof on that building is causing some major damage to the building including to the main electrical box.

The architect also recommended installing a lightning protection system, replacing the electrical distribution system and then updating the fire alarm and emergency lighting system.

Those projects together will cost about 240 thousand dollars.

The architect said the drainage system on the building also needs serious work, but the city of Apalachicola is going to help with that by replacing the stormwater system in the alley behind the armory.

There is much more work that needs to be done but the major projects will use up the county’s entire budget for the project.

The architects said the repairs will greatly enhance the safety of the armory while allowing people to continue using the building.

Bids for the project will be let in about 30 days – the work should take about 60 days to complete. 

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