Franklin County has been awarded a $250,000 grant from the State Fire Marshall’s Office to help pay for the installation of a fire suppression system at Fort Coombs Armory.
This has been a top priority for the county for a number of years as it will allow the venue to be used as a convention center and a destination for private events like weddings.
Over the past few years the county has installed central heating, ventilation and air conditioning in the historic building.
There are also new handicapped accessible restrooms and many of the original windows have been repaired.
However, without the fire suppression system, no more than 50 occupants are allowed inside the armory at one time – and the building holds way more than that.
To be able to accept the grant, the county had to come up with about 210 thousand dollars to insure the installation could be completed.
The county agreed to provide about 86 thousand dollars in insurance proceeds towards the cost of the project, and are asking the Tourist Development Council for the remaining 125 thousand.
The funding of improvements to Fort Coombs Armory in its capacity as a designated convention center is an allowable use of tourist development funds.
The Tourist Development Council is already in the process of managing the bookings, maintaining the location calendar and handling the promotion of the Armory.
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