Ah, our beloved D.C. Armory. Home of such wonderful events like the DC Rollergirls, an occasional boxing card, umm, liquidation sales, and, uhh, American Idol tryouts…

OK, so it’s pretty easy to see that the Armory might be a wee bit underutilized.

But if the D.C. Sports and Entertainment Commission has its way, that could all change through a proposed renovation project, revamping the Armory into a 10,000-seat concert hall and expo center. Although the Armory currently lacks some significant modern amenities (like, you know, air conditioning and fully functioning restrooms — shortfalls the renovations would fix), the DCSEC sees it as revenue lying in a state of concrete hibernation – and for the agency, the extra cash would be a nice little way to get out of a $500,000 shortfall. Ward 6 Council member Tommy Wells, though, isn’t too thrilled about the possibilities:

“I’m not really interested in a 10,000-person nightclub,” Wells said.

Does the District need another big music venue? Based on discussions we’ve had before, we’re going to go with yes. It might even stand to reason that some bands — a certain British collective leaps to mind — might choose to play the Armory, with it’s large capacity and new “acoustical ceilings,” over say, Nissan Pavilion or DAR Constitution Hall. At the very least, it would be nice to have another option within the city itself.

Fiscally, though, it seems a risky proposition for an organization that just lost its biggest revenue source, has to fire 13 employees, and halve its grant money to spend $6.5 million renovating an almost 70-year-old building that hasn’t been used as a major concert hall, well, ever. Would you go see a concert at a cavernous, newly-remodeled Armory?

Photo by geoff.greene.