Armory

WAYNESBORO, PA. -- The Pennsylvania National Guard armory in Waynesboro might not become the site of a regional police force as previously discussed. The renovations and needed asbestos removal, coupled with the $600,000 purchase price, make the project cost-prohibitive, Waynesboro Borough Council members said Wednesday. They had talked about relocating a joint Waynesboro and Washington Township, Pa., police department there. Yet, the Waynesboro Volunteer Fire Department remains in the running to become a future tenant of the 73-year-old building on Pa. 316. The armory, also referred to as a readiness center, is slated to be cleaned and sold when the Waynesboro unit moves to a new $5.5 million facility in South Mountain, Pa. It will join the Gettysburg, Pa., unit there.

HARPERS FERRY, W.Va. -- About 70 Harpers Ferry residents got their first look Wednesday at a proposed $75 million remake of the century-old Hilltop House resort hotel -- a makeover that will see the demolition of the old structure and replacement with a 179-room high-end luxury property. The renovation will require the Town of Harpers Ferry to rezone more than a block of residential property to commercial, including seven previously private properties now owned by SWaN Investors of Leesburg, Va. "When they get through, they'll own about 10 percent of the town," Harpers Ferry Mayor Jim Addy said.

WAYNESBORO, Pa. -- Construction began in February for a $5.5 million Pennsylvania National Guard armory in South Mountain, Pa., which will eventually replace the armories in Waynesboro and Gettysburg, Pa. Officials expect to open the South Mountain armory in a year, then empty and clean the Waynesboro facility prior to an appraisal for that property. "We seek fair-market value," said Kevin Cramsey, a spokesman for the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs. Waynesboro and Washington Township leaders have said they'd like to acquire the Pa. 316 property for their police departments.

WAYNESBORO, Pa. -- Families of Pennsylvania National Guard members headquartered in Franklin County got an early Christmas gift wrapped in camouflage Monday when their loved ones returned from three months of training. The 56th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, including about 88 guardsmen based in Chambersburg, Pa., and Waynesboro, leaves for Iraq early in the new year. A busload of guardsmen joked and watched movies when they left Fort Dix, N.J., on their way to the Waynesboro armory.

WAYNESBORO, PA. - Occupancy of the Pennsylvania National Guard's new armory in South Mountain, Pa., has been delayed by about two years, leaving the future of the Waynesboro armory in limbo longer. The state's Department of Military and Veterans Affairs confirmed last year that it would close the Waynesboro and Gettysburg, Pa., armories when its new facility is operable. That was originally projected to be in late 2007. Local municipalities began exploring the possibility of acquiring the Waynesboro site when they learned that a community's organizations, government and schools are the first entities given the opportunity to purchase surplus property.

HARPERS FERRY, W.Va. - For more than 100 years, its remains laid under dirt and there have been no known pictures of the inside or descriptions of it, archaeologists say. Yet the U.S. Armory and Arsenal in Harpers Ferry was one of the focal parts of the town during the early- and mid-1800s and more than 400 people were employed there making muskets, rifles and pistols. Now the remains of the massive facility - most of which was leveled during the Civil War of shortly thereafter - are slowly and meticulously becoming visible again.

waynesboro@herald-mail.com WAYNESBORO, Pa. - U.S. Army techniques developed for fighting overseas made their way to Waynesboro last week as part of an ongoing physical fitness program at the local armory. Gym mats substituted for desert terrain as two combatives trainers, Staff Sgt. Michael Thayer and Sgt. 1st Class Joseph Paul, presented methods of hand-to-hand fighting to about 30 people, many of whom then practiced the skills under the pair's guidance. "It's more what (soldiers)

tammyb@herald-mail.com Sometimes if you gamble with a concept long enough, you come up with two-for-one. The initial idea was a training center in Hagerstown for people interested in learning construction trades. Now, a joint effort by a contractors' association and developers with Hagerstown ties will result in both the new training center and some centralized incubators for small businesses. For several years, Sen. Donald F. Munson, R-Washington, attempted to negotiate a transfer of the state-owned former National Guard Armory on North Potomac Street to a private owner - namely, the Cumberland Valley chapter of Associated Builders and Contractors.

waynesboro@herald-mail.com SOUTH MOUNTAIN, PA. - A Pennsylvania National Guard staff sergeant on Thursday cleared up recent rumors circulating in South Mountain when he said land being surveyed across from the South Mountain Restoration Center will be the site of a new armory. The state is combining armories in Gettysburg, Pa., and Waynesboro, Pa., into the new facility, which probably won't be ready for occupancy until sometime late in 2007, Staff Sgt. Jason Flenner said.

andrews@herald-mail.com HAGERSTOWN - The state of Maryland is giving the vacant Hagerstown Armory at 328 N. Potomac St. to a construction trade group, two years after a similar agreement fell through. The State Military Department will give the 78-year-old armory to the City of Hagerstown, which will transfer it to Associated Builders and Contractors Inc., Cumberland Valley Chapter, at no cost. ABC plans to open a building skills training center there. State Sen. Donald F. Munson, R-Washington, announced the transaction Wednesday morning at a Hagerstown-Washington County Chamber of Commerce breakfast forum in Halfway.