Third place planned for Old Armory site

BROOKINGS — The city’s new plan for the Downtown Armory site will be a deliberate mixed-use facility that will involve a green space and permanent homes for both the Farmer’s Market and Downtown at Sundown — and also necessitate the demolition of the Old Armory.

Deputy Mayor Nick Wendell told the Beacon that the plans detail an intentional attempt to create a permanent “Third Space” for Brookings residents — a destination that is neither home nor work.

When it became clear, Wendell said, that the plans from the Linchpin group would not be realized, the city turned its eyes to other possible partnerships and found many eager partners.

“And so one of those things is a green space, a gathering space, an event space right downtown, and so we accelerated those conversations when we knew the Linchpin agreement was going to end,” Wendell said. “The Old Armory was not going to become a boutique-style hotel, and we were stranded on what to do with that structure. The proposal that will come forward on Tuesday night is to create what we're calling right now a downtown third place.”

Sociologists define a third place as anywhere people gather that isn’t their primary residence or workplace — think churches, cafes, barber shops, bars, libraries, gyms or bookstores.

“You could argue that there are some of those locations in Brookings already, but there's probably not one signature place, with the exception of downtown as a whole, the whole community would say, that's the hub,” Wendell said. “And there's programming there. There's always folks there, of all ages, all generations come together, and that's what we're hoping to create at the existing Armory location. But it will require us to recommend the demolition of the Armory.”

Sociologist Ray Oldenburg defined the concept of third places, arguing in 1989 in his book The Great Good Place that they were essential — especially in rural communities — at strengthening social connections, supporting local economies and encouraging social engagement. 

That does create another layer of effort, because the Old Armory is officially a historic building.

“Obviously, there are steps we will have to follow,” Wendell said. “We'll work with historic preservation. We'll move through the process as necessary, hopefully to get green lights all along the way.” 

“We have conducted the review process, as you might remember, years ago. My first year on the council, 10 years ago, we were exploring what to do next with the Armory. We had explored demolishing the Armory at that time. We had started a review process with historic preservation. We'd done that at a local level, and I think it had even been elevated to the state level,” Wendell said. “So we've done a fair amount of the groundwork, and the folks within historic preservation and our own historic preservation commission will likely know more about the timeframe and what their expectations are. We expect that after Tuesday night, this will be a topic that'll be in front of the local historic preservation commission relatively soon.” 

Initial plans for the new space will be debuted at the City Council meeting Tuesday night and include plenty of green space — though Wendell stressed the plan is not a park. There is a two-sided stage that would be able to accommodate musical acts of varying sizes, an outdoor dining area, a market walk that would presumably hold the farmer’s market and a physical beacon welcoming visitors to Downtown Brookings.

“I think in some people's minds it'll function like a park, but I don't want them to think that we're replicating what already exists at Pioneer Park, or at Hillcrest, or other park spaces that you could argue are in the same neighborhood or within walking distance,” Wendell said.  “We're not looking to replicate what we've already got. We're really looking to create a green space in that third space that can host events: Downtown at Sundown, a permanent home for the farmers market, and a space that feels connected to what is right now the Mosaic and Kool Beans building.”  

“One of the things I asked for from the beginning of the process is that as we're designing the space, it doesn't feel like an island, like it just lives all by itself there at the end of Main Ave. Really thoughtfully connect it to what we hope will be continued development there,” Wendell said.

The project as planned would take over Front Street to the south of the Old Armory, as well as what is now a 72-hour parking lot accessed on the south side of Third Street. That parking space would likely be made up with other land the city currently owns, notably the old Dakota Service lot, the lot the elevators sit on and what will soon be the former police station.

“We purchased the elevators; we know the police department's coming down. We're building a new fire station right there. We've got the Dakota Service lot,” Wendell said. “All of that is ripe for redevelopment, and we have a chance to do it really thoughtfully and strategically right now, and to me, this green space is the first domino that can fall, and the signal that this is a vibrant place you want to create. And we want it to eventually, when all that other development happens, to feel connected, like it all got developed together. You can walk seamlessly from this event space into these other spaces that are adjacent to downtown right there.”

Wendell said he envisioned the new space as the hub of a revitalized Downtown Brookings. 

“We have a blank canvas here. We get a chance to do this in a really cool way, right in the center of the community,” he said. “I think the whole council envisions a gateway into downtown, that it's visible from every direction, there's lighting and there's sculptures and there's a beacon in there that denotes that there's something pretty cool there at the south end of Downtown.” 

Wendell stressed that no one was excited to tear down the old building, and mentioned plans to keep some design elements — including the old WPA eagle — as part of the new space.

“I love historic buildings. I love the Armory. I am sad at the notion that we're going to have to tear down the Armory to make this happen,” he said. “But it has served its useful life, and we have explored every avenue to try to rehabilitate it, repurpose it, and I just don't think there's a path forward for that structure.”

“But you'll even see some really cool design elements in the space that reflect the trusses and the crisscross of some of the architecture. You'll see that in some of the shadows and the lights that are created. The firm that we've worked with thus far has done the schematic. We told them from the beginning we want to preserve some of the character of the Old Armory and acknowledge its presence in the design of this outdoor space, and I think they've really thoughtfully included some of those elements.”

Linehan is the Beacon’s managing editor and welcomes story tips and comments at BrookingsBeacon@gmail.com