The state's oldest American Legion post relocated Wednesday from downtown Little Rock -- its home for nearly 50 years -- to a smaller, more cost-efficient building in North Little Rock, a move that saved the post from permanently closing its doors.
On Wednesday morning, five members of M.M. Eberts Post 1 hefted desks, chairs, printers and other supplies out of the brick building at 315 E. Capitol Ave. and filled a 14-foot moving truck. The group unloaded the U-Haul truck at 325 W. 29th St., an office building tucked away off West Pershing Boulevard behind William F. Laman Public Library in North Little Rock.
The Capitol Avenue location, where the post had been operating since 1968, was put up for sale in July 2014 after the post's leaders determined it was too expensive to operate there.
Bob Criswell, the post's adjutant, said yearly income of approximately $16,000 fell far short of operating expenses, which included property tax and insurance bills, as well as the funds needed to pay for the post's liquor license, security system and basic utilities.
"We were at the point of no return," Criswell said. "We just couldn't survive."
As Criswell walked through the old building Wednesday, his eyes scanning the mostly empty rooms, he reminisced on when the post was in its prime -- when the large wraparound bar was filled seven days a week and the polished, wooden dance floor was packed Saturday nights.
When he arrived in the city in 1975, the American Legion was "the biggest thing in town, with dancing and partying," he said.
"In the '70s, '80s and '90s, this place was packed," said Criswell, 81. "It was moving money."
According to its most recent publicly available Internal Revenue Service Form 990, the post has operated at a deficit for the past several years, dipping into a $500,000 reserve fund.
Though many of the post's members have complained about the move, there was no other option, Criswell said.
This spring, Moses Tucker Real Estate Inc. bought a portion of the 500 block of Rock Street, including the American Legion building. It plans to construct a three-story, 36-unit apartment complex called The Row at Legion Village.
Criswell said Moses Tucker paid the post $645,000 for its building, and there are plans to convert it into a retail storefront or restaurant.
The post originally hoped to build a new post headquarters or find an existing building in west Little Rock, but higher-than-expected prices prompted members to look in North Little Rock.
The post paid $245,000 for its new location, and it will spend approximately $60,000 on renovations.
Little Rock-based Central Construction Group will tear down walls to create space for the post's events and monthly meetings. Construction is expected to be completed in September.
Post leaders closed on the new building two weeks ago but delayed the move when Criswell learned that the building was in a commercial zone. He spoke with North Little Rock Mayor Joe Smith, and the North Little Rock City Council unanimously granted a conditional-use permit Monday.
Revenue from the Little Rock building's sale will be used to keep the post running for at least the next decade.
"We hope to survive, anyway, with what we have," Criswell said. "It will salvage the life of the American Legion for another 10 or 15 years."
Besides the need to cut expenses and downsize (the move will take the post from 8,000 square feet to about 4,500), the relocation was prompted by what Criswell called a "depressing" atmosphere at its location in downtown Little Rock.
The old building sits on about a 29,000-square-foot lot in the historic Quapaw Quarter and directly across from the Central Arkansas Transit Authority's River Cities Travel Center.
Doyle Batey, adjutant for the state's American Legion Department, said last year that there was an increase in foot traffic in the alley next to the building, with people going back and forth between the bus station and Downtown Deli and Grocery, located behind the post at 314 E. Sixth St.
"There's all kinds of folks wandering the alleys," Batey said at the time.
Walking through the new building Wednesday, Criswell pointed to walls that would come down and planned where to hang American Legion insignia and portraits of past leaders. The Army veteran also pointed out the North Little Rock Police Department across the street.
"This is a nice neighborhood," he said. "It's much nicer than where we were."
Metro on 07/16/2015