Join Blues beat writer Tom Timmermann for his live playoffs chatThe glory days of the St. Louis Arena
The Arena was built in 1929 to be the home of livestock shows, but over the following 70 years, it hosted basketball, soccer, hockey, circuses, shows, memorable concerts and more. The building was imploded in 1999 after construction of the Kiel Center downtown.
Erection of steel framework for the St. Louis Arena roof on March 15, 1929. Photograph by W.C. Persons. Scan copywrite Missouri Historical Society, 1999.
A 1929 file photo of the brand-new St. Louis Arena, taken from a Universal Airlines plane.
An aerial view of the new St. Louis Arena in 1929, long before the construction of Interstate 64.
A circus at the St. Louis Arena, shortly after it opened in 1929. Photograph by W.C. Persons. Missouri Historical Society
A night view of the St. Louis Arena on Sept. 24, 1929. The Arena was built to be the home of livestock shows, but it also booked sporting events and was the site of the National Air Show the following year. Post-Dispatch file photo
A fight on the ice at the St. Louis Arena during a St. Louis Flyers game in 1948. Instead of Plexiglas, seats along the boards were protected by chicken wire. Post-Dispatch file photo
A balancing act performs at the Police Circus, held at the St. Louis Arena ca. 1949. Photo by Eugene Taylor. Scan copyright Missouri Historical Society, 1999.
St. Louisan Virgil Akins knocked Vince Martinez to the canvas nine times in four rounds before being declared world welterweight champion in a bout at the St. Louis Arena in 1958.
The St. Louis Arena stands by as another St. Louis landmark, the Forest Park Highlands, goes up in an epic fire on July 19, 1963. Photo by Robert LaRouche of the Post-Dispatch
The former Forest Park Highlands property is cleared on July 29, 195, to make way for Forest Park Community College. The St. Louis Arena is in the background. Photo by Jack January of the Post-Dispatch
The neon sign at the Arena on Oakland Avenue before the team's first National Hockey League season in 1967-68.
On the wall behind the largest of three Arena Club bars was a stained glass mural titled "Mayhem on Ice," shown in this 1967 photo. It illustrates hockey play between the St. Louis Blues and the Detroit Red Wings. Photo by Arthur Witman of the Post-Dispatch
Tickets were going for as high as $6 for the Blues first game in franchise history on Oct. 11, 1967.
Bill Walton, UCLA center who scored a record 44 points in the final game of the NCAA basketball tournament at St. Louis, lies on the floor where he had fallen when he was injured with just moments left in the game with Memphis State University, in St. Louis, March 27, 1973. At left is Memphis State's Billy Buford (20) and at right is UCLA's Larry Farmer (54), and Keith Wilkes. UCLA won their seventh NCAA consecutive title. (AP Photo)
Bill Walton walks with a taped ankle after getting injured during the final game of the NCAA tourney between UCLA and Memphis State University in St. Louis on March 26, 1973. Walton scored a record 44 points in UCLA's seventh NCAA championship in a row. (AP Photo)
Bill Walton, Center for UCLA reaches wide to snatch a rebound off the board high over Indiana University's center Steve Downing during semifinal game of NCAA Championship Saturday at St. Louis. (AP Photo )
UCLA center Bill Walton leaps to tip a missed shot during a semifinal game of the NCAA Final Four in St. Louis on March 26, 1973. In left foreground is teammate Dave Meyers, left, and Indiana center Steve Downing. UCLA won 70-59, and advanced to play Memphis State University in the finals. (AP Photo)
UCLA's Bill Walton, center watches his teammates from the bench during the first half of game between UCLA and North Carolina State Saturday, December 15, 1973 in St. Louis. Next to Walton, who sat the game out for 21 minutes, are Asst, Coach Gary Cunnungham, left, and head coach John Wooden, far left. UCLA won 84-66. (AP Photo)
The Billy Graham Crusade came to the St. Louis Arena in 1973. Post-Dispatch file photo.
Fans of the Who line up in the rain outside the St. Louis Arena in October 1973 to buy tickets for a concert in November. The band performed for more than 15,000 people Nov. 28.
