Parks department will no longer use Armory building

Lodi Parks, Recreation and Cultural Services programs will no longer host youth camps and sports leagues at the National Guard Armory, the department said Monday.

“We had problems with homeless people disturbing parents as they dropped off their kids and disrupting youth activities,” Director Jeff Hood said.

Hood said student activities would get interrupted because homeless residents would bang on doors in an attempt to get into the Armory building at 333 N. Washington St., Lodi.

“Access to the building is very restricted, the building is owned by the Department for Homeland Security, so you can’t get in without a key,” Hood said.

The city entered a jointuse agreement with the National Guard in 2000, which allowed the city to remodel the armory’s main building and convert it into a gymnasium for recreational space for the city’s parks department.

The 83-year-old Armory occupies an estimated 2 acres on the corner of Washington and East Lockeford streets. It was built in 1936 as a federal Works Progress Administration project during the Great Depression. The building, with its red tile roof, became a centerpiece of Lodi’s life.

Large public meetings, wedding receptions, family reunions and small conventions were held there in the building’s heyday. On Fridays, high school football players and fans held after-game dances at the Armory for nearly a decade. At that time, it was the only building large enough to hold events of that size.

The Armory was originally owned by the city and rented by the state, and is among the oldest of the state’s armories.

“The existing lease between the city and the armory will terminate effective Oct. 19,” Hood said.

The Armory would not suffer any financial loss as a result of the dissolved lease, he said, because the city maintained the landscape of the building in exchange for the recreation space.

“As we deal with limited resources, we can redirect maintenance staff from the Armory to other areas,” he said.

The parks department has already changed the location for its fall camp, which has been relocated to Lakewood Elementary School and Hutchins Street Square. The youth sports leagues will be held at the Lodi Boys and Girls Club gymnasium.

“We don’t own gym space. We have to find agreements with other property owners. It is also the reason why we have waiting lists for activities,” Hood said.