Old Guard: NYS Auctioning Historic Armories

The Tonawanda armory now known as the Tonawanda Castle, a catering business, is shown in Tonawanda, N.Y., Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2009. (AP Photo/David Duprey)

(AP)

The turret offers a great view of the nearby Adirondack Mountains, the weapons bunkers can serve as wine cellars and the cavernous gymnasium could be turned into the ultimate rec room.

Those are just some of the possibilities for the 38,000-square-foot Glens Falls Armory, being auctioned by New York state on Wednesday. Of course, the rehabilitation potential is a far cry from the structure's original function as a munitions storehouse, military drill hall and last stand should war revisit America's shores.

The 115-year-old fortress-like structure is one of several stone and brick state-owned armories up for sale in coming weeks as New York sheds some of these unique buildings in the name of modernization.

As the Army National Guard here and in other states continues to evolve into a 21st-century fighting force, units are ditching many of their older buildings — and the name armory — for more modern digs dubbed "readiness centers." In New York, with the nation's largest collection of the oldest and most architecturally significant armories, that means disposing of imposing structures.

The unit based at Glens Falls recently shifted to its new $11.5 million readiness center in a suburban industrial park.

The New York National Guard has 52 active armories, down from 70 a decade ago, most of them on the National Register of Historic Places. They include the Seventh Regiment Armory covering an entire Manhattan block and the castle-like Connecticut Street Armory in Buffalo. Some, like Glens Falls, were designed in a medieval military style by state architect Isaac Perry in the late 1800s, others from the 1930s were designed in a more Gothic style by William Haugaard.

Nationwide, there are nearly 3,000 readiness centers, including armories of various ages, according to the National Guard Bureau based in Arlington, Va. In 2002, there were about 3,150. How many of the nation's older armories are still being used by the guard units isn't known, the bureau said Tuesday.