FILE PHOTO March 1975 -- Former Spirits of St. Louis basketball player Marvin Barnes. Photo by Jim Rackwitz, St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Marvin Barnes of the Spirits of St. Louis grabs one of his ABA season-high 31 rebounds from Tom Owens of the Memphis Sounds in a 1975 game. (Post-Dispatch Archives)
Freshman Eugene Banks of Duke outmuscles Notre Dame's Bruce Flowers (34) and Kelly Tripucka (behind Banks) for a rebound in the NCAA semifinals at the Checkerdome on March 26, 1978. Post-Dispatch file photo
St. Louis Blues goalie Mike Liut takes a seat in the net, but still manages to knock away a first-period shot by Edmonton's Ron Chipperfield (7) during a Blues victory at the Checkerdome on Oct. 31, 1979. The Oilers' Dave Semenko looks for the rebound. Photo by Sam Leone of the Post-Dispatch
The St. Louis Arena, dubbed the Checkerdome when Ralston Purina bought the building and the St. Louis Blues hockey club in 1977, is shown here during a May 31, 1980, visit by presidential candidate Ronald Reagan. Post-Dispatch file photo.
Republican presidential candidate Ronald Reagan and wife Nancy Reagan acknowledge the cheers of several thousand fans and supporters following his speech to the 1980 Missouri Republican Convention in the St. Louis Checkerdome on Saturday, May 31, 1980. Reagan was expected to win all of the 37 national convention delegates. (AP Photo/WZ)
The St. Louis Arena also hosted the St. Louis Steamers, an indoor soccer team. Captain Steamer, shown in this 1980 photo, would dress in a light blue cape and helmet and run around the perimeter of the seats at the Arena (or the Checkerdome at this point) every time the Steamers scored a goal.
Mick Jagger was front and center during a 1981 performance at the Checkerdome. J.B. Forbes jforbes@post-dispatch.com
Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones performs during a concert in St. Louis, Nov. 20, 1981. The Stones played before a capacity audience at the Checkerdome. (AP Photo/James A. Finley)
John McEnroe reaches low to return a shot from Mats Wilander in Davis Cup quarterfinals action at the St. Louis Arena (Checkerdome) on July 11, 1982. McEnroe beat Wilander in a six-hour, 39-minute match that clinched the U.S. victory. Photo by Wayne Crosslin of the Post-Dispatch
Slobo Ilijevski, goalie for the Steamers, makes a diving stop of a shot on goal in the second period of a Major Indoor Soccer League game with the New York Arrows at the Checkerdome in November 1982. The acrobatic Ilijevski made many stops, but the defending champion Arrows took a 4-3 victory. Photo by Karen Elshout of the Post-Dispatch
Missouri's Lynn Hardy drives around Illinois' Tony Wysinger as he heads in for a layup in the 1985 Braggin' Rights game at the Arena. Illnois won the intersectional battle 67-55 before a crowd of 13,106. UPI
The Blues' Doug Wickenheiser (left) exults after scoring the "Monday Night Miracle" goal against Calgary in overtime of Game 6 of the Campbell Conference finals at the St. Louis Arena on May 12, 1986. Photo by Kevin Manning of the Post-Dispatch
St. Louis Blues owner Mike Shanahan agonizing from the owner's box at a game at the St. Louis Arena in January 1987. Photo by Scott C. Dine of the Post-Dispatch
The St. Louis Arena in an undated photo.
Michael Jackson performs "Another Part of Me" during his March 13, 1988, show at the St. Louis Arena. Post-Dispatch photo/Kevin Manning.
A photo of the Arena on Oakland taken from the Metropolitan Life Blimp in June 1988. Photo by Jim Rackwitz
Illinois coach Lou Henson, right, meeting with Missouri coach Norm Stewart during the Braggin' Rights game in 1990 at The Arena. ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO BY JAMES A. FINLEY
Mizzou fans encourage the Tigers before the 1992 game against Illinois at the Arena. Post-Dispatch photo by Wes Paz
Shelly Clark of Illinois goes past Mizzou's Jevon Crudup for a shot in the first half of the annual Braggin' Rights Game at the St. Louis Arena in 1993. The game went three overtimes before Mizzou prevailed, 108-107.
More than 18,000 fans in the last Braggin' Rights game at The Arena in 1993. It went three overtimes before Mizzou prevailed.
More than 18,000 fans in the last Braggin' Rights game, in 1993, at The Arena had "an electricity" that many feel was one of the most lasting memories of the triple-overtime game. Kiwane Garris missed two free throws with no time left in the second overtime to give Mizzou another chance.
