New York State Armory (Newburgh)

New York State Armory
The Armory building in 2007
LocationNewburgh
Coordinates41°29′59″N 74°00′49″W / 41.49972°N 74.01361°W / 41.49972; -74.01361
Builtlate 19th century
ArchitectJohn A. Wood
Part ofEast End Historic District (ID85002426)
NRHP reference No.81000411
Added to NRHP1981

The New York State Armory was built in 1880[1] on Broadway in Newburgh, New York, United States. Designed by John A. Wood, it housed a local unit of the New York National Guard.

In the 1930s the Guard moved to a newer armory on South William Street and the old building fell vacant and became property of the city. It was nearly gutted by fire in the 1970s but remained standing, an eyesore in Newburgh's Lower Broadway area.[2]

In 1981 it was added to the National Register of Historic Places, which helped prevent its demolition. It also became one of over 2,000 contributing properties to the East End Historic District when that was added to the Register four years later.

Nothing was done to refurbish it until the late 1990s, when the city sold it to Orange County for a dollar and the county's former courthouse. The county brought in Robert Carchietta's Gemma Development to restore it. The project won the Commissioner's Annual Private Sector Achievement Award from Bernadette Castro, then-commissioner of the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation.[3] The company spent $28,000 on a mahogany door for the building, which now houses the busy city office of the county's Social Services department, as well as its probation officers and the district attorney.[4]

References

  1. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2009-09-20. Retrieved 2012-03-12.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  2. ^ Williams, Monte (November 30, 1997). "A Feeling of Change in Newburgh; In an Old River Town, a Sense of How Bright the New Might Be". The New York Times. Retrieved 2007-09-04.
  3. ^ "PARKS COMMISSIONER ANNOUNCES HISTORIC PRESERVATION AWARDS" (Press release). New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation. May 7, 1998. Archived from the original on September 24, 2006. Retrieved 2007-09-04. Through the vision and hard work of the Gemma Development Company of Hicksville and Central Valley, New York, the armory has been reborn. The private development company has transformed an eyesore, that many felt should be torn down, to a revitalized landmark with a new lease on life -- the results could not be more dramatic. The building's distinguished brick and stone exterior has been repaired and its interior has been converted to municipal offices for Orange County
  4. ^ Scott, Brendan (March 14, 2004). "Building it up, brick by brick". Times-Herald Record. Archived from the original on 2012-10-08. Retrieved 2007-09-04.