If you are into Sheboygan history and the history of the Armory, this is a pretty good watch. I’m almost certain the city was forced to make this documentary as a part of the agreement to destroy the building because of its status as a ‘historical place,’ but overall if you grew up going to events at the Armory, or North/South games, or whatever, it is a nostalgia trip.
That said, I simply cannot let the fact that this documentary ignored one of the great characters in the Armory’s ‘history’ go by without mention. To not even include a reference to Steven Seagull, the karate trained seagull mascot for the hypothetical Surf City Seagulls is as egregious as it is vexing:
I’ll give you a moment to catch your breath.
If you recall, one of the many *potential* saviors of the Armory was going to be the Bucks G League team. Former Kohler standout and NBA player, Joe Wolf, was heading up a group that tried to lure that team to Sheboygan. The plan was to renovate the Armory and bring it back one of it’s original uses: basketball. Well as someone who had fond memories of the Armory during my time growing up in Sheboygan, and as someone who would have loved to do play by play for this fictional team, I did whatever I could to try and push his idea out to the public. We did several interviews over the span of a few months, talked about it on the air constantly, and that all led to a potential name for this G League franchise: The Surf City Seagulls. A play on Sheboygan being one of the best fresh-water surfing cities in America, and also a play on my Dad’s faux war on the seagulls that plagued the city. Out of that, a mascot was born: Steven Seagull.
Let me tell you something without a hint of sarcasm: It is a God damn shame we didn’t get to use that name, logo, and mascot. That is a HALL OF FAME idea for a minor league team name. You can literally see a seagull mascot with a black belt on and nunchucks hyping up the crowd before a game. It’s a travesty that the team decided to locate in Oshkosh. The Acuity flag should have been flown at half staff the day that was announced*.
After that plan fell through, I tried to do what I could to publicize other efforts to save the building, but nothing really came to fruition for one reason or another. Just my opinion, but it felt like the city had made up its mind years ago and even the perfect plan wasn’t going to save that venue. It’s a shame, but the woman at the end of the documentary is correct, a generation from now no one is going to remember or be upset that it was demolished. You can have a debate about whether or not that’s a good thing, or if a community loses its history when it loses a former cornerstone like that, but time moves on and people move on. Always have, always will.
Anyway, I felt the need to put in that addendum to the the building’s story, and to post the artwork one final time. RIP Steven Seagull. You inspired dozens with your roundhouse kicks of hope, may you find an abandoned building in the sky to poop on for eternity.
*Be more dramatic, Jon.
PS: I was actually able to secure a few of the old bench seats from the Armory from some of the guys that work for the city. I have no idea what happened to that original basketball court, but if anyone has a beat on where I could purchase a piece, or dumpster dive for one, I’m open to either.
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