More than 18,000 fans in the last Braggin' Rights game, in 1993, at The Arena had "an electricity" that many feel was one of the most lasting memories of the triple-overtime game. Lamont Frazier played 54 minutes and hit two improbable 3-pointers to take Mizzou into overtime.
St. Louis Ambush goalie Slobo Ilijevski (center) holds up Kansas City's Wes Wade as Mark Santel clears the ball in Ilijevski's final game on March 19, 1993. A crowd of 15,785 was in the Arena for Slobo's final game. Photo by Kevin Manning of the Post-Dispatch
The Dallas Stars mob their goalie in the north end of the St. Louis Arena as the Blues end the 1994 season and their life at the Arena after being eliminated from the Stanley Cup playoffs once again. Photo by Kevin Manning of the Post-Dispatch
The railbirds at the last sporting event at The Arena, a St. Louis Vipers roller hockey game that drew a crowd of 12,429 on Aug. 16, 1994. Post-Dispatch photo
An aerial view of the St. Louis Arena in 1995, after the Blues played their last season in the old barn. Photo by Larry Williams of the Post-Dispatch
The inside of the St. Louis Arena fell into disrepair.
Artist Dexter Silvers paints the St. Louis Arena on Oct. 15, 1998, as the battle over whether to demolish the building was in court. Photo by Terry Franks
The Arena on Dec. 3, 1998, the day a St. Louis aldermanic subcommittee approved the demolition of the building. Photo by Laurie Skrivan, lskrivan@post-dispatch.com
David Gentry walks to classes at Forest Park Community College through the parking lot of the defunct St. Louis Arena on Dec. 14, 1998. The building would be gone in less than three months. Photo by Kevin Manning of the Post-Dispatch
Ruben Torrez (center) and granddaughters Brittany Landa (left) and Darah Landa (right) join about 150 people who tried to surround the St. Louis Arena on Sept. 18, 1998 to ask mayor Clarence Harmon to keep the building from being razed.
On Sept. 18, 1998, a group calling itself the "Arena Angels" makes a human chain around the arena, hoping to save the landmark building. To no avail; it is demolished in February 1999.
James Williams (foreground) and Otis Lomax, construction laborers for Spirtas, remove the seats at the St. Louis Arena with torches on Dec. 31, 1998, about two months before the final destruction of the building. Photo by Karen Elshout of the Post-Dispatch
A model of a plan to redesign the Arena that sculptor Bob Cassilly proposed to the city of St. Louis is shown in this Jan. 6, 1999, photograph. Photo by Andrew Cutraro of the Post-Dispatch
The Kiel Center opened in 1994. It's gone by three different names as it hosted a myriad of sporting events and concerts. But that's a different story...
An employee of Controlled Demolition Inc. surveys the pile of rubble that was once the 70-year-old St. Louis Arena shortly after it was imploded on Feb. 27, 1999. The former home of the St. Louis Blues was reduced to a heap of wood, debris and dust. AP photo by Tom Gannam
The hole formerly known as the St. Louis Arena on Aug. 24, 1999. Costs of cleanup skyrocketed beyond estimates due to contaminants. Photo by Jerry Naunheim Jr. of the Post-Dispatch
A high-speed camera took rapid sequential views of the destruction of the St. Louis Arena on Feb. 27, 1999. Photo by Jamie Rector of the Post-Dispatch
A lone demolition expert watches as the St. Louis Arena tumbles into the past on Feb. 27, 1999. Photo by Jerry Naunheim Jr. of the Post-Dispatch
It took less than 15 seconds and 250 well-timed explosions on Feb. 27, 1999, for the Arena to fold toward the earth in a domino-like motion. After the old barn was reduced to rubble, many thousands cheered. "But you know, when all that smoke cleared away and I saw what was left, I was kind of sad," said Norma Wheelehan of Shrewsbury. "All those years of going to the Arena. Gone." Photo by Jamie Rector of the Post-Dispatch
A high-speed camera took rapid sequential views of the destruction of the St. Louis Arena on Feb. 27, 1999. Photo by Jamie Rector of the Post-Dispatch
A crowd watches, waiting to see the rubble that was once the Arena, as the dust settles on Feb. 27, 1999. Photo by Jerry Naunheim Jr. of the Post-Dispatch
Amanda Litzau, top, and her cousin Hannah Litzau cry together moments after the St. Louis Arena fell on Feb. 27, 1999. Photo by Jamie Rector of the Post-Dispatch
"We want anything from the Arena," said Amy Zlatic, who proudly carried off a piece of a parking lot lightpost on Feb. 28, 1999. She planned to add it to a shrine she was making to the building in her basement. Referring to the St. Louis Arena as a landmark, she and her husband, Mike, both born and raised in St. Louis, fondly remembered concerts and sporting events they attended in the past. Photo by Laurie Skrivan, lskrivan@post-dispatch.com
A worker removes bricks from the wreckage of what used to be the St. Louis Arena on March 1, 1999. Photo by Andrew Cutraro of the Post-Dispatch
Tom Optich sorts through bricks from the Arena to find that certain special brick that says "take me home" during a sale of bricks from the demolished building on May 1, 1999. He is wearing his vintage Blues sweater. "I thought that wearing the jersey would be appropriate for the occasion," he said.
