Jersey City Armory | |
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Jersey City, New Jersey | |
Site information | |
Controlled by | New Jersey National Guard |
Site history | |
Built | 1937 |
In use | 1937 — present |
The Jersey City Armory is located at 678 Montgomery Street near McGinley Square in Jersey City, New Jersey, USA. In addition to being a military training and mustering facility of the New Jersey National Guard (New Jersey National Guard 2/113 Infantry 250 Jersey City), the WPA era armory has long been used as a sports arena, particularly for boxing, basketball, and track and field events, and more recently mixed martial arts.
Under the auspices of the New Jersey Department of Military and Veteran Affairs, the armory is leased to the city for community and political events and extracurricular sports programs. It has also been used as a film studio.
The armory was built to replace the previous Fourth Regiment Armory which had burned down in 1927. The Works Progress Administration project was completed in 1937, the same year the city's other big sports venue, the since demolished Roosevelt Stadium. The three-story beaux-arts structure features English Renaissance details with a granite base, brick exterior wall, and terra cotta trim. The massive interior is 175,000 square feet. Between 2005 and 2009 the armory underwent a $5.7 million refurbishment which included state-of-the-art running surface, a new basketball court, new lighting and a four-sided scoreboard as well installation of new locker rooms and restrooms. In 2010, the sidewalks around the armory were repaired.