32nd St. and Lancaster Ave. Philadelphia Armory, also known as the 32nd Street Armory or Drexel Armory, is a historic National Guard armory and multipurpose venue located in the University City neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Main entrances to the Armory are located at both 33rd and Cuthbert Street, and along

Lancaster Walk The Philadelphia and Lancaster Turnpike, first used in 1795, is the first long-distance paved road built in the United States, according to engineered plans and specifications. It links Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Phi ...

. Cuthbert Street is part of the Armory property and was removed from Philadelphia city street listing. It was built in 1916, and is a trapezoidal shaped building in the Classical Revival style. It is a three-story, 21,346 square foot, brick building with stone entablature and parapet. It houses administrative offices, a gymnasium, and drill hall. ''Note:'' This includes It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1991. In 2008,

Drexel University Drexel University is a private research university with its main campus in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Drexel's undergraduate school was founded in 1891 by Anthony J. Drexel, a financier and philanthropist. Founded as Drexel Institute of Art, S ...

leased parts of the armory with plans to renovate it into a

convocation A convocation (from the Latin ''wikt:convocare, convocare'' meaning "to call/come together", a translation of the Ancient Greek, Greek wikt:ἐκκλησία, ἐκκλησία ''ekklēsia'') is a group of people formally assembled for a speci ...

and basketball arena for the use of Drexel athletics. Eventually, the university abandoned the plans to convert the armory into its primary arena, and instead focused on renovating the current arena, the

Daskalakis Athletic Center Daskalakis Athletic Center (DAC) is a athletic and recreational facility in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The facility is best known for its 2,509-seat multi-purpose arena that is home to multiple Drexel University Dragons sports teams includin ...

. However, smaller scale renovations were completed at the armory and it is currently used for many events such as concerts, food events, art gatherings, and conventions.

Concerts

Drexel homecoming dance concert

The annual homecoming dance concert was held at the armory during the last week of January each year from 2009 to 2014. Following the 2014 concert, the event was replaced by the Drexel Fall Fest. Headlining performances included: *2014:

DJ Carnage Diamanté Anthony Blackmon (born January 3, 1991), known professionally as Gordo (stylized GORDO) and formerly known as Carnage (or DJ Carnage), is a Nicaraguan-American DJ, record producer, and former rapper. Blackmon was initially known for h ...

, GRiZ, ScHoolboy Q, Trinidad James *2013:

Porter Robinson Porter Weston Robinson (born July 15, 1992) is an American DJ, record producer, musician, and singer from Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Robinson began producing music in his childhood. He signed to Skrillex's record label Owsla, OWSLA at the age o ...

, Flosstradamus, Waka Flocka Flame *2012:

Snoop Dogg Calvin Cordozar Broadus Jr. (born October 20, 1971), known professionally as Snoop Dogg (previously Snoop Doggy Dogg and briefly Snoop Lion), is an American rapper. His fame dates back to 1992 when he featured on Dr. Dre's debut solo single, " ...

, Wynter Gordon, DJ Serafin *2011: *2010:

Sean Paul Sean Paul Ryan Francis Henriques OD (born 9 January 1973) is a Jamaican rapper and singer who is regarded as one of dancehall's most prolific artists. Paul's singles "Get Busy" and "Temperature" topped the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart in the ...

, Jay Sean, DJ Serafin,

Vita Chambers Vita Chambers (born June 10, 1993) is a Barbadian-Canadian singer and songwriter. She is best known for her hit single "Like Boom" in 2010. Musical career and early life Chambers was born in Vancouver, Canada. She then moved to Barbados, wh ...

, East Hundred, Oh Snap! *2009:

G-Eazy Gerald Earl Gillum (born May 24, 1989), better known by his stage name G-Eazy, is an American rapper. His first major-label album, '' These Things Happen'', was released on June 23, 2014, and peaked at number 3 on the US ''Billboard'' 200 ...

, Chiddy Bang, Mike Jones, DJ Jazzy Jeff

Drexel Spring Jam

The annual Spring Jam concert, which is organized by the Drexel CAB, is generally held during the Spring semester. The Spring Jam was performed at the Drexel Armory until it was relocated to Lot F, an open parking area on Drexel's campus between Main Building and 31st Street, beginning in 2011. The headlining acts of the Spring Jam concerts performed at the armory included: *2010:

N.E.R.D. N.E.R.D. (stylized as N⋆E⋆R⋆D and N.E.R.D, a backronym of No-one Ever Really Dies) is an American hip hop and rock band, formed in Virginia Beach, Virginia, in 1999. Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo were signed by Teddy Riley to Virgin Reco ...

, Kevin Rudolf *2009: Girl Talk,

Lupe Fiasco Wasalu Muhammad Jaco (born February 16, 1982), better known by his stage name Lupe Fiasco ( ), is an American rapper, singer, record producer, and entrepreneur. He rose to fame in 2006 following the success of his debut album, ''Lupe Fiasco's ...