A graffiti artist made his feelings known concerning St. Louis Mayor Clarence Harmon's position on the former St. Louis Arena in photo taken Aug. 24, 1999, about six months after the building was imploded. Harmon favored demolition of the building to make room for a possible office park. Photo by Jerry Naunheim Jr. of the Post-Dispatch
In his 44-year-career as a building wrecker, probably no job Arnold Spirtas has done has carried as much baggage as the demolition of the St. Louis Arena, which his company, Spirtas Wrecking, was preparing to implode. But Spirtas insisted that he had no emotional attachment to the landmark building's demise. It was just his job, he said on Feb. 19, 1999. Photo by Teak Phillips of the Post-Dispatch
Photographer Robert George takes a light reading while fellow photographer Steve Pepper scouts his location at the St. Louis Arena on Feb. 22, 1999, days before the structure's demolition. Photo by Karen Elshout of the Post-Dispatch
Victoria Emory takes a picture of her husband, Mark, daughter Christy, 11, and David, 5, of Affton, in front of the St. Louis Arena in 1999, a few days before demolition of the building. Photo by Karen Elshout of the Post-Dispatch.
Artist David R. Mueller of Gallery Unique in Barnhart sold hand-painted prints of the St. Louis Arena to spectators who came to get one last look of the building on Feb. 26, 1999, the night before its destruction. The painting has one of the billboards left empty for Mueller to add a buyer's name.
Linda Kiel Vaughan of St. Louis kept a nightly vigil at the St. Louis Arena in the days before it was demolished. This photo shows her on Feb. 26, 1999. Photo by Wendi Fitzgerald
James Sutton shows off his homemade model of the St. Louis Arena as a crowd awaits the demolition of the real thing on Feb. 27, 1999. "I think I'll keep this one around," said Sutton.
The St. Louis Arena looked a bit ramshackle on Feb. 11, 1999, a few weeks before destruction day. Photo by Scott Dine of the Post-Dispatch
Here was the image from the front page of the Post-Dispatch. See the entire page at stltoday.newspapers.com
An artist's rendering of plans for The Highlands at Forest Park, to be built on the land where the St. Louis Arena once stood. Image courtesy of developer
Randy Smith measures the grade at the Highlands at Forest Park as workers prepare to erect a temporary performance space for Cirque du Soleil on July 29, 2003. Photo by Teak Phillips of the Post-Dispatch
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 13, 2003 - The Grand Chapiteau is one of five tents for Cirque du Soleil that were raised at The Highlands at Forest Park on Aug. 13, 2003. Photo by Huy Mach, hmach@post-dispatch.com
An office building comes together at Highlands Plaza, a mixed-use development across from Forest Park on the site of the old St. Louis Arena on Sept. 10, 2008. The site is now home to offices and apartments. Photo by Erik M. Lunsford, elunsford@post-dispatch.com
Many could stand to lose millions of dollars. Some are potentially watching their careers come to an end.
Many could stand to lose millions of dollars and some are potentially watching their careers come to an end.
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On Jan. 24, 1978, Checkerdome officials experimented with a no-reserved-seat policy for the concert. It was the last time they would try that at a rock concert.
75 years ago, Oklahoma A&M beat St. Louis U., 39-27, before what was then the largest basketball crowd in the city's history, 13,386.
On Feb. 17, 1974, the St. Louis University Billikens hockey team drew 15,346 fans for a game against Ohio State. SLU players were right when they said they had never seen anything like it.
On Feb. 9, 1966, the NHL awarded a franchise to St. Louis, despite the fact that nobody from our town even made a bid for a team.