Two National Guard armories in Layton and Bountiful now belong to the Davis County School District, and the Board of Education isn't entirely happy about how it got them.
"I'm a little bit disappointed in the purchase price," grumbled board president Dan Eastman. "I think there should have been greater consideration for the school district's involvement."The prices - $225,000 for the Layton armory and $262,500 for the Bountiful armory - are "very reasonable," said assistant superintendent Lynn Trenbeath. But some officials said given the district's history with the armories, it should have gotten them cheap or gratis.
"We started out thinking this would be like the Freeport Center," Superintendent Richard Kendell said. "(But) it became apparent quickly that they were not going to liquidate them on that basis."
School officials pay only a token amount for their use of federal land and warehouses at Clear-field's Freeport Center, formerly a military installation.
The armories were built in 1956. The school district contributed the land for the Layton facility, 663 Church St., and paid 12.5 percent of construction costs, making it part owner. The district has maintained the building and shared in utility costs since then.
A similar arrangement existed with the Bountiful armory, 298 W. 2600 South, except that Bountiful City supplied the land. Layton and Bountiful also have an ownership share.
The district has always been the primary user of the armories, using them for regular classrooms and physical education space at Central Davis Junior High (Layton) and South Davis Junior High (Bountiful), which are adjacent to the armories. The National Guard used them during the weekends, and the cities used them during the evenings for their Junior Jazz programs.
Due to military downsizing, the National Guard declared the buildings surplus last winter. The school district had a right of first refusal to buy the armories, and there was never a question that it would exercise it. With burgeoning student enrollments and building space tight throughout the district, the Central Davis and South Davis schools simply couldn't do without them.
"They're absolutely vital to the operation of two junior highs," Eastman said. "We absolutely must have them."
The result of all this financial wrangling in the armories' day-to-day operation: not much. The schools and cities will continue using them the way they have in the past. After the deal is finalized in the next week or two, the biggest difference will be that the National Guard will be almost a half million dollars richer at the expense of the school district.
Ironically, the National Guard Armory Board isn't thrilled with the whole thing either. It wants to keep using the armories, but cutbacks forced it to get rid of them.