Bates automobile manufacturing was started up in the old "Armory" building on South Capitol Avenue, in Lansing.

The Armory building was designed by Lehman and Schmitt and constructed in 1896.

The Armory building was constructed in 1939 in Art Deco style by architect William Manley King with Works Progress Administration (WPA) funds.

Even though it was designed in the Art Deco style, the Armory building blends in with the other buildings in the district.

The Armory building itself was destroyed by fire in 1934, in connection with rioting in the Auto-Lite strike.

Renovate the historic Armory building into the new Science Center School and Amgen Center for Science Learning.

In 1992, New York State and the federal government accepted the Discovery Center's proposal to open a Museum of Science & Technology in the Armory building.

Refurbishing of the old Armory building into a basketball arena.

The Studios of Key West, founded in 2006 and based at the island's historic Armory building, was established as a new model for an artist community.

The exhibits were then displayed in Los Angeles, California before touring across the nation as a traveling museum until 2002 when The Armory building was chosen as its permanent location.