Fort Homer W. Hesterly Armory

Fort Homer W. Hesterly is a historic building at 522 North Howard Avenue in the West Tampa section of Tampa, Florida. An art deco style building. It took ten years to find an occupant for the building, once a premiere venue. It is now home to the Tampa Jewish Community Center & Federation. Performers have included Elvis Presley, U.S. President John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Jr., Tom Jones, The Animals, James Brown, Buddy Holly, Andy Griffith, Allman Brothers, Tempests, Pink Floyd, the Doors and The Ramones. Many graduations and weddings have been held at the Fort. The National Guard used the armory until 2005.

The armory was built in the 1930s under Franklin Delano Roosevelt's New Deal and dedicated the day after the Pearl Harbor attack.

In 1955 Elvis Presley performed at the armory as part of the “Country Music’s Mr. Rhythm” show, the final act in country star Hank Snow’s All-Star Jamboree tour. His debut album includes a photo from his 1955 performance at the armory. The armory was used by President Kennedy for an address to the Florida Chamber of Commerce in 1963, four days before his assassination in Dallas. The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. also spoke at the armory. The Doors played at the armory in 1972.

The armory held Championship Wrestling from Florida matches during the era of Dusty Rhodes, Jack Brisco and announcer Gordon Solie. Billy Fives and Pepe Prado represented NWA Florida at the armory in a tag team match against Mike Sullivan and Scoot Andrews during an interpromotional event between IPW Hardcore vs. NWA Florida.

The Florida National Guard and U.S. Army Reserve officials announced plans to replace the armory on December 1, 2001. A new 216424 sqft facility to be built at Gateway Center in Pinellas Park was planned as a replacement of three existing outdated and overcrowded facilities including Fort Hesterly and Tampa's the JF Campbell National Guard Armory in Clearwater and the Lovejoy U.S. Army Reserve Center in Tampa. Construction of the new $53.5 million project began in 2002, and was expected to be completed by the spring of 2003. The House Appropriations Committee originally allocated $45 million for the project.

Plans for the former armory included a film studio and creative industries incubator, an ice rink and sports complex, and mixed-use commercial/residential development. In 2007, a $98 million hotel and spa project won the selection process, but later dropped.

A plan to redevelop the 75,000 square foot armory into a luxury development fell through in 2010.

On October 23, 2013, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places.