Armory

Introduction

The Alumni Sports and Recreation Center, ASRC, also known as the Armory, is a multipurpose building located on 15th Street of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute's Campus. It is host to sports facilities, many clubs in the institute's community, and other events including the Career fair. It was the home of the majority of COVID-19 testing during the pandemic. It also served as a military armory until it was purchased by Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1971.

The Armory

The Armory was initially built as the Troy Armory in 1920 to replace the Ferry Street Armory, which had been destroyed in a fire in 1917. It served as a headquarters for the New York Guard and National Guard. The units stationed at the Armory included the 105th Army Regiment from 1921 through World War II, where the Regiment saw significant action in the Pacific Theater. From 1961 to 1971, Company "A" 205th Artillery was stationed at the Troy Armory.

RPI's Acquisition

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute purchased the Armory in 1971 to support the development of its Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps program. The Institute had sought to acquire the building since 1944 as the Institute was in urgent need of training space for its Naval ROTC program. The RPI field House had been previously used for these activities until The Armory could be acquired, because renting it would have been very costly for the school. The Armory had become a large part of an expansion plan for the Institute so another attempt was made to purchase it in 1955. However, the school was waiting on federal appropriation for new armories. RPI purchased about 50 acres of land in anticipation of a new armory but there was no appropriation coming so the purchase was tabled in 1957. The Institute was not able to finalize any arrangements to purchase the Armory until 1970. RPI then agreed to put 1.6 million dollars toward building a new armory for the State of New York.

Armory to Alumni Sports & Recreation Center

Upon purchase, under RPI's president at the time, Richard J. Grosh, the Armory was renovated into a modern sports and recreation center. The renovations were made possible by donations from the Alumni Association, therefore it was renamed the Alumni Sports and Recreation Center. Further donations were made to add a wing that included a swimming pool and diving boards. These were added by the generosity of Mr. Ellis Robison, who funded the aquatic wing and also donated the proceeds of a coin collection. Robison’s contributions totaled around $650,000, and the gymnasium and aquatic wing were both named after him. To put the donation in perspective, it would be worth over 1.8 million dollars now after adjusting for inflation.

The Alumni Sports & Recreation Center Today

The ASRC/Armory currently has a gymnasium with a synthetic rubber floor, a pool, multiple centers for the various ROTC programs, and a practicing space for the track teams. Club and intramural sports on campus also utilize the gym for practices and games.

References

“Troy: 15th Street Armory.” New York State Military Museum and Veterans Research Center. February 2, 2023. https://museum.dmna.ny.gov/index.https://museum.dmna.ny.gov/index.php/?cID=1747php%2F%3FcID.

"Armory / Alumni Sports and Recreation Center (ASRC)." Institute Archives and Special Collections. February 2, 2023. https://archives.rpi.edu/institute-history/building-histories/armory-alumni-sports-and-recreation-center-asrc

"105th Infantry Regiment (United States)." Wikimedia Foundation. February 2, 2023. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/105th_Infantry_Regiment_(United_States)