*2008:

Ben Folds Benjamin Scott Folds (born September 12, 1966) is an American singer-songwriter, musician, and composer, who is the first artistic advisor to the National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., since May 2017. Folds was th ...

*2007: Jack's Mannequin

Other concerts

*January 27, 2017: Lil Uzi Vert, Mija, Valentino Khan *February 18, 2012:

Alesso Alessandro Renato Rodolfo Lindblad (born 7 July 1991), better known by his stage name Alesso (), is a Swedish DJ and music producer. He has worked with numerous artists, including Tove Lo, Theo Hutchcraft, Ryan Tedder, Hailee Steinfeld, Calvi ...

LA Riots The 1992 Los Angeles riots, sometimes called the 1992 Los Angeles uprising and the Los Angeles Race Riots, were a series of riots and civil disturbances that occurred in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, California, in April ...

*May 5, 2010:

Dave Hause Dave Hause (born March 12, 1978) is an American singer-songwriter. He currently performs both solo and with his band The Mermaid. His music draws from heartland rock, folk rock and punk rock. He has also played in multiple Philadelphia, PA area ...

*June 5, 2008: M.I.A., Holy Fuck *September 29, 1996: Goldfinger *December 10, 1994:

Run–DMC Run-DMC (also spelled Run-D.M.C.) was an American hip hop group from Hollis, Queens, New York City, founded in 1983 by Joseph Simmons, Darryl McDaniels, and Jason Mizell. Run-DMC is regarded as one of the most influential acts in the history of ...

, Method Man, Wu-Tang Clan, Warren G, Naughty by Nature, Dogg Pound, Craig Mack,

Notorious B.I.G. Christopher George Latore Wallace (May 21, 1972 – March 9, 1997), better known by his stage names the Notorious B.I.G., Biggie Smalls, or simply Biggie, was an American rapper. Rooted in East Coast hip hop and particularly gangsta ...

Kid Capri David Anthony Love Jr. (born February 7, 1967) is an American DJ and rapper better known by his stage name Kid Capri. Early life Kid Capri's humble roots can be traced back to his parents' home in the Bronx, where ten year old David Antho ...

*December 7, 1994: Toad the Wet Sprocket,

Milla Jovovich Milica Bogdanovna Jovovich; sr-Latn, Milica Bogdanovna Jovović; russian: Милица Богдановна Йовович; uk, Милиця Богданoвна Йовович ( ; born December 17, 1975), known professionally as Milla Jovo ...

*November 11, 1993: Digable Planets, Gumbo *November 8, 1993: Nirvana, The Breeders,

Half Japanese Half Japanese is an American art punk band formed by brothers Jad and David Fair around 1975, sometime after the family's relocation to Uniontown, Maryland. Their original instrumentation included a small drum set, which they took turns playi ...

*October 14, 1993:

The Mighty Mighty Bosstones The Mighty Mighty Bosstones (informally referred to as The Bosstones and often stylized as The Mighty Mighty BossToneS) were an American ska punk band from Boston, Massachusetts, formed in 1983. From the band's inception, lead vocalist Dicky ...

Ruder Than You Ruder Than You is an American ska band that was founded in 1989 at Penn State University and, in 1991, the group relocated to Philadelphia. While ska and reggae stylings have always provided the common musical thread, over the past 15 plus year ...

, Love Seed Mama Jump, Strange as Angels, Mr. Greengenes, Public Service, Tribes *October 1, 1993:

Cypress Hill Cypress Hill is an American hip hop group from South Gate, California. They have sold over 20 million albums worldwide and have multi-platinum and platinum albums. They are considered to be among the main progenitors of West Coast and 1990 ...

, House of Pain, Funkdoobiest,

The Whooliganz The Whooliganz were an American 1990s hip hop music duo consisting of Scott Caan and Alan Maman (the latter of whom is known now as hip hop producer The Alchemist). The duo went by the names Mad Skillz and Mudfoot, respectively. Caan and Mam ...

Sports

Buckley Courts

The Buckley Courts are three plexicushion multipurpose courts within the armory. They are named after Robert Buckley, an alumnus of the Drexel College of Engineering and a member of the Drexel Athletics Hall of Fame as a three-sport athlete. From 2008-2018, these courts serve as a practice site for club and varsity sports teams during the winter. They are also available to students for recreational sports including tennis, basketball, volleyball, badminton, indoor soccer, street hockey and table tennis.

Basketball

The armory was the home arena for the Drexel Dragons basketball teams from 1969 to 1975. The armory hosted three regional games in the 1967 NCAA College Division basketball tournament

References

{{Drexel Dragons men's basketball navbox Armories on the National Register of Historic Places in Pennsylvania Neoclassical architecture in Pennsylvania Government buildings completed in 1916 University City, Philadelphia College basketball venues in the United States Drexel Dragons men's basketball Drexel Dragons women's basketball Drexel University Sports venues in Philadelphia Basketball venues in Pennsylvania Defunct college basketball venues in the United States Defunct indoor arenas in Pennsylvania Military facilities on the National Register of Historic Places in Philadelphia