Armed Forces Recreation Center

City councilors approved contracts for bond projects

City councilors approved measures to move forward on 2008 and 2011 bond projects including the planned Public Safety Complex and Events Park at their regularly schedule meeting Aug. 2.

Counilors recently approved selling $16.45 million in bonds to Citigroup Global Markets Inc. after voters approved a $44.7 million bond package in April. The package includes improvements to streets, public safety, stormwater and parks and recreation utilities.

The city will inherit the Armed Forces Reserve Center in October when the U.S. military vacates the building, which sits at Sixth and Kenosha streets, as part of a fedral program. The complex will house police and fire operations, according to city staff notes.

The bond money will pay for renovations to the 60,000-square-foot reserve complex and its 11 acres, such as interior renovations as well as roads to service the center.

Councilors approved a $476,000 contract with BKL Inc. for the design of the facility's infrastructure. The $7 million project likely will be completed in July 2013.

Councilors also approved paying $89,000 to Mehlburger Brawley Inc. for the completion of the 160-acres site's design, including roadways, parking and water lines.

Mehlburger Brawley Inc. will finish the project, which the city orginally awarded to the DeShazo Group after voters approved it in the 2008 bond election. The DeShazo group recently shut down its Tulsa office and transferred the project to Mehlburger Brawley Inc., according to city staff notes.

Construction on the site, near New Orleans Street and the Creek Turnpike, is slotted to begin September 2012.

Dark Room Photography Equipment - Army Photography Contest ...

Photo by Robert LaPolice

To memorize more approximately the annual U.S. Army Photography Competition, visit us on the web at www.armymwr.com

U.S. Army Arts and Crafts History

After World War I the reductions to the Army left the United States with a wee force. The War Department faced monumental challenges in preparing for World War II. One of those challenges was soldier morale. Recreational activities for off duty time would be requisite. The arts and crafts program informally evolved to enlarge the needs of the War Department.

On January 9, 1941, the Secretary of War, Henry L. Stimson, appointed Frederick H. Osborn, a eminent U.S. businessman and philanthropist, Chairman of the War Department Committee on Education, Recreation and Community Service.

In 1940 and 1941, the United States involvement in World War II was more of sympathy and anticipation than of action. However, numerous different types of institutions were looking for ways to help the war effort. The Museum of Modern Art in New York was one of these institutions. In April, 1941, the Museum announced a poster competition, “Posters for National Defense.” The directors said “The Museum feels that in a time of national emergency the artists of a country are as valuable an asset as men rate in other fields, and that the nation’s agreeable-worthy talent should be utilized by the government for its official scheme labor… Discussions have been held with officials of the Army and the Treasury who have expressed amazing enthusiasm…”

In May 1941, the Museum exhibited “Britain at War”, a show chose by Sir Kenneth Clark, director of the National Gallery in London. The “Prize-Winning Defense Posters” were exhibited in July through September concurrently with “Britain at War.” The colossal overnight growth of the military force meant mobilization type interpretation at each camp. Construction was quick; facilities were not suspect; rather drab and miserable.

In 1941, the Fort Custer Army Illustrators, while on strenuous war games maneuvers in Tennessee, documented the exercise The Bulletin of the Museum of Modern Art, Vol. 9, No. 3 (Feb. 1942), described their labor. “Results were astonishingly salubrious; they showed serious devotion …to the purpose of depicting the Army scene with unvarnished realism and a spectacular capability to capture this scene from the soldier’s viewpoint. Civilian amateur and professional artists had been transformed into soldier-artists. Reality and straightforward documentation had supplanted (replaced) the old romantic glorification and untrue dramatization of war and the slick suavity (charm) of commercial drawing.

U.S. Armed Forces Recreation Center, Garmisch Recreation Area papers

Armed Forces Recreation Centers, Shades of Green, Dragon Hill Lodge, Hale Koa Hotel, New Sanno Hotel, Edelweiss Vacation Village and Campground

Airman's Guide

Armed Forces Recreation Area, Seward, Alaska

The Complex, How the Military Invades Our Everyday Lives