A Brief History of College Arms Housing 1952-2013

A Brief History of
College Arms Housing
1952-2013
On 23 June 1952, ground was broken for College Arms housing, intended
primarily for US Army War College (USAWC) students and their families. The USAWC
had moved to Carlisle Barracks in the summer of 1951, but the amount of housing
available was nowhere near what was needed. Deputy Commandant Brigadier General
Arthur Trudeau, instrumental in getting the USAWC to Carlisle, had a part in setting up
student quarters in accordance with the Wherry Housing Act of 1949. Adjustments had
to be made to comply with that program. The three bedroom homes, notoriously small,
could have been a bit
larger except for
regulations--two feet had to
be trimmed off the length
and width to get the
construction price below
$9,000 each.1 College
Arms housing overall cost
$925,700.2
Ten to twelve of the
homes were to be ready for occupancy by 1 September 1952.3 By the next academic
year, one hundred small white houses dotted the northeast section of post. Those
College Arms homes, numbering 501 to 600, lined all or parts of today’s Wright and
Forbes Avenues and Liggett, Davis, Craig, Pershing, Butler, Sumner, and Patton
Roads. Around 1960, half of the homes were expanded from three bedroom, 1,265
1
Arthur G. Trudeau Papers, Box 1, Oral History Volume II, 45, 53-54, US Army Military History
Institute, Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania.
2
Army War College Archives, Curriculum Development, Department of Academic Affairs,
General Files, Box 1, Folder 12, US Army Military History Institute, Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania.
3
Edward M. Almond Papers, Box 92, Folder 1, US Army Military History Institute, Carlisle
Barracks, Pennsylvania. News clipping (where above photo is also from) has no newspaper name or
date. It was in a scrapbook with 1952 clippings.
2
square foot homes (left, below) to four bedroom, 1,570 square foot homes (right).
Throughout the years, senior enlisted lived in five of the homes. More recently, a few
USAWC geographic bachelor students, civilian students, and other officers and enlisted
have also lived in College Arms.4
The size of the homes led to the
nickname “Smurf Village,” from a popular
1980s cartoon that originated as a comic
strip in Belgium in 1958. Smurfs, tiny
blue people who lived in a village in a
forest, were described as three apples
high. The current and previous USAWC
commandants, Major Generals Anthony
Cucolo III and Gregg Martin, both
remembered living in “Smurf Village”
when they were students. USAWC end-ofyear survey comments have included
everything from “Bulldoze 'Smurf' houses.
I will even volunteer to drive one!” (2004)
to “We quite enjoyed our ‘smurf’ home and our return to small-town America” (2009).5
4
Bif Coyle, Chief, Army Housing/Residential Communities, meeting with author, 13 November
2012, and email to author, 6 December 2012. Floor plans printed from Balfour-Beatty’s website,
www.carlislebarrackshomes.com, 5 November 2012.
3
Since 2006, housing at Carlisle
Barracks has gone through upgrades,
including The Meadows neighborhood
being added beside the golf course and
new homes replacing the red houses on
Marshall Ridge. In the “final phase” of the
housing improvements, College Arms
homes are being replaced by Heritage
Heights duplex houses. Phase I, completed
in 2009, demolished 31 homes and
replaced them with 24. The individual
homes cost between $267,000 and $275,000,
depending on size. Phase II, a $22 million
project, will replace 69 College Arms homes
with 56, and all should be ready for the
USAWC Class of 2015.6
by Jessica J. Sheets
USAMHI/USAHEC
25 January 2013
research assistance from Bif Coyle,
Michael Lynch, Guy Nasuti, and Melissa Wiford
5
Office of Institutional Assessment, “Executive Summary, End-of-Year Survey AY 04” and
“Executive Summary End-of-Year Survey Report: AY09” found at http://cbportal.carlisle.army.mil
/sites/daa/directorates/ia/surveys2/Shared%20Documents/surveys.aspx. Cartoon from “Housing Photos
for 8 Nov Briefing Rev 11-5-04.ppt,” emailed by Bif Coyle, Chief, Army Housing/Residential Communities,
to author, 13 November 2012.
6
(1) 2006 date provided by Bif Coyle, Chief, Army Housing/Residential Communities,
conversation with author, 8 January 2013. (2) Reynolds, Suzanne, “Heritage Heights phase II
demolition/construction slated for September start,” Army War College Community Banner online, August
2012, http://www.carlisle.army.mil/banner/archiveDisplay.cfm?articleMonth=8&articleYear=2012. The
article actually says 71 College Arms homes would torn down in Phase II because it was including the 2
residences within the farmhouse (building 839). College Arms count verified by email from Bif Coyle to
author on 6 December 2012. (3) “Smurf phase-out begins,” Army War College Community Banner online,
November 2012, http://www.carlisle.army.mil/banner/archiveDisplay.cfm?articleMonth=11&article
Year=2012. (4) Schloesser, Kelly. “Carlisle Barracks goes ‘green’ all year-round, Army War College
Community Banner online, May 2009, http://www.carlisle.army.mil/banner/archiveDisplay.cfm?article
Month=5&articleYear=2009. (5) “BBC Housing Costs by Unit.xlsx,” emailed by Bif Coyle, Chief, Army
Housing/Residential Communities, to author, 24 January 2013.
4
Pre-demolition photos
US Army War College Photo Lab, November 2012
larger kitchen
(smaller kitchen pictured on page 3)
5
living room and dining room
second floor
6
attic/storage area
older living room
7
Title page credits
College Arms then and now (photographs taken from Young Hall)
From informational board on College Arms in possession of Bif Coyle, Chief, Army Housing/Residential
Communities. Left image: “Wherry Housing Project, Reisinger Bros. Inc., May 27, 1953.” Right image:
circa 2004.
Aerial view
Carlisle Barracks Collection Photographs, Box 76, Folder 8, US Army Military History Institute, Carlisle
Barracks, Pennsylvania. Circa mid-1990s.
8