The Fort Washington Avenue Armory, also known as the Fort Washington Armory, The Armory, and the 22nd Regiment Armory, is a historic 5,000-seat arena and
armory
Armory or armoury may mean:
* An arsenal, a military or civilian location for the storage of arms and ammunition
Places
*National Guard Armory, in the United States and Canada, a training place for National Guard or other part-time or regular mili ...
building located at 216
Fort Washington Avenue
Fort Washington Avenue is a major north-south street in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan. It runs from Fort Tryon Park to 159th Street, where it intersects with Broadway. It goes past Bennett Park, the highest natural point in ...
, between
West 168th and
169th Streets, in the
Washington Heights neighborhood of
Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
,
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
. It is a brick
Classical Revival
Neoclassical architecture is an architectural style produced by the Neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century in Italy and France. It became one of the most prominent architectural styles in the Western world. The prevailing style ...
building with
Romanesque Revival
Romanesque Revival (or Neo-Romanesque) is a style of building employed beginning in the mid-19th century inspired by the 11th- and 12th-century Romanesque architecture. Unlike the historic Romanesque style, Romanesque Revival buildings tended to ...
elements, such as the entrance
arch
An arch is a vertical curved structure that spans an elevated space and may or may not support the weight above it, or in case of a horizontal arch like an arch dam, the hydrostatic pressure against it.
Arches may be synonymous with vaul ...
,
and is currently home to the non-profit Armory Foundation,
National Track and Field Hall of Fame
The National Track and Field Hall of Fame is a museum operated by The Armory Foundation in conjunction with USA Track & Field. It is located within the Armory Foundation (the former Fort Washington Avenue Armory) at 216 Fort Washington Avenue, ...
,
New Balance
New Balance Athletics, Inc. (NB), best known as simply New Balance, is one of the world's major sports footwear and apparel manufacturers. Based in Boston, Massachusetts, the multinational corporation was founded in 1906 as the New Balance Arch ...
Track and Field
Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...
Center, and other organizations including the
Police Athletic League of New York City
The Police Athletic League (PAL) is an independent, nonprofit youth development agency in New York City. PAL is funded by a combination of private donations and public funding sources and is a designated charity of the New York City Police Dep ...
.
When built in the early 20th century it was one of the first armories in New York City in the Neoclassical style, instead of the
Gothic Revival
Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...
mode favored during the 19th century. It was home to the 22nd Regiment of the
Army Corps of Engineers, was used to give licensing exams for those who wished to become architects, engineers, nurses and so on,
and was later used as a
homeless shelter. Thanks to help of Dr.
Norbert Sander The Armory was restored and in 1995 it was listed on the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
. Today the building is home to "The Fastest Track in the World" as more records have been set on The Armory's track than any other facility in the world. The Armory is host to 100+ track meets annually and is one of only four World Athletics Certified Indoor Facilities in the United States.
Building
Three stories high, the Armory is constructed of brick on a raised
foundation
Foundation may refer to:
* Foundation (nonprofit), a type of charitable organization
** Foundation (United States law), a type of charitable organization in the U.S.
** Private foundation, a charitable organization that, while serving a good cause ...
with
limestone
Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...
and
terra cotta
Terracotta, terra cotta, or terra-cotta (; ; ), in its material sense as an earthenware substrate, is a clay-based unglazed or glazed ceramic where the fired body is porous.
In applied art, craft, construction, and architecture, terracotta ...
trim. The administration building is on a fully exposed basement; the drill shed only partially. Iron bars protect the windows on the basement and first floor. The roofline is marked by a
corbel
In architecture, a corbel is a structural piece of stone, wood or metal jutting from a wall to carry a superincumbent weight, a type of bracket. A corbel is a solid piece of material in the wall, whereas a console is a piece applied to the s ...
ed
cornice
In architecture, a cornice (from the Italian ''cornice'' meaning "ledge") is generally any horizontal decorative moulding that crowns a building or furniture element—for example, the cornice over a door or window, around the top edge of a ...
and
parapet
A parapet is a barrier that is an extension of the wall at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony, walkway or other structure. The word comes ultimately from the Italian ''parapetto'' (''parare'' 'to cover/defend' and ''petto'' 'chest/breast'). Whe ...
with terra cotta trim.
