Development: A Healthy Kick in the Pants

George Washington established the Springfield (Mass.) Armory in 1794 as the first small-arms-manufacturing arsenal for his army. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow immortalized the place 50 years later in his poem “The Arsenal at Springfield,” where “from floor to ceiling, like a huge organ, rise the burnished arms.” After several generations,

Defense Secretary Robert McNamara was not half so impressed. Along with nearly a thousand other large and small military facilities, Springfield was ordered closed as an economy move; its weapons development and pilot production were to be turned over to other, armories or private companies. Last week with a symbolic burst from four M-14 rifles, one of the last weapons developed at the armory, McNamara’s order went into effect.

For Springfield (pop. 170,000), the loss of 2,400 jobs and $27 million in annual payrolls and other expenditures from the city’s third largest industry could have been catastrophic. “The whole economy of Springfield,” says Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Paul J. Greeley, “was based on George Washington’s decision to build an armory here.”

No Reason for Panic. As it happened, however, last week’s closing was marked by little more than nostalgia for such items from armory history as the superbly tooled 1903 Springfield .30 calibre rifle of World War I and the semiautomatic M-1 with which Springfield Master Gunsmith John C. Garand revolutionized infantry firepower in World War II. There was no reason for panic; Springfield no sooner ceased to be Government property than it was transformed into an industrial park and school campus that should keep the city’s economy flourishing. More significantly, while phased-out military facilities in other cities are still languishing, waiting for someone to do something about them, Springfield’s transformation was accomplished almost wholly by the initiative and careful planning of local businessmen. “It’s the old story of the community taking initiative,” says Springfield Safe Deposit & Trust Co. President Herbert P.

Almgren. “Private industry, working with government, has diligently solved the problem.”

When Springfielders heard about McNamara’s order three years ago, armory employees raised a $10,000 fund to lobby against the Pentagon decision.

Then Mayor Charles B. Ryan hurried to Washington to complain about “a rigged deal.” But the more inevitable the closing looked, the more Springfield merchants discussed alternatives. They organized a 17-man Armory Planning Committee, ordered private surveys of the 97-acre plant in addition to accepting a $30,000 Government grant for feasibility studies. And they tapped personal contacts. Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Chairman Leland Kalmbach talked to a golfing partner, General Electric Vice President Jack Parker, and got a G.E. commitment to move some of its armament operations to Springfield. Now G.E. has leased the armory shops, hired 1,245 people to turn out M-73 and M-85 machine guns. The Ontario Corp. of Muncie, Ind., rented Springfield shops to make airplane parts, and the Philip Hano Corp. of Holyoke was negotiating last week for space in which to turn out business forms.

The Massachusetts legislature was persuaded to convert the Springfield Technical Institute, a vocational school, into a state-run operation. The institute acquired instant academe by moving its facilities to some of the armory’s 19th century buildings. The campus now includes parade grounds and handsome fences wrought from melted cannon poured into an artistic motif of pikes and halberds.

Self-Supporting Change. Within five years, the new Springfield will provide 2,450 jobs and $23 million in payrolls; the institute will have a pool of 5,000 students from which industry can draw trained help. Best of all, the changeover is selfsupporting. The Government as part of the phasing-out process turned over the school grounds at a “100% discount”; the industrial property is financed through a $3,087,500 mortgage that will be paid off in five years from rentals. The city of Springfield, in addition, will now get $105,000 a year in tax money from the operation besides being freed of $322,000 in the annual costs of the institute when it was being operated as a city school.

The success of the conversion program has also given the city a psychological lift. “We had a real lack of confidence in our ability to merchandise our town,” says the Chamber of Commerce’s Greeley. “This gave us a kick in the pants when we needed it the most.” Indeed, Springfield is so kicked up about the success of its program that it has undertaken to raise another $650,000 to buy as a tourist attraction a collection of 11,000 small arms that is said to be the world’s biggest and best and is being eyed by the Smithsonian Institution.