FAIRMONT — The Fairmont National Guard Armory is not closing.

The Armory remains home to the 105 members of Battery C 1st Battalion 125th Field Artillery Unit.

The Armory also remains available to rent.

Don Kerr, executive director of the Minnesota Department of Military Affairs in St. Paul, refuted some of the incorrect notions about the local armory, with his explanations frequently peppered with the assurance that the building will not be closing.

“We have no plans to close the armory in Fairmont,” he said. “In fact, it’s on our list to do a renovation sometime in the future, but that’s still a long way out. We currently have it on our schedule for 2032.”

The renovation is reliant on federal funding, making it difficult to ascertain exactly when the project might take place.

“I’d be very surprised if we were able to complete that project in 2032, but it is on our list to do. That’s the important thing,” Kerr said.

The armory’s closing was mentioned at a community center feasibility study meeting in June. Bruce Peters, Ward 1 representative on the Fairmont City Council, suggested the armory as a possible community center site if the facility closed. He cited state Rep. Bob Gunther as his source for the information. During a subsequent call to Gunther, he confirmed he had seen the Fairmont facility on a Veterans Affairs list of facilities to be decommissioned within the next four years because the armory has only staff, not a National Guard unit, stationed there.

“I did reach out to Representative Gunther and clarified with him,” Kerr said. “I think he was confused with the old armory in Faribault that’s up for sale. We have no intention of leaving Fairmont at this time.”

Kerr referenced a 2014 document produced for the U.S. Senate showing the Guard’s intent to stay in Fairmont, the good condition of the facility and the unit’s ability to maintain its strong membership.

“This was basically the things we considered when we looked at where we’re going to continue to be in Minnesota and where we’re not going to be in the long term,” he said. “In the case of Fairmont, I can say, definitely, we have no intention of leaving.”

Kerr also debunked the belief that there no longer is a Guard unit in Fairmont.

“We do still have a unit there, but we do a lot more training at Camp Ripley and other stations than we do at home stations,” he said. “There may appear to be a smaller presence, but we still do have a unit stationed in Fairmont.”

The Fairmont armory also has three full-time staff and a full-time recruiting officer at the site.

Kerr’s comment about more off-site drills was quickly verified when a phone call to the Fairmont armory on Friday was forwarded to Camp Ripley, where the Fairmont unit is training.

Kerr also explained about another incorrect observation that the armory could not be rented for events. When the facility is rented, the National Guard must have a member present to protect its interests. Because active Guard and reserve members are considered federal employees, they had not been allowed to do that duty.

“We have since made our arguments, and the adjutant general has seen fit to allow our active Guard and reserve force to start supporting those armory rentals,” Kerr said. “We have had a problem over the last 18 months, but we have resolved that problem. Generally speaking, the armories are available to rent to the general public.”

The challenge arises because so many Guard members do not belong to the hometown unit like in the past. Although they might initially join their local unit, taking advantage of promotion opportunities frequently require them to transfer to a unit in a different community.

“It’s a lot more difficult to find someone that actually lives in the town that they drill in,” Kerr said. “For us to maintain service members that are available to work rentals, they have to be willing to do it. They have to be available to do it, and there has to be no conflict with military activities in the facility.”

Kerr added that each facility establishes its own rate, based on National Guard guidelines.