Exploring the Delta Armory: Fragment of the Past

Many Citizens of Delta have heard of the infamous Delta Armory. Built in 1921, this historic landmark has a lot more history than Deltarodans have suspected. Delta’s old armory is located just east of Main Street on Grand Avenue. The building was opened as one of the four National Guard’s Armories in Western Colorado, but over time it has been used to host public events and even become a carpet store.

Soon enough, Delta’s prized old armory will eventually become the home of the Delta Police Department, giving the building life again. 

“They used to have farming and ranching gatherings here and it’s just shoulder to shoulder people here celebrating the harvest and things like that,” said Chief of Police, Luke Fedler.

The structure has three floors including a basement. The structure sits on a three-quarter-acre lot. The basement and main floor each have 5,822 square feet while the upper floor has an extra 2,064 square feet. With this much room, the armory was used as a public shooting range and a church. 

During the exploration of the building, we discovered a small crawl space on the basement floor of the building. 

“They didn’t expand the armory underneath all the way across. So those cutouts were just so they can get to other rooms to do things like insulation and piping and things like that,” said Chief Fedler. 

The old armory was last owned by a builder with high hopes of restoring the building. However, the building was boarded up for an unknown reason. According to the Delta County Independent, the building was decommissioned in 1962, leaving the old armory to remain dormant for the next several years. As of May 17th, 2022, the building was declared the 7th Delta County historic landmark. 

The Delta Armory is clearly a big part of Delta County history and will continue to be with Delta’s new police department. Even with its ghostly presence, the building is only one of many unique features of Delta County.

While the old National Guard armory has been abandoned since 1962, it is now becoming the new police station and aiding the city once again. 

The project is estimated to cost 5-6 million dollars and all the money will come from grants and the Back the Badge initiative in 2020. 

Police Chief Fedler said, “All of the money will come from Back the Badge and different grants which makes me very proud.”  

Why is the new building needed, well Chief Fedler said, “The old building was way overgrown”.

Police Chief Fedler explained that the Sheriff’s department would not be using the new building and said, “It will just be for the police.” 

The building is located in the heart of Delta and according to Chief Fedler, the location was a big part of the decision. 

“The other location that we looked at was a triangle lot near City Market, but when we were in a city council meeting, one of the city councilmen said as a joke, we should buy the old armory and turn that into the building…and it just worked.”

The main floor of the building that was once a venue for many a celebration.