The Armory Track & Field Center

The Armory Track and Field Center
stands as a brilliant jewel in the center of Washington Heights,
a diverse community in northern Manhattan. Built as a training center for
the National Guard in 1909, it became a venue for many of the city's biggest
events, including track & field meets by the 1920s. In the sixties, the Armory
was the unrivaled center for track & field competitions in greater New York.
But with the economic crises of the seventies and the scourge of
homelessness in the eighties, the Armory was converted to a homeless
shelter, housing over 1,800 beds. By 1987, New York track & field was drivenfrom its historic home.

Renovations for the current incarnation of the Armory track began in 1993,
when a flat surface MONDO track was installed. Then in 1997, the banked
track was constructed on top of the original, and the Armory track became
a world-class facility.