File:Corning Community YMCA - fmr Corning Armory - Corning, New York - 20220212.jpg

English: The Corning Community YMCA, 136 Centerway, Corning, New York, February 2022. Built in 1936 on a six-acre plot of land overlooking the Chemung River across from downtown, the Corning Armory was designed by state architect William Haugaard not only to effectively serve the military, social, and recreational needs of the local New York State National Guard unit, but also to as a symbol projecting the majesty and strength of the state government, a potent message to would-be malefactors. Though the principles of Gothic Revivalism are in evidence throughout the design - note the steep gables, pointed arches above the ground-floor windows, buttresses along the side walls of the rear wing, roundel windows with quatrefoil design on the sides, and the engraved lettering on the small front gable - the style is best showcased at the entrance, where a thick oak double-door with characteristic wrought-iron strap hinges is deeply recessed within a terra cotta sally port that features a compound pointed arch crowned with ornamental voussoirs and flanked by octagonal mock bastions. The armory was decommissioned in 1977 and sold to the Corning Glass Company whose sprawling factory complex surrounds the armory on three sides. Corning leased the facility to the local YMCA, an arrangement that remains in effect today.