From brass to grass: Construction of new training field underway in a new chapter for Yale Armory site
Construction on a new grass training field is underway at the site of the former Yale Armory, which was demolished in 2019 after originally housing the Yale Artillery Battalion and later serving as home to Yale’s club polo and equestrian teams.
Courtesy of Google Maps, 2021
Once a 20th-century state-of-the-art facility, home to Yale’s club polo and equestrian teams, the site of the former Yale Armory is on its way to becoming a new grass training field available for use by Yale’s athletic teams, student groups and the Yale community.
Located at 40 Central Ave., the historic armory once stood at the heart of the University’s athletic campus. It was adjacent to Johnson Field and close to both the DeWitt Family Field and the Yale Bowl. The site, which will become a natural grass field, also sits right across the street from the newly-built Tsai Lacrosse Field House and Reese Stadium.
“Construction is currently underway at the site of the former Yale Armory,” Yale Deputy Athletic Director Ann-Marie Guglieri wrote in an email to the News. “This endeavor will change the space into a grass training field which can be utilized by many different teams, programs, groups and students at Yale.”
Guglieri declined to answer follow-up questions on which teams will utilize the new field.
The grass field will be 2.8 acres, according to the New Haven Independent’s report on the City Plan Commission meeting during which Yale’s site plan application was approved in August 2019. During construction on the Tsai Lacrosse Field House, the site of the armory across the street was used as a construction staging area, the Independent reported.
The Yale Armory was the first University-affiliated armory in the United States. It was built in 1916 for the Yale Artillery Battalion, the predecessor to the Yale Army ROTC group, and it was completed shortly after V-E Day. Even after the end of World War I, Yale remained an officers’ training camp and a militarized university for several years. It also became the only civilian college to offer artillery training. Much of this was done in the former Yale Armory, though the facility was also used for cavalry practice.
Back in the early 20th century, the Yale Armory was well-equipped and well-maintained. The Harvard Crimson reported in 1917 that the features were “the most modern in every respect.” The Armory consisted of a 160-by-220-foot main building with a drill hall and gun sheds, along with stables that could house at least 120 horses. The Armory also had a harness room, a blacksmith shop, lavatories, lockers, showers, lecture rooms and assembly spaces.
However, physical decay became noticeable in the facility after decades without renovations. In April 2000, the polo and equestrian teams that used the armory filed a petition to gain varsity status, as well as a “Proposal for the Reconstruction and Support of the Yale Polo and Equestrian Center,” which was a part of the armory. This report detailed the Armory’s deteriorating conditions and called for immediate improvements.
Years later, according to an article in the News, the teams remained “frustrated because the administration [had] not shown any signs of proactive financial support for the project.”
“The hope was that the University would provide the momentum, [but the administration says] we need to start the ball rolling,” then-polo captain Michael Dawson ’04 told the News.
After sitting dormant during the 2010s, Yale demolished the armory in early 2019 after the city cited it for a safety violation. That August, Yale lead planner Jeromy Powers and other members of the Yale staff presented a proposal to replace the former armory site with a new natural grass field. They received unanimous approval from city commissioners. Now, with the new Tsai Lacrosse Field House open across the street, construction is underway.
Yale has not yet announced the new field’s expected date of completion.