The west (front)
facade features a three-part projecting entrance
pavilion
In architecture, ''pavilion'' has several meanings:
* It may be a subsidiary building that is either positioned separately or as an attachment to a main building. Often it is associated with pleasure. In palaces and traditional mansions of Asia ...
flanked by four-bay sides. At the corners are square
bastions with
crenelated
A battlement in defensive architecture, such as that of city walls or castles, comprises a parapet (i.e., a defensive low wall between chest-height and head-height), in which gaps or indentations, which are often rectangular, occur at interv ...
parapets in terra cotta. The entrance pavilion has octagonal bastions flanking smooth
rusticated limestone
voussoir
A voussoir () is a wedge-shaped element, typically a stone, which is used in building an arch or vault.
Although each unit in an arch or vault is a voussoir, two units are of distinct functional importance: the keystone and the springer. The ...
s around a large
sally port
A sally port is a secure, controlled entry way to an enclosure, e.g., a fortification or prison. The entrance is usually protected by some means, such as a fixed wall on the outside, parallel to the door, which must be circumvented to enter an ...
.
Both side elevations have nine asymmetrical bays, with round-arched windows in the second and third stories and double-hung
casement windows at street level. Some on both sets have been filled in.
Behind a wooden
portcullis
A portcullis (from Old French ''porte coleice'', "sliding gate") is a heavy vertically-closing gate typically found in medieval fortifications, consisting of a latticed grille made of wood, metal, or a combination of the two, which slides down gr ...
at the rear of the sally port is the entrance, three wooden doors inside a segmentally arched stone
architrave
In classical architecture, an architrave (; from it, architrave "chief beam", also called an epistyle; from Greek ἐπίστυλον ''epistylon'' "door frame") is the lintel or beam that rests on the capitals of columns.
The term can ...
capped with a console-style
keystone. It is inscribed with the words
22ND REGIMENT CORPS OF ENGINEERS NGNY. Above it is a multi-pane
transom.
The interior retains much of its original finish. Rooms have
terrazzo
Terrazzo is a composite material, poured in place or precast, which is used for floor and wall treatments. It consists of chips of marble, quartz, granite, glass, or other suitable material, poured with a cementitious binder (for chemical bindi ...
floors, glazed brick walls trimmed in terracotta. The
cross-vault
A groin vault or groined vault (also sometimes known as a double barrel vault or cross vault) is produced by the intersection at right angles of two barrel vaults. Honour, H. and J. Fleming, (2009) ''A World History of Art''. 7th edn. London: Lau ...
ed ceilings are sheathed in tiles laid in
chevron
Chevron (often relating to V-shaped patterns) may refer to:
Science and technology
* Chevron (aerospace), sawtooth patterns on some jet engines
* Chevron (anatomy), a bone
* '' Eulithis testata'', a moth
* Chevron (geology), a fold in rock ...
patterns and have
glazed terra cotta architraves at their entrances. There are bronze
sconce
Sconce may refer to:
*Sconce (fortification), a military fortification
*Sconce (light fixture)
*Sconcing, imposing a penalty in the form of drink
*Sconce Point
Fort Victoria is a former military fort on the Isle of Wight, England (), built to ...
s throughout the building. A double-width staircase in fireproof steel and concrete has a curving rail. Its hallway is encircled with a wide
frieze
In architecture, the frieze is the wide central section part of an entablature and may be plain in the Ionic or Doric order, or decorated with bas-reliefs. Paterae are also usually used to decorate friezes. Even when neither columns nor ...
on which there are two remaining
Works Progress Administration
The Works Progress Administration (WPA; renamed in 1939 as the Work Projects Administration) was an American New Deal agency that employed millions of jobseekers (mostly men who were not formally educated) to carry out public works projects, i ...
(WPA) murals.
At the north and south ends of the administration building are two large
company
A company, abbreviated as co., is a Legal personality, legal entity representing an association of people, whether Natural person, natural, Legal person, legal or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members share a common p ...
meeting rooms. The south one features a
paneled dado, beamed ceilings, hardwood floors and an intricately
carved
Carving is the act of using tools to shape something from a material by scraping away portions of that material. The technique can be applied to any material that is solid enough to hold a form even when pieces have been removed from it, and ...
mantel flanked by two
Doric Doric may refer to:
* Doric, of or relating to the Dorians of ancient Greece
** Doric Greek, the dialects of the Dorians
* Doric order, a style of ancient Greek architecture
* Doric mode, a synonym of Dorian mode
* Doric dialect (Scotland)
* Doric ...
columns. The north meeting room features paneled
mahogany
Mahogany is a straight-grained, reddish-brown timber of three tropical hardwood species of the genus ''Swietenia'', indigenous to the AmericasBridgewater, Samuel (2012). ''A Natural History of Belize: Inside the Maya Forest''. Austin: Unive ...
wainscoting
Panelling (or paneling in the U.S.) is a millwork wall covering constructed from rigid or semi-rigid components. These are traditionally interlocking wood, but could be plastic or other materials.
