Jackson Free Press

Recently, I visited the Hinds County Armory, which is located on the State Fairgrounds. The building has characteristics of the gothic revival in architecture, and it is fairly obvious that it was once very handsome and awe-inspiring. It still is, if you can look past the utter disrepair of the poor building. With over 30 years of disuse and neglect under its belt, the old armory is now in terrible condition--massive holes in the roof, severe weather damage, vandalism, etc. With such a lack of interest in the building, it is likely to never be restored to any kind of functional condition.

Situations like this are real tragedies. There are so many tangible parts of history that are on the downhill slide because they have just become irrelevant to the hustle and bustle of daily living. Thing is, with a little attention and interest from the public, buildings such as these can be restored to fulfill almost any kind of intended purpose. We just have to take the time to preserve these parts of our history. If we don't, we stand to lose a lot of historic beauty that can never be retrieved.