Topeka ? The Kansas National Guard says three of its armories are scheduled to close this week.

Closing ceremonies will be held Monday at Council Grove, Tuesday at Fort Scott and Wednesday at Phillipsburg.

Eighteen of the Kansas National Guard’s 56 armories are scheduled to close this year.

When the closings were announced last December, Maj. Gen. Tod Bunting, the adjutant general, said the action was in response to cuts in state funding, demographic changes and changes in the Guard’s structure.

The shuttered armories will be turned over to local authorities. The units that train at the armories are being reassigned the remaining 38 armories.