Rockford Armory Arts Center
605 N. Main St., Rockford, IL 61103 - Under Construction
Rockford Armory Arts Center
The Public Works Administration funded the Armory as a Depression relief project. Planning began in 1934; construction ran through 1936, and the building was completed in January 1937 at a cost of $225,464. Bradley & Bradley of Rockford served as architects; Sjostrom & Sons built it, and Benson Stone cut the limestone for the front.
The building was designed around a single room. The drill hall measures 180 by 120 feet, with a balcony seating a thousand, and twenty-eight classrooms occupy the story above. The exterior is Art Deco, with tall pier-buttresses under faceted stone caps dividing the Main Street front and three pointed-arch entrances under corbelled stone.
The Illinois National Guard occupied the Armory for nearly sixty years, and the building recorded its millionth visitor by 1941. The Guard moved to Machesney Park in 1993. The drill hall served as Rockford’s principal entertainment venue as well, booking Fleetwood Mac, ZZ Top, Kiss, Styx, and REO Speedwagon until the Metro Centre opened in 1981.
The Armory was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on August 10, 2000. The Rockford Area Arts Council purchased the building in 2024, and the Arts Council and Urban Equity Properties are redeveloping it as a cultural civic center.
