National Guard Armory - Mena, AR - U.S. National Register of Historic Places on Waymarking.com

The National Guard Armory in Mena is at the corner of Maple Avenue and DeQueen Street, next to the Fire Department. The date of construction is confusing as a bronze plaque on the building reads 1925, the cornerstone is engraved 1930 and the NRHP nomination says 1931. We assume the building was begun in 1930 and completed in 1931.

This is a beautiful Art Deco building constructed of native sand stone, laid in a random pattern. The front facing DeQueen is two stories with five bays. The center bay is slightly projected and rises above the roof line and contains the entrance. There are two wood doors surrounded by four tiers of light colored brick. Above the entrance are two windows, and a concrete panel reading: "National Guard Armory". Each of the remaining bays has two windows on each level. The windows are one-over-one with brick sills, lintels and sides. They are covered with iron bars.

The north and south elevations each have nine bays, separated by rock pilasters capped with concrete. Eight of the bays have two windows each - tall multi-paned double hung units, with stationary section at the top. The bay at the rear of the building has a converted garage door, which now contains three pedestrian doors. The roof on this one-story section is hipped with metal siding. A two foot high concrete water table runs the perimeter of the building.

The armory was placed on the National Register in 1991. At that time, it was shown to house a sports facility. We could not determine whether that is still the case, or whether the building is now vacant. A plaque on the building indicates that the armory received a Restoration in 2004.

Street address: 601 DeQueen Street Mena, AR US 71953 County / Borough / Parish: Polk County Year listed: 1991 Historic (Areas of) Significance: Architecture/Engineering Periods of significance: 1925-1949 Historic function: Defense Current function: Possibly Vacant Privately owned?: no Primary Web Site: [Web Link] Season start / Season finish: Not listed Hours of operation: Not listed Secondary Website 1: Not listed Secondary Website 2: Not listed National Historic Landmark Link: Not listed

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