Case Study: Fort McClellan Recreation Center, Alabama

Theater, before and after

Fort McClellan, in Anniston, Alabama, trained nearly 500,000 servicemen and housed German prisoners of war during World War II. Then, in the 1990s, it landed on the list for the first round of base closures proposed by the Department of Defense's Base Realignment and Closure Commission. The base's closure in 1999 ended its military history, but offered new opportunities for community use of its buildings.

Ticket Booth, before and after

The 1936 Recreation Center — three buildings connected by a colonnade — had been the enlisted men's service club, movie theater, and gymnasium. After a $2.2 million rehabilitation, the buildings look much as they did earlier in their history and are now a restaurant, theater, exhibit hall, and meeting space.