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FORT HUACHUCA — This year’s gala fund-raiser dinner for the Mountain View Colored Officers’ Club Rehabilitation Project is expected to lead into a major effort to obtain donations to restore the World War II facility.
Just recently, the association received an artist’s rendering of what the building looked like when it was constructed in 1952.
The fort was the major Army post training colored soldiers, as black soldiers were called in that era, for combat during the war. Two divisions, the 92nd and 93rd trained on the post, with one being sent to fight in Europe and the other in the Pacific.
 An artist's rendering of what the Colored Officers' Club on Fort Huachuca would look like after being renovated. (Courtesy of the Southwester Association of Buffalo Soldiers) |
Tom Stoney, president of the Southwest Association of Buffalo Soldiers, said this year’s gala, which begins at 6 p.m. on Sept. 23 at the fort’s Thunder Mountain Activity Centre, will include a memorabilia sale, a guest speaker, entertainment and other events.
Harlan Bradford Sr. is in charge of the gala committee.
A number of things have happened since last year’s event, Stoney said.
Besides the rendering of what the club looked like in the 1940s, the University of Arizona’s planning degree program has come up with a business plan, which will be finalized soon.
The association is working on establishing the Mountain View Colored Officers’ Club Foundation as a way to go out and seek donations. Stoney said he hopes the foundation’s board will include some top names in the black entertainment and business communities.
The Pascua Yaqui Nation council has expressed an interest in possibly donating to the project and has asked Stoney for information to be used in making a decision.
“It could be a sizable contribution,” he said.
During next year’s Black History Month, the association is working on establishing a special program on Feb. 3 that will include a parade down Fry Boulevard and a celebration of the contributions black soldiers have made, Stoney said. The celebration will be held in Veterans’ Memorial Park.
The association and the future foundation will need $5 million to restore the boarded up and heavily damaged structure. Half of the money will go to restoration of the only building specifically constructed for colored officers, as they were called in the 1940s, Stoney said.
The remainder will be used as an endowment to maintain the structure.
Because of the historical significance of the phrase colored officers from that period, the term black officers will not be used as part of the project, Stoney said.
SENIOR reporter Bill Hess can be reached at 515-4615 or by e-mail at bill.hess@svherald.com.
Joe Hicks wrote on Oct 8, 2007 2:22 PM: