Aspen's Armory Hall

Identifying future programming use and remodel options for Aspen’s historic community asset

The Armory Reimagined: Respecting history, shaping the future.

Join us Oct. 4th for an open house, guided tours, live music and more!

As part of the process to redevelop Armory Hall, city staff has met with Aspen City Council seven times over the past year, with the most recent work session held on June 5, 2023. Council came to general agreement that most of the building should be a community use, with reference to the top results of community outreach that provided more specificity: causal dining, community center, multi-purpose space, non-profit services, and lower price point retail.

Council directed staff to proceed with the design process on the Armory so that a condensed timeline can be implemented.

City staff and consultants in the summer and fall of 2023 are conducting a “test fit,” which is part of concept planning to determine how much square footage is necessary for different types of uses.

Concepts and floor plans are expected to be presented at an open house held at the Armory on Wednesday, Oct. 4, 2023, from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. The public is invited to gather at this space, formerly known as City Hall, to review preliminary concepts, ask questions of the design team, and provide input.

Guided tours through the building will provide history and an up-close perspective of the building’s potential and its constraints. There also will be live music and catered food. The City welcomes all who are interested in helping create a community gathering hub.

The project’s current direction is based on extensive public outreach and community engagement, which included two online questionnaires, an open house, two focus group meetings and surveys. Staff heard overwhelmingly that the community needs a place to gather, that the Armory should be the heart of town, a community living room with the ability to eat, experience entertainment, shop or just hang out.

The remodel is estimated to cost $18-$23 million.

Project Overview
The City of Aspen is currently updating its long-term plan for Armory Hall (The Armory), located at 130 South Galena Street. For many decades, the Armory served as Aspen’s City Hall, though many departments recently relocated to the new city hall facility at 427 Rio Grande Place. The facility is currently being used to house the utility billing and IT departments. As the City of Aspen organization prepares for the next phase of the Armory’s history, we are engaged in community discussions about the future possibilities for the building’s programming use and remodel options, as well as the strategies necessary to achieve proposed goals.

Project Information:
The Armory sits on a 6,000 sq. ft. lot in Aspen’s downtown Commercial Core Historic District, adjacent to Conner Park. It is located within the Public zone district and is designated as a historic resource. The City has earmarked funding for the remodel of the Armory, however, decisions on future programming and the extent of the property’s remodel will affect the timeline and associated project costs.

The City recognizes the importance of community use as an element of future programming and remodel options. In 2015, the city initiated an advisory ballot question to gauge the electorate’s preference for the Armory site as a future community use or city offices; the community use narrowly passed. Once again in 2018, the election cycle included a ballot question presenting two locations for a new city hall; the results confirmed a preference for the Rio Grande/Galena Plaza site with a 57 to 43 percent margin.