The state's largest National Guard command is in the process of moving out of the facility it has called home for more than 60 years.
Guard spokesman Maj. Matt Snead called the current move "divine intervention" Friday when he confirmed that the 39th Infantry Brigade Combat Team was in the process of packing up its belongings from Ricks Armory in Little Rock and relocating to Camp Robinson in North Little Rock. The move is expected to be completed by September.
The relocation comes despite the fact that negotiations stalled in the planned sale of the armory to the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences.
UAMS had approached the Guard -- which leases the armory from the Arkansas Department of Human Services -- with a proposal to purchase the property as part of a planned multimillion-dollar demolition and expansion project.
That deal, however, hit an impasse when the key players could not reach an agreement on who would be footing the bill for a requested $250,000 contribution to the more than $1 million in estimated relocation expenses facing the Guard.
The Guard secured federal funding for the majority of the funds it would take to relocate the combat team and to renovate existing space at Camp Robinson, but the funding requires a good-faith contribution from another source in the state to be awarded.
"We continue to talk with UAMS about this issue, but nothing new has happened," DHS spokesman Amy Webb said in a recent email.
The issue is expected to be discussed at the State Institutional System board meeting Thursday at the State Hospital.
UAMS spokesman Leslie Taylor said recently that negotiations are ongoing for the purchase. Plans are still on track -- regardless if the Ricks Armory deal falls through -- to transform the southwest portion of the campus into a "Sustainable Business Village," she said.
Snead said Friday that a storm spawning high winds in late June ripped off a large portion of the armory's roof and caused water damage to parts of the interior. Repair costs would have been "tens of thousands" of dollars, Snead said.
"We made the decision to go ahead and begin moving the 39th Infantry Brigade's Headquarters to Camp Robinson as they returned from their annual training. Much of the headquarters is now reporting to work in temporary housing here at Camp Robinson. The move is ongoing and should be complete by September," Snead said.
The Guard is set to begin special-deployment training at the beginning of 2015 that will likely continue for a few years. Any construction and relocation activities have to be completed before then.
State Desk on 07/19/2014