[2] Construction began on the US$550,000 project in February 1936, and the building was officially dedicated as the Indianapolis Naval Reserve Armory at a ceremony on October 29, 1938.

Upon completion, the four-story building included a navigation bridge, signal hoist, magazine, battle telephones, boiler room, radio communication, watertight bulkheads, ship's ladders, galley, 50-foot (15 m) swimming pool, gymnasium, rifle range, classrooms, and mess and quarters for officers and enlisted staff.

The mess hall and gymnasium were decorated with 12-by-15-foot (3.7 by 4.6 m) murals depicting famous naval battles and events.

On November 20, 1939, Captain O. F. Heslar (1891–1970) took command of the armory and USS Sacramento, the gunboat aboard which the Naval Reserve force trained on Lake Michigan each summer.

Captain Heslar remained in this capacity through November 1940, when he was ordered to take his ship and her crew to Boston, Massachusetts, for refitting.

It was here that the vessel was transferred to the active U.S. Navy and was docked at Pearl Harbor when that base was attacked by Japanese forces on December 7, 1941.

She survived the attack while shooting down at least two enemy fighters, and participated in rescue and salvage operations immediately afterward.

During World War II, the inland location was ideal when generals and admirals, seeking to avoid the constant surveillance on the coasts, gathered regularly at the armory in Indianapolis to plan their Atlantic and Pacific campaigns, including elements of the pivotal Battle of Normandy that began June 6, 1944.

Throughout World War II, the Indianapolis Naval Reserve Armory remained a vital facility where radioman and yeoman recruits trained for sea duty.

In 1946, the United States Marine Corps reactivated Headquarters Co. 16th Infantry Battalion for training and ordered them to Heslar.

In attendance were Heslar's son, Lieutenant Fred G. Heslar USNR, and his wife, as well as former Indiana Governor Ralph Gates; Rear Admiral Howard A. Yeager, Commandant of the Ninth Naval District, Great Lakes Illinois; Colonel George P. Hill Jr, Commanding Officer of Fort Harrison; Commander Joseph W. Tilford, commanding officer of the Indianapolis Naval Reserve; Brigadier General John D. Friday of the Indiana National Guard; Brigadier General G. Wray DePrez Indiana National Guard (ret.

[2] Heslar Naval Armory has been listed as a contributing property to the Indianapolis Park and Boulevard System, along with several other sites and buildings.

He earned a commission in 1916 and served aboard USS Vulcan in the Mediterranean Sea and Atlantic Ocean.

Next, and no doubt in reflection of his experience as a radioman, Heslar was assigned as Officer-in-Charge of the Transatlantic Radio Station in Tuckerton, New Jersey.

From 1919 until 1920, Heslar served as a staff officer under Admiral Henry Braid Wilson, Commander in Chief, U.S. Atlantic Fleet (CINCLANT), 1919–1921.

I had visited the museum in the basement of Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument on the Circle at the center of Indianapolis and picked up a brochure from their information rack.

If you follow the curve of the southern border of the state outline, the Ohio River, to the area of Madison, Indiana, you will notice an unusual symbol on the wooden wheel.