Seventh Regiment Armory

About this property

The Park Avenue Armory, also known as the 7th Regiment Armory, is a historic armory for the U.S. Army National Guard at 643 Park Avenue on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City, New York, United States. Designed in the Gothic Revival style by Charles Clinton for the 7th New York Militia Regiment, the Park Avenue Armory was completed in 1880, with two expansions in the early 20th century. The building and its interior are New York City designated landmarks, and the structure is also a National Register of Historic Places site and a National Historic Landmark. Since 2006, it has been the home of the Park Avenue Armory Conservancy, which leased the building for 99 years from the New York state government. The 53rd Digital Liaison Detachment of the New York Army National Guard, the Veterans of the 7th Regiment, the Knickerbocker Greys cadet corps, and the Lenox Hill Neighborhood House also occupy parts of the armory. The armory occupies a city block bounded by Park Avenue to the west, 67th Street to the north, Lexington Avenue to the east, and 66th Street to the south. It is composed of two structures: the five-story administration building to the west and a drill hall to the east. The facade of the administration building is made of Philadelphia red brick and granite trim, with various defensive features. Numerous spaces in the interior of the building were designed in several styles by decorators such as Louis Comfort Tiffany, Stanford White, Kimbel and Cabus, Alexander Roux, Francis Davis Millet, and the Herter Brothers. These include halls and stairways; a series of regimental rooms on the first floor; and twelve rooms for the 7th Regiment's companies on the second floor. The drill hall, measuring 200 by 300 feet (61 by 91 m), was one of New York City's largest column-free indoor spaces when completed. The New York City Board of Aldermen approved the Park Avenue Armory's construction in 1875 but refused to fund the $350,000 construction cost. As such, the 7th Regiment funded the armory's construction through donations and a bond issue; work started in 1877, and the armory formally opened on September 30, 1880. The armory was substantially expanded from 1909 to 1913, with a refurbished drill hall and a new fourth story; the fifth floor was built in the late 1920s or early 1930s. The building was mostly used for military purposes through the 20th century, though it had hosted numerous events, competitions, and exhibits over the years. The state government proposed leasing out the armory in the late 1990s. In 2000, the state awarded the Park Avenue Armory Conservancy the responsibility of overhauling the building, restoring the dilapidated interior spaces, and transforming it into an arts venue. In the 21st century, the armory is largely used as an event, exhibit, and performance space.

Location

Categories

Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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