Washington Avenue Armory 5.33

The Washington Avenue Armory, officially known as the Washington Avenue Armory Sports and Convention Arena and listed on the National Register of Historic Places as Washington Avenue (Tenth Battalion) Armory, is now a multi-purpose arena on the corner of Washington Avenue and Lark Street in downtown Albany, New York. The Armory has a capacity of 4,300 for concerts and conventions and 3,600 for sports events.HistoryThe Armory was built in 1890 for the Tenth Battalion of the New York National Guard, designed by state architect Isaac Perry. Since the earliest years of professional and collegiate basketball, several college and minor league basketball teams have played in the Armory, as there was no other suitable facility for basketball in the Albany area for many years. For many years in the 1960s and 1970s the armory hosted the WWF (currently known as the WWE) wrestling association owned by the McMahon family. The Friday night cards were always a sellout.Between 1982 and 1990, the Armory became home to the Albany Patroons of the Continental Basketball Association. After the Patroons moved to the then-new Knickerbocker Arena, the Armory fell into disuse and was the target of several reuse proposals including becoming the new home of the Albany Library System (whose main branch is next door to the Armory). The Armory was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on March 2, 1995.