Photo By Bruce Cummins | PENSACOLA, Fla. -- Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society (NMCRS) Director Joy Barnes and...... read more read more
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Story by: Janett Siler, Naval Air Station (NAS) Pensacola Public Affairs
PENSACOLA, Fla. – One of the oldest structures onboard Naval Air Station (NAS) Pensacola served as the site for a building rededication ceremony July 24.
After extensive repairs, Bldg. 191's current tenants the Navy and Marine Corps Relief Society (NMCRS) celebrated completion of the structure’s refurbishment with a ribbon-cutting ceremony featuring descendants of the building’s namesake – Chief Musician (MUC) Arthur L. Symington.
“Naval Air Station Pensacola is replete with history, and being part of a ceremony celebrating the rich heritage we share with our community is truly an honor,” said Capt. Chandra ‘Mamasan’ Newman, the NAS Pensacola commanding officer. “As we prepare to celebrate the air station’s bicentennial next year, ensuring we keep our history alive for generations to come is a priority, and knowing this building has been part of this great installation’s storied legacy from its inception is a unique part of not only NAS Pensacola but the community.”
Newman was joined by Judy Symington, Cindy Symington, Kandy Bellanova and Sandra Helm – daughters of MUC Arthur Symington – as well as NAS Pensacola Cultural Resources Officer Carrie Williams-Hannah and CCI General Contractors, in cutting a ribbon, signifying rededicating the structure after eight months of extensive renovations.
“Our historic Building 191 has stood strong through history and stood strong through hurricanes. We are thankful to NAS Pensacola and CCI General Contractors for ensuring our building has been restored to the stature it deserves,” said NMCRS Director Joy Barnes. “NMCRS is honored to work in this historic building on this storied base, and we are pleased to help preserve the legacy of MUC Arthur L. Symington.”
Repairs on the structure included all new windows and shutters, restoring the balconies with their historic decorative iron work and a fresh paint of coat matched with historic accuracy.
The Symington building – one of the only surviving structures from the original Warrington community after the U.S. Navy acquired it – has been used for various functions over the past century, including as a music room and the installation’s Public Affairs Office (PAO), and currently serves as NMCRS Pensacola office spaces.
After Pensacola Navy Yard was established in 1825, two villages, Warrington and Woolsey, were established outside the Navy Yard to provide adequate housing for the masons, joiners, coopers, blacksmiths and others recruited to work in the Navy Yard, according to Williams-Hannah. She added that one of the stores supporting the Warrington community was Bauer’s Store, now Navy Bldg. 191, the Symington Building. The two-story, rectangular brick structure was built sometime before 1884.
According to a document written by Rear Adm. Lucien Young, commandant of the Navy Yard in 1911, Warrington appeared a vibrant community through which the early bonds of the significant relationship the area shares with the U.S. Navy could have stemmed.
“…Warrington was a very promising village and in many ways excelled Pensacola, especially from a social standpoint,” Young wrote in 1910. “Some of the most sociable, cultivated and exclusive families of Florida, such as the Chase and Strong families, resided at the mouth of the lagoon, and they added greatly to the societies of the officers and their families stationed at Fort Barrancas and the Navy Yard. The elite of Pensacola were frequent visitors to Warrington to join in the gayeties of the place. Dallas Street then was the fashionable promenade along which a broad board walk extended from the Western gate of the Navy Yard past the Naval Hospital and terminating at Fort Barrancas. This street was also embellished by the imposing Catholic and beautiful Episcopal Churches, large stores, and attractive residences and many pretty cottages, with a lovely bathing beach close by.”
Following the closure of the Pensacola Navy Yard in 1911, the installation was reopened in 1914 as NAS Pensacola, ushering in a new phase of sea power – naval aviation. Building 191 served in a variety of capacities over the years, eventually serving as the office and rehearsal spaces for the Naval Air Training Command Choir, started by then Chief Musician Arthur L. Symington, for whom the building is named.
NAS Pensacola, referred to as the "Cradle of Naval Aviation," is designed to support operational and training missions of tenant commands, including Naval Air Technical Training Center (NATTC), Naval Aviation Schools Command (NASC), the Center for Naval Aviation Technical Training (CNATT), Marine Aviation Training Support Groups (MATSG) 21 and 23 and is the headquarters for Naval Education and Training Command (NETC). Along with an active runway, the air station also maintains a deepwater port, directly supporting U.S. Coast Guard missions.
| Date Taken: | 07.24.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 07.25.2025 11:52 |
| Story ID: | 543837 |
| Location: | PENSACOLA, FLORIDA, US |
| Web Views: | 530 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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