The city is getting a state grant to take a “key first step” toward restoring or redeveloping the Bank Street Armory.

 

The Massachusetts Historical Commission has awarded the city a $30,000 grant to perform a "conditions assessment and feasibility study" for the building, according to Alex Silva, president of the Preservation Society of Fall River.

 

The money comes from MHC's Massachusetts Preservation Project Fund, a 50% reimbursable matching grant program open to cities with properties listed in the state Register of Historic Places.

 

The nonprofit group and the Historical Commission have been working with the city to determine the building’s future. That first step, Silva said, is a complete top to bottom assessment of everything the building needs.

 

“This is essentially the key first step that should’ve always been done for the building,” Silva said.

 

The armory opened to the public on Feb. 24, 1897. The castle-like structure was once home to a volunteer militia and the National Guard. Generations of Fall River kids played basketball on the court in the drill hall, and it hosted pro wrestling shows featuring the likes of Hulk Hogan. In later years, it hosted the Greater Fall River Re-Creation and Youth Build programs.

 

The building was shuttered and those programs relocated in April 2015, when an inspection revealed one of the chimneys had loose granite blocks leaning in toward the gym. City workers later repaired the chimney, but the building has been ruled unsafe for habitation and used solely for municipal storage since.

 

The interior is in bad condition.

 

See more at heraldnews.com.