The facility was completed in 1936 at a cost of $1 million. It was designed by Louis S. Kaplan, who as a young architect won a competition to design the Trenton War Memorial and after its dedication became the leading state architect until the early 1960s, designing or adapting many of its armories. From 1967–68, the arena was the home of the New Jersey Americans of the American Basketball Association, the team that later became today's Brooklyn Nets. In 1968, the Americans were forced to forfeit a playoff game against the Kentucky Colonels because a circus group had rented the armory that week and the circus group could not be moved to the Cherry Hill Arena cause it only seated a few people, The Cliffside Park was unavailable as the stadium was too small and could not be expanded due to costs and another reason was a lack of seats, The roof was open and could not add a dome because it was poorly designed. and the alternate location selected for the game, Long Island Arena in Commack, New York, had a floor in such poor condition that it was deemed unplayable. In 1997, the armory was renovated to an arena designed for indoor soccer known as the Soccer Coliseum. Over the years the expansive floor and high-ceilinged space has been used for numerous film shoots, including Sweet and Lowdown, You've Got Mail, Bogus, and Stonewall. For three weeks in February 1990, the armory was rented by David Bowie for rehearsals of his Sound+Vision Tour. The armory has also hosted concerts, three-quarter midget car races, Boy Scout jamborees, professional wrestling, rallies, circuses, indoor soccer and various military uses. It has also been used for ceremonies and celebrations commemorating Eid ul-Adha.
The Teaneck Armory can be distinguished by the M42 Dusteranti-aircraft vehicle and the M728 Combat Engineer Vehicle facing Teaneck Road. During 2005, the major units of the 50th Main Support Battalion assigned to drill at the Armory were deployed for service in Iraq and Kuwait, along with many other units of the New Jersey National Guard. Other elements of the New Jersey National Guard based at the Teaneck Armory have been deployed to Afghanistan, Guantanamo Bay, and Kosovo, among other places. Additionally, a squadron of the New Jersey Wing of the Civil Air Patrol is located at the Armory.
