National Register of Historic Places Evaluation of Infantry Hall, Building 00004, Martin Army Community Hospital Complex, Buildings 09200-09205 and 09207, and Building 00334, Fort Benning, Georgia. W911SF-06-D-0013

Project Name. National Register of Historic Places Evaluation of Infantry Hall, Building 00004; Martin Army Community Hospital Complex, Buildings 09200-09205 and 09207; and Building 00334, Fort Benning, Georgia.

Purpose and Goals. Panamerican Consultants, Inc. (Panamerican) was contracted by Fort Benning to complete National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) eligibility evaluations for the Infantry Hall, Building 00004; the Martin Army Community Hospital (MACH) Complex, Buildings 09200-09205 and 09207; and Building 00334. This survey is part of a larger Scope of Work (SOW) that includes Historic American Building Survey (HABS), Level II, recordation of seven historic repair bays/sheds associated with Fort Benning’s Tank School under an Indefinite Delivery Order Contract, W911SF-06-D-0013, Delivery Order 06.

Infantry Hall (1964), Building 00004, is scheduled for extensive renovation to accommodate both The Infantry School and the soon to arrive Armor School, thereby becoming the Maneuver Center of Excellence. Although not yet 50 years old, The Infantry School was identified in 2006 as “likely [to be] eligible for the NRHP” (Nolte and Longiaru 2006:53). The MACH is being replaced with new construction and will ultimately be demolished. In 2006, MACH and its associated building complex was initially identified as needing to be assessed within a Korean and Vietnam War context (Nolte and Longiaru 2006). Building 00334, a former ordnance warehouse, may have been incorrectly evaluated in the 1987 Historic Building Survey (Fisher and Johnson 1987). Per the SOW the Fisher and Johnson (1987) evaluation needs to be confirmed and, if necessary, corrected.

Cultural Resources Work Completed. A total of nine buildings/structures at Fort Benning were surveyed, photographed, recorded, and evaluated for NRHP eligibility. The nine buildings recorded are: 1) Infantry Hall (1964), Building 00004 and its landscape; MACH complex including 2) the hospital (1958), Building 09200, 3) Heating Plant #1 (1958), Building 09201, 4) Heating Plant #2 (1958), Building 09202, 5-7) female nurses’ quarters (1961 all), Buildings 09203, 09204, 09205, and 8) storage shed (1963), Building 09207; and 9) former ordnance warehouse (1932), Building 00334. All of the buildings with the exception of 00334 were constructed during the Cold War era (1946-1989); Building 00334 was constructed during the Inter-war years between WWI and WWII. None of the buildings are within one of Fort Benning’s four historic districts although Infantry Hall is immediately adjacent to the Parachute Jump Tower Historic District. Architectural survey forms were completed on all the buildings and can be found in Appendix B.

Survey Results. Panamerican recommends Infantry Hall, Building 00004; the entry landscape that includes the large flagpole (1945), M9799; the statue of Iron Mike; the semicircle of flagpoles used to display state flags; as well as the Alvin York Field as eligible for the NRHP under Criterion Consideration G and Criteria A and C.

Panamerican recommends Martin Army Community Hospital (MACH) Complex including: the hospital (1958), Building 09200; Heating Plants #1 and #2 (both 1958), Buildings 09201 and 09202; female nurses’ quarters (all 1961), Buildings 09203, 09204, and 09205; and storage shed for oxygen and nitrogen tanks (1963), Building 09207, as not eligible.

Panamerican recommends Building 00334 as not eligible for the NRHP.