Naval Armory - Convention Hall, Rochester, NY
Posted by: 
sagefemme
N 43° 09.162 W 077° 36.302
18T E 288189 N 4781066
Now live theatre - Geva Theatre
Corner of Woodbury Blvd and North Clinton Avenue,
75 Woodbury Blvd, Rochester, NY 14607
Waymark Code: WMDC98
Location: New York, United States
Date Posted: 12/23/2011
Views: 6
"In 1868 Andrew J. Warner constructed a Naval Armory and Convention Hall, with the purpose of protecting Rochester and the Erie Canal from attacks by Great Britain. Shortly after its opening, Rochester’s 54th regiment took up headquarters at the armory and began training. The Naval Armory saw little military activity, and faced complaints that the building was only being used for entertaining shows.
"In 1908 after many years of disuse the building reopened as Rochester’s Convention Hall. Quickly the Convention Center became the center for cultural and political activity. William Jennings Bryan, Governor Charles Evans Hughes and William Howard Taft all presented their platforms at the Convention Hall. The United Garment Workers used the Convention Hall for a forum in 1912, to debate unionizing for higher pay and an 8-hour work day. In 1918 the hall was turned into an emergency hospital site when Rochester faced an epidemic of Influenza. Between 1908 and 1928 the Convention Hall also hosted a broad variety of local and international musicians’ performances.
"In 1949 the Navel Reserves leased the building. However, it was closed for nearly two decades because of internal disrepair. Geva’s Board of Directors approached the State Division for Historic Preservation in 1982 with the request to purchase the Convention Hall. After being approved, Geva Theatre Center began the renovation project at Woodbury and Clinton, and turned the building into the beautiful theatre we know today" (
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Military uses included use as a staging area for the State Militia in quelling labor disputes in 1871 and 1892, and as an enlistment center during the Spanish-American War in 1898. It was the only adequat facility for large gatherings, political and fraternal conventions, and mass entertainment prior to the completion of the War Memeorial in 1949. Some of those activities inlcuded an inaugural ball for Governor Ruben Fenton in 1868. The criticisms described on the Geva Theatre recap of its history included this August 16, 1870 editorial in the Union Advertiser: "It is so far a failure at every point. Its architecture is horrible. Teh men who designed and carried this work into execution probably had no idea of anything but getting the State money, with the least outlay of labor possible." (
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The East Main Street Armory was built in 1907, and the city purchased it, ading east and west wings in the Neo-classical style, so that it could be used as a convention hall. William Jennings Bryan campaigned here, as did Theodore Roosevelt and William Howard Taft. The most prominent political event was the 1928 convention that nominated Franklin Delano Roosevelt for governor. (A granite memorial identical to the memorial in Washington D.C. commemorating his nomination is found at the south end of Washington Square today.) It is generally believed that if such a venue as this had not been available from 1907 to 1922 for prominent musicians and choral groups to perform on a regular basis, "some of the city's most cherished institutions, including the Eastman Theatre and the Rochester Philharmonic" might never have come into being. (
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Built in the Italianate and Romanesque style, it originally had a mansard roof and towers, but those were removed in 1949, when a parapet wall encircling the main block was added.