The Armory was constructed in 1896 after the previous space for military training on the campus burnt in a fire in 1894.

[7] The school's football team played some of their early games on the open field next to the Armory.

Outside the Armory building, there is a nine foot tall statue of a soldier on a seven-ton, six-foot-high Vermont granite pedestal.

It is called "Iron Mike" and a memorial plaque underneath reads: "erected in honor of the students of the University who served their country in the war with Spain, 1898-99.” Sculptor Theo Alice Ruggles Kitson designed the statue, which was commissioned and paid for by a committee that had originally been formed to send Christmas gifts to student soldiers in the 13th Minnesota Regiment, who were stationed in Manila.

Professor Arthur E. Haynes, who chaired this committee, suggested doing something more than just sending gifts.