Washington Avenue Armory/ The Armory Sports & Convention Arena

The massive brick building with the corner tower at the intersection of Washington Ave. and Lark St. (Rt 9W) was the Washington Avenue Armory. The Armory was constructed in 1891 for a local unit of the N.Y.S. National Guard. The armory closed in 1991 and the New York State Department of Education bought the property. The armory then housed the Military Museum of New York State. The armory was purchased by a private developer and millions of dollars were spent to renovate the building. It now houses The Armory Sports & Recreation Arena. The Albany Patroons basketball team plays there, and other sports events are staged in the facility. The Armory was listed in the National Register of Historic Places (1995) and is part of the Washington Avenue Corridor Historic District (2019).

Isaac G. Perry was the architect for the Wahington Avenue Armory; he was also the Commissioner of the Capitol or the New York State architect. The building spans the width of the block; the rear elevation faces Elk St; its nearly 110,000 square feet covers about 1.5 acres. The building consists of a 2.5-story hipped roof administration building with a gable-roofed drill shed attached. They are both made of load-bearing brick walls resting on a stone block foundation. There are decorative exterior touches made of brick, glazed tile, and stone. The administration building is rectangular with rounded front corner towers of different sizes; the taller is the 3.5-story tower at the corner of Washington and Lark with a conical roof. The roof is pierced by multiple dormers and chimneys. The front entrance was through a recessed central archway to four quartered oak doors. The drill shed extended from the rear of the administration building; its original rolled metal roof was replaced with asphalt by the early 1990s. Due to ground slope, the basement level is fully exposed on the Lark and Elk St. sides of the drill shed.

The fortress-like armory was the home of the Tenth Battalion of the N.Y.S. National Guard from the 1890s up to 1989. Before the Washington Avenue Armory was built, the Tenth's home was the Hudson Street Arsenal, built in the mid-1850s on what later became Hudson Ave.; the old arsenal was sold in 1891, was later owned by the Roman Catholic Diocese, and became a theater before being demolished in the 1960s for Empire State Plaza. The new armory on Washington Ave, was turned over to Lt. Col. Finch of the Tenth Battalion on December 1, 1890. Other military units of the New York National Guard assigned to the Washington Avenue Armory by the 1980s included Company D, 42nd Aviation; 138th Public Affairs Detachment; and Headquarters Detachment State Area Command.

In July 1917, the Tenth Battalion was about to enter the federal war effort and recruited volunteers; newspaper ads sponsored by local businesses were headlined "The Tenth is Calling YOU, ENLIST NOW." Advantages of signing up were being able to choose where you would like to go and being able to serve among Albany friends. The training offered would make the recruits "healthier, stronger, better" men; uniforms were provided, pay was good, and they could see the world.

Automobile shows were held in the armory as early as February of 1911. The Tenth Battalion Band played music to entertain visitors to the armory in February 1920 for the Albany Automotive Show. Over 100 cars and 30 trucks were displayed on the armory floor. Visitors seemed most interested in the enclosed car, especially for use in winter. Motorcycle shops, auto repair shops, and accessory and oil dealers had booths at the show. The armory received some renovations in the 1930s as part of Works Progress Administration funding, including new steel roof truss supports, some new balcony seating, and new office space beneath the balcony.

Some of the original interior details were still intact when the building was studied for the National Register nomination in the early 1990s, including carved wooden mantelpieces in the meeting rooms and carved double staircases. The building was found to be significant for its architectural example of Romanesque Revival elements of monumental civic architecture and for its military association with the Tenth Battalion. Although Perry went on to design many more armories in New York, Washington Avenue was one of his earliest and grandest designs.

Albany Auto Dealers Association. "Albany Automobile Show." Argus (Albany) February 22nd, 1920. Advertisements sec, 17-17.

Anonymous. "Clever Decorator of Albany Auto Show." Argus (Albany) February 19th, 1911. 23-23.

NYS Military Museum & Veterans Research Center. Albany: Hudson Street Arsenal, Armories and Arsenals. January 1st, 2022. Accessed August 9th, 2022. https://museum.dmna.ny.gov/armories-arsenals/albany-hudson-street-arsenal.

NYS Military Museum & Veterans Research Center. Albany: Hudson Street Arsenal, Armories and Arsenals. January 1st, 2022. Accessed August 9th, 2022. https://museum.dmna.ny.gov/armories-arsenals/albany-washington-avenue-armory.

Tenth Regiment N.Y.S. National Guard. "The Tenth is Calling You." Argus (Albany) July 13th, 1917. Advertisements sec, 3-3.

Todd, Nancy L. Smith, Raymond W. NRHP nomination of Washington Avenue Armory, Albany, New York. National Register. Washington, DC. National Park Service, 1994.