MUTC opens doors

BUTLERVILLE — Muscatatuck Urban Training Center is throwing a party and residents from the region are invited.

The center will have an open house from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Oct. 10  for the public to see what is happening at the facility off U.S. 50 near Butlerville.

“We want to bring the public in and show them what it is we do on a day-to-day basis,” Lt. Col. Chris Kelsey, MUTC commander, said. “We want the people of the local area to see what we have built and why we have built it, get a feel for why we’re here.”

The Indiana National Guard took over the former Muscatatuck State Developmental Center in July 2005 in order to turn the site into the Army’s premiere urban training facility, Kelsey said.

The facility itself has been around since 1920, when what was then called the Indiana Farm Colony for Feeble Minded Boys was opened on the site. From 1935 to 1950, several art deco and art modern buildings were constructed.

These one-of-a-kind buildings have been painstakingly cared for and continue to be kept up by the military, Kelsey said.

Through Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act, several steps have been taken to document the history of Muscatatuck through the years.

Nothing will be done to change the outward look of the historic buildings because of an agreement between the state and the military, Karstin Carmany, the cultural resource manager for MUTC, said.

“The Indiana National Guard is being very careful to keep the buildings intact and they are mindful of the historic significance of the site,” she said.

The public will be able to see for themselves how the buildings are maintained and used as a military training site.

Driving tours will leave from the chapel at the top of each hour, and walking tours will depart at the bottom of each hour during the day.

MUTC staff will be available to answer questions and show displays that explain the various vehicles, weapons systems, and training techniques used at the site.

Kelsey said he has been planning the event for most of the past year.

“I’ve been wanting to have an event where we just open the facility up for all of our neighbors to see, and now we get to have it,” he said. “I hope everybody comes out to Muscatatuck and finds out what we’re all about.”

Muscatatuck Urban Training Center is on U.S. 50, two miles east of North Vernon.