Crown Heights

A peek inside the Bedford Union Armory in Crown Heights South

Eye on Real Estate

August 10, 2016 By Lore Croghan Brooklyn Daily Eagle
Here's the fencing room in the Bedford Union Armory, a historic Crown Heights South property that preservation advocate Evelyn Tully Costa photographed during a February 2014 tour. Photos by Evelyn Tully Costa
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Which way to the fencing room?

The magnificent Bedford Union Armory, now vacant, has a fencing room with a sky-high ceiling and a balcony where a fencing master observed the goings-on down below.

Preservation advocate Evelyn Tully Costa got a look at the fencing master’s balcony and other intriguing architectural details inside the century-plus-old armory during a February 2014 tour of the historic city-owned facility.

Here are some of the photos she snapped during the visit.  

They depict fine details on fireplaces — one of them is adorned with snarling beasts’ heads — and an Art Nouveau-style stained glass window over a door.

There are shots of a drill hall where Squadron C, the cavalry unit for which the armory was built, rode their horses, and a horse-weighing station.

The Troop C Armory was designed by distinguished architecture firm Pilcher and Tachau. The cost of buying land in 1903 and 1905 and building the facility was $552,971.67, city Finance Department records indicate.

Tully Costa is the founder and chairwoman of the Crown Heights South Association.

The association wants the armory to be landmarked by the city Landmarks Preservation Commission — both its interiors, which is a relatively rare designation, and its exterior.

Last year, the city Economic Development Corp. announced it had long-term leased the armory to developers who plan to construct apartments and recreational facilities. Renderings show a metal-clad addition is planned.

 

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