The Story Behind: The Westerville Armory and Ohio National Guard

Just south of Westerville City Hall in Uptown, atop the hill heading toward the South State Street corridor, sits the abandoned Armory. The City-owned the property until this June after the Ohio National Guard vacated the site in May 2005. COhatch, the new owner, has announced plans to redevelop the building into coworking, dining and entertainment space. Before that work begins, it’s worth revisiting the legacy of the space.

The sale to COhatch comes 100 years after the Ohio National Guard 134th Ambulance Company was organized and federally recognized (May 14, 1921). They were part of the 112th Medical Regiment, element of the 37th Division at Westerville.

The Armory, dedicated in 1938, supported military operations through another reorganization in 1997 as Company C, 118th Area Support Medical Battalion. The C118 was deployed to Iraq in 2004, three years after the terrorist attacks of 9/11.

Current Council Chair Mike Heyeck remembers the community’s support of local soldiers.

“I was serving as Mayor in 2004, attending a Memorial Day ceremony at Longfellow Elementary. I was observing what the children had gathered; boxes of supplies to send to our troops in Iraq,” said Heyeck. “We thought to take this out to the community and collect toothbrushes, toothpaste, wet wipes and other items the Ohio National Guard suggested. Schoolchildren throughout the district provided stuffed toys for children in Iraq. Collections were brought to the Armory almost daily.”

Heyeck says the community’s generosity was overwhelming.

“As the supplies and toys were coming in, we realized we needed a bigger truck. The amount of supplies and toys filled a semi-truck,” he said. “We had pallets of supplies, boxes of toys, and so on. The donations were sufficient to supply all units of the Ohio National Guard deployed.”

Heyeck remembers the gratitude of the C118 soldiers, and hearing over the holidays the Unit was returning home. A community-wide “Welcome Home” ceremony was organized for Feb. 10, 2005.

On May 14, 2005, the C118 returned to the Armory, and Westerville celebrated “Freedom Day.” A parade was held through Westerville to Heritage Park for a tree planting dedicated to the C118. But then news came just a few days before that the Armory would close forever May 14, 2005, exactly 84 years after the recognition of C118 lineage.

“The C118 was coming home to their families, and we were ready. Yellow ribbons adorned hundreds of lampposts. Police escorted the busses and citizens lined the streets to welcome them home,” said Heyeck. “It was a cold night near the dinner hour when they arrived in Westerville. I feared the cold and the hour may deter attendance. Boy, was I wrong. The testimony was uttered by a soldier who, after greeting his family said, ‘Did you see what they (Westerville) did?’ There was not a dry eye anywhere.”

After the Armory closed, soldiers were assigned to different facilities in Central Ohio. The City used the building primarily for equipment storage and maintenance needs. In 2019, the Armory was identified as one of three properties to be sold for redevelopment in order to fund the new police and court facility known as the Justice Center (now under construction on Huber Village Boulevard).

The Veterans Memorial that currently sits outside the Armory will be moved and integrated into the new Westerville Veterans Memorial at the Sports Complex (see page 7).

Heyeck says having the C118 and prior Companies in the Armory was a privilege.

“Probably Westerville’s greatest honor was to be the first in central Ohio to be awarded the Employer Support of the Guard and Reserves Award from the Ohio National Guard,” he said. “We recognized that a soldier should not have to worry about his or her family, because the citizens of Westerville and those from our schools and businesses will be there in support. Freedom is never free.”

Soldiers from Company C, 118th Area Support Medical Battalion who provided needed medical assistance in Iraq to U.S. military personnel and our allies, attended the tree planting in their honor at Heritage Park.

134TH AMBULANCE COMPANY AT MILITARY CAMP Soldiers at the military camp for the 134th Ambulance Company of the National Guard, circa 1920-1929.