Company B Needs a Home

Now that Hobart's contribution to the Indiana state militia had been mustered in, the next step was to find a home for Company B. Early in December the Hobart papers announced that plans for the town armory were nearly completed.

The site selected for it was a triangular lot fronting on Main Street that both newspapers describe as "opposite the Nickel Plate garage." In a previous post, a commenter identified the Nickel Plate garage as standing where the town hall now stands. I don't know if the garage occupied that spot in 1917, or moved there later; I hope to be able to pin this down eventually. For the moment I can only say that the armory site was on Main Street immediately north of the Nickel Plate (now Norfolk Southern) railroad tracks.

The lot belonged to William Earle. He and surveyor William Krull got together to draw up initial building plans, then submitted them to Captain H.S. Norton of Gary, now heading up the Lake County Council of Defense.

The plans for the armory cover the entire triangular [lot] and provide for a main drill room on the north and east parts 100 × 100 feet, four store rooms, 30 feet deep in front and on the south side of the main drill room will be a dining room, kitchen, pantry, fireproof vault, squad room, cloak and smoke rooms, office and lavatories with shower baths, etc. …

The building will be constructed of brick, one story high, and a truss roof will span the drill room. The floor will probably be maple. The structure will have an attractive front. The building will be steam heated. The only basement will be for the accommodation of coal and the furnace.

The building would serve not only Company B but also a soon-to-be-formed organization to be called the Hobart Armory Club, intended "for the purpose of keeping alive the patriotic spirit in the community, to stimulate and promote military training and athletics amongst its members."

Upon review, Captain Norton gave his approval to these ambitious plans. The costs of the land and the building together were expected to amount to some $25,000. The state's financial contribution, apparently, would consist of a "creditable rental" to begin once the building was ready for occupancy by Company B. Thus the citizenry of Hobart would have to finance the building itself.

Toward that end, on the evening of December 7, William Earle and attorney Franklin T. Fetterer boarded a train bound for Indianapolis; on arrival the next day, they went to the Secretary of State's office and filed articles of incorporation for The Armory Company and the Hobart Armory Club.

The Armory Company planned to issue stocks and bonds in the amount of $30,000. Their sale would bring in the money to buy the lot and build the armory. Holders of common stock would control and own the building, which would be managed by the Hobart Armory Club. All members of Company B were automatically members of the Hobart Armory Club, and a limited number of others could buy membership.

The amount of money to be raised was daunting, but supporters of the armory hoped that citizens would chip in, if not for patriotism then for civic pride. The newspapers touted the proposed armory as an impressive addition to Hobart; the News pointed out that it would be the largest open hall in Lake County and one of the largest in the state, while the Gazette called it "one of the biggest and best improvements the town ever undertook."

By mid-December the Armory Company's officers were installed: Hugo Zobjeck was president; the Rev. R. Warren Main, vice president; Franklin T. Fetterer, secretary and general counsel; and Walter MacPherson, treasurer.


Sources:
♦ "Armory Officers Elected." Hobart Gazette 21 Dec. 1917.
♦ "Hobart Will Build Armory." Hobart Gazette 7 Dec. 1917.
♦ "Incorporate Armory Company." Hobart Gazette 14 Dec. 1917.
♦ "Plans Are Nearly Completed for Hobart's New Armory." Hobart News 6 Dec. 1917.