Built over two years as a Works Progress Administration project, the building opened in 1938 as the Indianapolis Naval Reserve Armory. - Photos by Eric Learned
The building features art moderne architecture, with curved corners and smooth surfaces. - Photos by Eric Learned
A double gymnasium will be used by basketball and volleyball teams from both Herron and Riverside high schools. - Photos by Eric Learned
A double gymnasium will be used by basketball and volleyball teams from both Herron and Riverside high schools. - Photos by Eric Learned
Two iron ladders at one end of the gym, on the mezzanine level, provide access to nautical-themed lookout stations. - Photos by Eric Learned
The gymnasium walls sport 12-foot-by-15-foot murals depicting famous naval battles and events. - Photos by Eric Learned
Doors to the classrooms, where radio operators trained for sea duty during World War II, have portholes to mimic a ship. - Photos by Eric Learned
Stairwell handrails leading to upper floors are encased in rope. - Photos by Eric Learned
Bulkheads seal a two-story concrete room that was flooded for training exercises. - Photos by Eric Learned
A ladder leads from the floodable room, which resembles the inside of a submarine. - Photos by Eric Learned
A steel hatch at the top of the floodable room, where recruits were trained to repair a blast hole in the wall while the room filled with water. - Photos by Eric Learned
The mess hall on the third floor is also decorated with murals of famous battles and with nautical fixtures. - Photos by Eric Learned
The mess hall on the third floor is also decorated with murals of famous battles and with nautical fixtures. - Photos by Eric Learned
The mess hall on the third floor is also decorated with murals of famous battles and with nautical fixtures. - Photos by Eric Learned
The adjacent bar, whose woodwork and decorative glass still capture the original era, will be converted to a coffee bar. - Photos by Eric Learned
The adjacent bar, whose woodwork and decorative glass still capture the original era, will be converted to a coffee bar. - Photos by Eric Learned
The armory's most recent use was as an operations and recruiting center for both the Navy and the Marine Corps. - Photos by Eric Learned
The back of the armory&mdash