Panelling was developed in antiquity to make ro ...
, built-in trophy cases and a glazed brick fireplace with wooden
overmantel
The fireplace mantel or mantelpiece, also known as a chimneypiece, originated in medieval times as a hood that projected over a fire grate to catch the smoke. The term has evolved to include the decorative framework around the fireplace, and ca ...
.
The drill shed is a large
barrel vault
A barrel vault, also known as a tunnel vault, wagon vault or wagonhead vault, is an architectural element formed by the extrusion of a single curve (or pair of curves, in the case of a pointed barrel vault) along a given distance. The curves are ...
ed space with
balcony
A balcony (from it, balcone, "scaffold") is a platform projecting from the wall of a building, supported by columns or console brackets, and enclosed with a balustrade, usually above the ground floor.
Types
The traditional Maltese balcony is ...
on all sides allowing seating for 2,300. It has massive arched
truss
A truss is an assembly of ''members'' such as beams, connected by ''nodes'', that creates a rigid structure.
In engineering, a truss is a structure that "consists of two-force members only, where the members are organized so that the assembl ...
es and is lit and ventilated via a
clerestory
In architecture, a clerestory ( ; , also clearstory, clearstorey, or overstorey) is a high section of wall that contains windows above eye level. Its purpose is to admit light, fresh air, or both.
Historically, ''clerestory'' denoted an upper l ...
.
History
![2014 Fort Washington Armory](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/63/2014_Fort_Washington_Armory.jpg)
The 22nd Regiment traces its origins to the Union Grays, who stayed behind in Manhattan when the city's other units left for the
Civil War
A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country).
The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...
. They helped suppress the
New York City draft riots
The New York City draft riots (July 13–16, 1863), sometimes referred to as the Manhattan draft riots and known at the time as Draft Week, were violent disturbances in Lower Manhattan, widely regarded as the culmination of white working-cla ...
in 1863 and later saw some action on the front lines. They were one of the first units to have their own armory devoted solely to military purposes. It was located originally on
West 14th Street
14th Street is a major crosstown street in the New York City borough of Manhattan, traveling between Eleventh Avenue on Manhattan's West Side and Avenue C on Manhattan's East Side. It forms a boundary between several neighborhoods and is so ...
near
Sixth Avenue.
In 1890, the regiment moved to another armory on Broadway at Columbus Street on the
Upper West Side
The Upper West Side (UWS) is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It is bounded by Central Park on the east, the Hudson River on the west, West 59th Street to the south, and West 110th Street to the north. The Upper West ...
. It was designed by one of the unit's members, Capt. John Leo. In 1907 the city's Armory Board held a competition for another new armory for the 22nd, to be located in the growing Washington Heights section of the city. The firm of Richard Walker and Charles Morris, whose works also included the South Ferry Building and several branch libraries in Brooklyn, won. The building was completed four years later, in 1911, at a cost of $1.16 million ($ in contemporary dollars).
The Armory building is visible behind left field and across 168th Street in later photos of
Hilltop Park
Hilltop Park was the nickname of a baseball park that stood in the Washington Heights neighborhood of New York City. It was the home of the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball from 1903 to 1912, when they were known as the "Highlanders". I ...
, the original home of the
New York Yankees
The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Amer ...
.
Sometime after World War II the 22nd was merged into the 42nd Division as the 102nd Engineering Battalion. It was moved around and downsized within the city's
National Guard
National Guard is the name used by a wide variety of current and historical uniformed organizations in different countries. The original National Guard was formed during the French Revolution around a cadre of defectors from the French Guards.
Nat ...
units several times until it was disbanded sometime in the late 20th century. Only two of the units survive; both are now attached to the
369th Regiment and based at its
armory
Armory or armoury may mean:
* An arsenal, a military or civilian location for the storage of arms and ammunition
Places
*National Guard Armory, in the United States and Canada, a training place for National Guard or other part-time or regular mili ...
in Harlem.
