Fort Washington Avenue Armory The Fort Washington Avenue Armory is located on the street of that name , between 168th and 169th streets , in the neighborhood of Washington Heights in New York City ' s borough of Manhattan . It is a brick Classical Revival building currently home to the National Track and Field Hall of Fame and other organizations including the Police Athletic League of New York City . The spacious third floor is home to the New Balance Track and Field Center : A 200 meter , six - lane banked mondo track , two mondo runways and sand pits , a pole vault pit , and a throws cage . The Center is widely regarded as one of the premier indoor track and field facilities on the East Coast , as well as in the United States . The Center plays host to a number of meets at the high school , college , and professional / open / masters level each year , including the NSIC indoor national meet , the Big East conference meet , and the New Balance games . A number of college programs call it their home indoor track , such as Columbia University , New York University , Saint John ' s University , St . Francis College , City College of New York and Iona College . In May 2011 the President of the Millrose Games announced that , starting January 2012 , the prestigious event would be moved from Madison Square Garden , its home from 1914 , to the Fort Washington Avenue Armory , with a new all day Saturday schedule replacing the previous Friday evening format . When built in the early 20th century it was one of the first armories in New York City in that style , instead of the Gothic Revival mode favored during the 19th century . It was home to the 22nd Regiment of the Army Corps of Engineers , and later used as a homeless shelter . In 1995 it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places . Building . The armory occupies the entire block north - south between 168th & 169th and over half the block east - west with Fort Washington Avenue as its western border and residential buildings to its east leading toward Broadway . The block is almost rectangular save for a diagonal edge created by Fort Washington Avenue , with which the building ' s western wall runs parallel , taking that wall out of alignment with the rectangular layout of the rest of the building to the east . The surrounding area is urban and heavily developed , with the neighborhood dominated by the buildings of Columbia University Medical Center to the south . The land is generally flat , elevated above the Hudson River to the west . Three stories high , the building itself is of brick on a raised foundation with limestone and terra cotta trim . The administration building is on a fully exposed basement ; the drill shed only partially . Iron bars protect the windows on the basement and first floor . The roofline is marked by a corbel ed cornice and parapet with terra cotta trim . The west ( front ) facade features a three - part projecting entrance pavilion flanked by four - bay sides . At the corners are square bastions with crenelated parapets in terra cotta . The entrance pavilion has octagonal bastions flanking smooth rusticated limestone voussoir s around a large sally port . Both side elevations have nine asymmetrical bays , with round - arched windows in the second and third stories and double - hung casement window s at street level . Some on both sets have been filled in . Behind a wooden portcullis at the rear of the sally port is the entrance , three wooden doors inside a segmentally arched stone architrave capped with a console - style keystone . It is inscribed with " 22ND REGIMENT CORPS OF ENGINEERS NGNY " . Above it is a multi - pane transom . The interior retains much of its original finish . Rooms have terrazzo floors , glazed brick walls trimmed in terracotta . The cross - vault ed ceilings are sheathed in tiles laid in chevron patterns and have glazed terra cotta architraves at their entrances . There are bronze sconce s throughout the building . A double - width staircase in fireproof steel and concrete has a curving rail . Its hallway is encircled with a wide frieze on which there are two remaining Works Progress Administration ( WPA ) murals . At the north and south ends of the administration building are two large company meeting rooms . The south one features a paneled dado , beamed ceilings , hardwood floors and an intricately carved mantel flanked by two Doric columns . The north meeting room features paneled mahogany wainscoting , built - in trophy cases and a glazed brick fireplace with wooden overmantel . The drill shed is a large barrel vault ed space with balcony on all sides allowing seating for 2 , 300 . It has massive arched truss es and is lit and ventilated via a clerestory . History . The 22nd Regiment traces its origins to the Union Grays , who stayed behind in Manhattan when the city ' s other units left for the Civil War . They helped suppress the New York City Draft Riots in 1863 and later saw some action on the front lines . They were one of the first units to have their own armory devoted solely to military purposes . It was located originally on West 14th Street near Sixth Avenue . In 1890 they moved to another armory on Broadway at Columbus Street in the Upper West Side . It was designed by one of the unit ' s members , Capt . John Leo . In 1907 the city ' s Armory Board held a competition for another new armory for the 22nd , to be located in the growing Washington Heights section of the city . The firm of Richard Walker and Charles Morris , whose works also included the South Ferry Building and several branch libraries in Brooklyn , won . The building was completed four years later , in 1911 , at a cost of $ 1 . 16 million ( $ in contemporary dollars ) . Sometime after World War II the 22nd was merged into the 42nd Division as the 102nd Engineering Battalion . It was moved around and downsized within the city ' s National Guard units several times until it was disbanded sometime in the late 20th century . Only two of the units survive ; both are now attached to the 369th Regiment and based at its armory in Harlem . The armory remained under the jusridiction of the New York State Division of Military & Naval Affairs . It was used as a homeless shelter late in the 20th century . A plan was developed to modify and expand it for that purpose that would have compromised its historical integrity . Those ended when the armory was chosen as the permanent home of the National Track and Field Hall of Fame in 2002 , in recognition of the drill shed ' s current use as the largest site of indoor college and high school invitationals in the world .