St. Louis Arena
Indoor arena in St. Louis, MO 1929 - 1999 / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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St. Louis Arena (known as the Checkerdome from 1977 to 1983) was an indoor arena in St. Louis, Missouri. The country's second-largest indoor entertainment venue when it opened in 1929, it was home to the St. Louis Blues and other sports franchises. The Arena sat across U.S.40 (now I-64) from Forest Park's Aviation Field.
Former names | Checkerdome (1977–1983) |
---|---|
Address | 5700 Oakland Avenue |
Location | St. Louis, Missouri |
Coordinates | 38°37′45″N 90°16′58″W |
Owner | City of St. Louis[1] |
Operator | City of St. Louis[1] |
Capacity | Ice hockey: 14,200 (1929–1968) 14,500 (1968–1969) 15,500 (1969–1970) 17,776 (1970–1971) 17,821 (1971–1972) 18,005 (1972–1974) 18,008 (1974–1975) 18,006 (1975–1978) 17,968 (1978–1985) 17,640 (1985–1988) 17,188 (1988–1994) |
Construction | |
Broke ground | 1927; 97 years ago (1927) |
Opened | September 23, 1929; 94 years ago (1929-09-23) |
Closed | May 23, 1994; 29 years ago (1994-05-23) |
Demolished | February 27, 1999; 25 years ago (1999-02-27) |
Construction cost | US$1.5 million |
Architect | Gustel R. Kiewitt and Herman M. Sohrmann |
General contractor | Boaz-Kiel Construction Company |
Tenants | |
St. Louis Flyers (AHA/AHL) (1929–1953) St. Louis Eagles (NHL) (1934–1935) Chicago Black Hawks (NHL) (occasional use; 1951–1959) Toledo-St. Louis Mercurys (IHL) (1959–1960) St. Louis Braves (CHL) (1963–1967) St. Louis Blues (NHL) (1967–1994) St. Louis Hawks (NBA) (occasional use; 1955–1968) St. Louis Bombers (NBA) (1946–1950) St. Louis Stars (NASL) (1971, 1974) Spirits of St. Louis (ABA) (1974–1976) St. Louis Steamers (MISL) (1979–1988) St. Louis Storm (MISL) (1989–1992) St. Louis Ambush (NPSL) (1992–1994) St. Louis Vipers (RHI) (1993–1994) Saint Louis Billikens men's basketball (NCAA) (1968–1973 and 1991–1994) Saint Louis Billikens men's ice hockey (1970–1979) |
The Arena hosted conventions, concerts, political rallies, horse shows, circuses, boxing matches, professional wrestling, Roller Derby competitions, indoor soccer matches, the 1973 and 1978 NCAA men's basketball Final Four, the NCAA Men's Midwest Regional finals in 1982, 1984, and 1993, the 1992–94 Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball tournament, the 1968, 1969, and 1970 Stanley Cup Finals, and the 1975 NCAA Frozen Four ice hockey finals.
It was demolished in 1999.