The armory remained under the jurisdiction of the
New York State Division of Military & Naval Affairs. It was used as a
homeless shelter late in the 20th century,
housing more than 1,000 people.
A plan was developed to modify and expand it for that purpose that would have compromised its historical integrity,
but these plans gave way in the mid-1980s, when the Armory became New York's premiere indoor
track and field
Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...
facility. At , it was almost double the size of
Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as The Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh and Eighth avenues from 31st to 33rd Street, above Pennsylva ...
.
In 1992, a campaign began to refurbish and modernize The Armory into a state-of-the-art facility.
Norbert Sander., who spearheaded the campaign, was the only New Yorker to have won the
New York City Marathon
The New York City Marathon (currently branded TCS New York City Marathon after its headline sponsor (commercial), sponsor) is an annual Marathon (sport), marathon () that courses through the five boroughs of New York City. It is the largest mar ...
, and a longtime member of the board of
New York Road Runners
New York Road Runners (NYRR) is a non-profit running organization based in New York City whose mission is to help and inspire people through running. It was founded in 1958 by Ted Corbitt with 47 members and has since grown to a membership of more ...
. He raised $25 million and convinced elected officials, governmental agencies and corporate sponsors to allow him to take over the Armory. As part of the renovation, a banked track was installed.
[Belson, Ken (March 17, 2017]
"Norbert W. Sander Jr., Champion of New York Running, Dies at 74"
''The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' In 2002, the armory was chosen as the permanent home of the
National Track and Field Hall of Fame
The National Track and Field Hall of Fame is a museum operated by The Armory Foundation in conjunction with USA Track & Field. It is located within the Armory Foundation (the former Fort Washington Avenue Armory) at 216 Fort Washington Avenue, ...
, and it is now the largest site of
indoor
Indoor(s) may refer to:
*the interior of a building
*Indoor environment, in building science, traditionally includes the study of indoor thermal environment, indoor acoustic environment, indoor light environment, and indoor air quality
*Built envi ...
college and high school invitationals in the world.
Since 2012, it has been the location for the
New York Road Runners
New York Road Runners (NYRR) is a non-profit running organization based in New York City whose mission is to help and inspire people through running. It was founded in 1958 by Ted Corbitt with 47 members and has since grown to a membership of more ...
Millrose Games The Millrose Games is an annual indoor athletics meet (track and field) held each February in New York City. They started taking place at the Armory in Washington Heights in 2012, after having taken place in Madison Square Garden from 1914 to 2011 ...
.
Track & Field Center
The spacious third floor is home to the
New Balance
New Balance Athletics, Inc. (NB), best known as simply New Balance, is one of the world's major sports footwear and apparel manufacturers. Based in Boston, Massachusetts, the multinational corporation was founded in 1906 as the New Balance Arch ...
Track and Field
Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...
Center, a 200-meter, six-lane banked mondo track, two large runways and sand pits, a pole vault pit, and a throws cage. The Center is widely regarded as one of the premier indoor track and field facilities in the United States and is one of only five
World Athletics
World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation (from 1912 to 2001) and International Association of Athletics Federations (from 2001 to 2019, both abbreviated as the IAAF) is the international governing body for ...
certified indoor facilities in the United States.
The Center plays host to a number of meets at the high school, college, and professional/open/masters level each year, including the NYRR
Millrose Games The Millrose Games is an annual indoor athletics meet (track and field) held each February in New York City. They started taking place at the Armory in Washington Heights in 2012, after having taken place in Madison Square Garden from 1914 to 2011 ...
, New Balance Nationals Indoor, The Dr. Sander Invitational/Columbia Challenge and several of the largest high school meets in the country. The Armory is also home to the
Colgate Women's Games Championship, which is the largest track & field series for women in the nation. The
Public School Athletic League
The Public Schools Athletic League, known by the abbreviation PSAL, is an organization that promotes student athletics in the public schools of New York City. It was founded in 1903 to provide and maintain a sports program for students enrolled i ...
(PSAL), the largest high school athletic league in the country, also makes their home at The Armory. A number of college programs – such as
Columbia University
Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
,
New York University
New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin.
In 1832, the ...
