Riverside High School / Heslar Naval Armory- 3010 N White River Parkway East Drive

Year Built: 1936

Architecture Style: Art Moderne

Key Features:

• Curved Corners and Smooth Walls
• Small Narrow Windows
• Decorative Stone Carvings

The Heslar Naval Armory was designed by architect Ben H. Bacon. Built by the Depression-era Works Progress Administration, the four-story armory opened in 1938. Heslar Naval Armory was the home of Naval Operations Support Center Indianapolis, Marine Corps Reserve Center Indianapolis, and Naval Recruiting Station Indianapolis, as well as the United States Naval Sea Cadet Corps Cruiser Indianapolis (CA 35) Division and the Central Indiana Young Marines of the Marine Corps League. In October 2008 the Indiana Wing Civil Air Patrol, state branch of the US Air Force Auxiliary, moved its headquarters functions and staff to the Armory.

When the new reserve center opened in 2014, the state offered the old armory to other state agencies but got no takers. Following protocol, the state transferred it to the city of Indianapolis, which saw no use for the large vacant building. But Herron High School had a plan for an ideal reuse of the property.

Herron reached out to Indiana Landmarks, asking to help buy time while the school raises funds to transform the former armory into a state-of-the-art campus. The city agreed to give the building to Indiana Landmarks, with the stipulation that they commit to its preservation and reuse. They have partnered with Herron High School, aided by an anonymous donor with connections to both organizations who underwrote a year of holding costs while Indiana Landmarks and Herron worked out the details.

Riverside High School opened in 2018.

Read more in this article from the Indiana Preservation Magazine: https://www.indianalandmarks.org/2016/08/new-use-for-indianapolis-naval-armory/