NORMAN V. KELLY
Let’s go back to 1900 in Peoria, Illinois. By then Peoria was sophisticated lady, I can
tell you that. The population was 56,100
and we lived in a 9.1 square miles of City Limits. We had a magnificent GRAND OPERA HOUSE, a
fistful of breweries and distilleries and a highly rated park system and school
system. We were the center for all kinds
of sporting events, and among our many, many taverns, we had over 100 churches.
Peoria was simply a wonderful place to live, work and raise kids. Our Mayor was William F. Bryan and he worked
out of the very same City Hall that is down there across the street from Sacred
Heart Church.
In 1900 the Central City Railway Company was the
company that won the contract with the City to handle the street car business
in Peoria, Illinois. Well…as luck would
have it that contract was coming up for renewal in 1900 and the rail company wanted
to make sure they kept control of that lucrative business, so they came up with
a scheme…a plan…or was it a flat out bribe?
Let’s give them the benefit of the doubt and let’s just call it a
‘business plan.’ Deal?
Anyway they owned some valuable property within the
City of Peoria and they offered to build a civic center type building for the
People of Peoria. Now this lot was
located on Hancock and S. Adams and there was considerable value to this piece
of real estate. They would build this building and then give…that’s right…give
it to the City Of Peoria, Illinois…lock-stock and barrel as they used to
say. Now was that an offer Mayor Bryan
and his Alderman could refuse? Of course
not. So…in 1901, after the railway
Company spent $57,000.00 on a new building it belonged to the city. No strings attached…right. Wow! I
wonder who got the streetcar contract. You guessed, good old Central Railway
Company. Surprised? There was a nice ceremony and a gala event
connected with the opening of The Coliseum on May 4, 1901. Christmas came early
don’t you think? Now Peoria had two
magnificent buildings that the tax payers living within the city did not pay
one red cent for. The Coliseum and The
Grand Opera House over on Hamilton
Boulevard
The Coliseum was the gathering place for not only most
Peorians, but thousands came here each year for one form of entertainment or
the other. Of course it was a rallying
place for union meetings, political meetings and the site of some fancy balls
and a great meeting place for all folks of every financial standing. Tragically it too burned to the ground during
the month of May in 1920. I can tell you
that folks in Peoria mourned the loss of those two fabulous buildings.
Mayor Edward Nelson Woodruff was our mayor and if
there is a deal making mayor in our history…he would get most of the
votes. It was decided by him that Peoria
should build a National Guard Armory…and when he decided to do that…why we did
it. It was that simple. Of course he had Alderman to convince, but he
rarely had trouble doing that. Where do you
think he wanted to build it? Why of
course, on the property that was gifted to the city way back in 1901. So…Hancock and Adams was the site, and how
they raised the money, what deals he pulled is all available in the City Record. First there had to be some agreement with the
Governor. Then of course, The United States
Government, and finally with the Unions and on and on it goes. The point is that the Peoria Armory was built
and the building still stands…although feebly…to this day.
The idea was to have a place for the Illinois Army man
to train. That was the plan that got all
the finances in line, but of course Woodruff knew that the City of Peoria would
own it. That meant that they would have
access to it and that of course was the real reason behind it all. It worked to
perfection. The Illinois National Guard
had a place to train and a place to call home, and Peoria had a grand sports
arena and Convention Hall to draw people to Peoria. It was that simple and it worked like a
charm.
I remember being in that place a lot of times. I used to sneak in to the Bradley games and
as I got a bit older, it became an obsession with us. Once in awhile a brother or sister took me to
the circus or a boxing match and roller skating there as well. I loved the boxing matches, especially The Golden
Gloves. The circus was fun as well. One rigger that worked for the circus fell to
his death and that was sad, but the show must go on and it did. Bradley played there for many years, maybe
back when it was a Polytechnic school, but I have no way of remembering
that. They also played double headers up
at Woodruff High School, and those I remember.
The Caterpillar team played there and believe it or not they had bowling
tournaments in there as well. I loved to look at all the army equipment and
when they had military parades me and my pals would head right for that place
and take it all in. We were amazed by
army equipment and the soldiers with rifles and bayonets. Wow…I loved the war years, 1941-1945. Finally, in 1950 Bradley moved to Robertson Memorial
up on the Bradley campus. I have had
season tickets since the early 1950’s, and graduated in 1958 from that great
school.
A TREMENDOUS HIT
The Armory dominated the attention of Peorians for
years. Would you believe that they could
seat 4,000 to 5,000 people in there? Most
of the seats were bleachers but we loved to scurry upstairs to the fixed seats
in the balcony. We got yelled at a lot
but they never really scared us. We just
kept moving.
They had rallies of every kind, a ton of unions,
political meetings and a lot of strange groups that came here for one cause or
the other. Lyndon Johnson was there at
the Armory in 1964, and a bunch of other politicians trying to get one vote or
the other. We never paid any attention to them…we were there to watch the
excitement not a bunch of politicians lying to all of us. I rarely had any
money so if I could not sneak in sometimes we just stood around outside and
listened. They had a lot of great bands
in that place and some of them played for really fancy dress balls. I was just a little poor kid that was lucky
to have a pair of shoes, let alone a fancy suit and tie. I did get to see Spike Jones, thanks to my
sister, and my brothers took me to a few special things. Eleanor Roosevelt spoke there before Pearl
Harbor, but I surely did not have any interest in her. I liked that little dog they had but that’s
about it. I don’t remember this but
Eddie Cantor originated a radio show from the Armory once, and that got a lot
of publicity. The Armory was an amazing
place and as the years went on it grew old just like the rest of us.
The Army stopped using it and went out to an area near
the Bell Wood Nursing Home and built another building for The Army Reserves.
That just about did in the Armory and soon it too was on the ropes. The United States Navy was supposed to move
in there, but they never did. Peorians
were surprised when money was spent in 1975 on the interior and folks thought
that the Armory was going to make a comeback. But, alas the old girl got older
and older and then we heard that a man named Huber bought the place. I grew up with a Dick Huber, and we all had
hopes that something good would come of it. I heard that the leaders of The
Taft Homes were against whatever it was he had planned…and that fell
through. Then a church bought it…some
form of Baptist Church I believe, and that too never came to fruition. Anyone remember
Chase Ingersoll…wasn’t he an attorney? He had some plans and that too never materialized. I checked a long time ago at the Recorder’s
Office and found that he was a Trustee.
Maybe it was The Armory Plaza Land Trust? I also saw that the property had a ‘Preserve
and Maintain’ attachment to it and I thought who would want to buy the place? Could they tear it down? Anyway that is someone else’s problem: I just
hated to see the big old girl sit there and die. But…everything costs a fortune so I think
that all we have left of the Peoria Armory are memories. Soon, even those of us that still remember
that bright star will be gone and like all memories…just fade away.
Editor’s Note:
Norm is a local author and Peoria Historian. norman.kelly@sbcglobal.net
Tune in to listen to Harry, Norm and
Rich on WOAM, 1350 AM . An outdoor, all American show, The Red Nose
Gang on Sunday mornings from seven to ten.
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