,
Saint John's University St John's University may refer to:
*St. John's University (New York City)
** St. John's University School of Law
**St. John's University (Italy) - Overseas Campus
* College of Saint Benedict and Saint John's University, St. Joseph, Minnesota and C ...
,
St. Francis College,
City College of New York
The City College of the City University of New York (also known as the City College of New York, or simply City College or CCNY) is a public university within the City University of New York (CUNY) system in New York City. Founded in 1847, Cit ...
and
Iona College
Iona University is a private Roman Catholic university with a main campus in New Rochelle, New York. It was founded in 1940 by the Congregation of Christian Brothers and occupies a campus of in New Rochelle and a campus of in Bronxville, ...
– utilize it as their home indoor track.
First held in 1908, the NYRR
Millrose Games The Millrose Games is an annual indoor athletics meet (track and field) held each February in New York City. They started taking place at the Armory in Washington Heights in 2012, after having taken place in Madison Square Garden from 1914 to 2011 ...
is the centerpiece of The Armory’s track and field calendar, and is arguably the most prestigious indoor meet in the world. The event formerly took place at Madison Square Garden before moving to The Armory in 2012. Millrose features elite competition at every level, with youth, high school, collegiate, professional, and masters races. Millrose traditionally concludes with the NYRR Wanamaker Mile, which has featured many icons of the sport, including
Eamonn Coghlan
Eamonn Christopher Coghlan (born 21 November 1952) is an Irish former track and field athlete who specialised in middle distance track events and the 5,000 metres. He is a three-time Olympian and former world champion in the 5,000 m. He se ...
and
Bernard Lagat. At the 2020 event,
Donavan Brazier
Donavan Brazier (born April 15, 1997) is an American middle-distance runner. He holds the American junior record and American record in men's 800 meters and won the gold medal at the 2019 World Championships.
Athletics career Youth
In 2014, ...
,
Ajeé Wilson
Ajeé Wilson ( ; born May 8, 1994) is an American middle-distance runner who specializes in the 800 meters. She is the 2022 World indoor champion at the 800 meter distance, after earning silver medals in 2016 and 2018. Wilson won bronze medals ...
, and
Elinor Purrier
Elinor "Elle" Purrier St. Pierre (born February 20, 1995) is an American track and field athlete who specializes in middle-distance running and long-distance running. In 2022, she earned her first global medal, winning silver in the women's 300 ...
each set new American records.
The Armory Foundation
The Armory Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to serving youth by promoting fitness and education through a broad range of athletic, educational, and community programs and strives to "Keep Kids on Track."
Part of the foundation is The Armory College Prep (ACP) that helps in “Keeping Kids on Track.” Only 72 percent of New York City high school students go on to attend college after graduation, a number that is significantly lower in the underserved, largely black and Latino communities that ACP draws from. For the fourth year in a row, 100 percent of the program's graduating seniors have been accepted to a four-year college. Students from the classes of 2018 and 2019 have gone on to attend Cornell, Amherst, Haverford, Williams, Washington & Lee, and many other competitive institutions.
Unlike other programs that only accept students with top grades or test scores, ACP is unscreened. All students who sign up are accepted into the program, and the full-time staff works around the clock to fill in the educational gaps. Students are given an assessment at the start of the program that helps identify strengths and weaknesses. The tutors take this data and create lesson plans for each student to help them achieve their potential.
ACP works to close the opportunity gap for the students by providing one-on-one tutoring in a variety of subjects, focusing on Math and English. It provides test prep for the SAT and other standardized tests, along with personalized college counseling that helps each student create a list of target schools and develop a personal narrative that is compelling to admissions officers. Through theater and literature programs, ACP also encourages students to find their own voice in the creative arts. Several years ago, ACP added a middle school program, which helps prepare younger students for the rigors of high school, along with providing curriculum depth in areas such as computer science and math.
See also
*
*
.
References
Notes
External links
National Track and Field Hall of Fame
{{NewYorksportsvenues
Armories in New York City
Armories on the National Register of Historic Places in New York (state)
Athletics (track and field) venues in New York City
College indoor track and field venues in the United States
Indoor track and field venues in New York (state)
Military facilities on the National Register of Historic Places in Manhattan
Neoclassical architecture in New York City
Infrastructure completed in 1911
Washington Heights, Manhattan
Works Progress Administration in New York City
1911 establishments in New York City