The Brown County Veterans Memorial Arena (more commonly known as the Brown County Arena) was a 5,248-seat multi-purpose

arena An arena is a large enclosed platform, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theatre, musical performances, or sporting events. It is composed of a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for spectators ...

Ashwaubenon, Wisconsin Ashwaubenon () is a village in Brown County, Wisconsin, Brown County in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The population was 16,963 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census. A suburb of Green Bay, Wisconsin, Green Bay, Ashwaubenon is part of the ...

, situated on the corner of Lombardi Avenue and Oneida Street, across from

Lambeau Field Lambeau Field is an outdoor athletic stadium in the north central United States, located in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The home field of the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League (NFL), it opened in 1957 as City Stadium, replacing ...

. The arena opened on November 11, 1958. The final event held at the arena was a

Bret Michaels Bret Michael Sychak (born March 15, 1963), known professionally as Bret Michaels, is an American singer and musician. He gained fame as the frontman of rock band Poison who has sold over 50 million albums worldwide and 15 million records in the U ...

concert on April 6, 2019. The building, along with neighboring Shopko Hall, was replaced by a new exposition center, Resch Expo, in 2021. Demolition of the arena began April 30, 2019.

History

The arena was dedicated in honor of the county's

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

veterans. The arena was the first large venue in the city (expanding on the Riverside Ballroom's small capacity), allowing large entertainment acts to come to Green Bay. It was the city and county's main indoor venue until the

Resch Center The Resch Center is a 10,200-seat multi-purpose arena, in Ashwaubenon, Wisconsin, United States built in 2002. It is the home of the University of Wisconsin–Green Bay Phoenix men's basketball team, the Green Bay Gamblers ice hockey team ...

opened in 2002. The

Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by a combina ...

was first established inside the Brown County Arena as a small exhibit on a wall.

Events

The arena hosted a breakfast for

John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination ...

in 1960.

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...

gave a performance at the arena on April 28, 1977. He would die 4 months after the show on August 16. It was the home arena for the

University of Wisconsin–Green Bay The University of Wisconsin–Green Bay (UW-Green Bay, UWGB, or Green Bay) is a public university in Green Bay, Wisconsin, with regional campuses in Marinette, Wisconsin, Marinette, Manitowoc, Wisconsin, Manitowoc, and Sheboygan, Wisconsin, Shebo ...

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

teams.

Bigfoot 15 jumping at Brown County Arena 2015

It hosted the 1991

Mid-Continent Conference The Summit League, or The Summit, is an NCAA Division I intercollegiate athletic conference with its membership mostly located in the Midwestern United States from Illinois on the East of the Mississippi River to the Dakotas and Nebraska on the W ...

(now Summit League) men's basketball tournament and the

Midwestern Collegiate Conference The Horizon League is an 11-school collegiate athletic conference in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I, whose members are located in and near the Great Lakes region. The Horizon League founded in 1979 as the Midw ...

(now Horizon League) men's basketball tournament in 1998. The Arena continued to play host to concerts, ice shows, local sporting shows, high school graduations, and other events but was largely phased out as a sports arena, because of its age and an older seating layout. Most area sports teams that once used the arena now play home games in the newer

next door, while some higher-tier concerts moved to the

Weidner Center The Weidner, also known as the Weidner Center for the Performing Arts, WCPA, or Weidner Center is a performing arts center in Green Bay, Wisconsin, on the University of Wisconsin–Green Bay campus. Named after the university's first chancellor, Ed ...

on the

campus. In its waning years, it continued to be used as an overflow site for some matches. Brown County Arena played host to several WWF events in the 1980s and resuming again in the early 2000s, with house shows.

Pro wrestling

Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, the World Wrestling Federation would hold live events as well as WWF TV tapings in the arena. WCW would also go on to have many live events at the arena. In 1998 the WWF took a three-year hiatus from the Brown County Arena. In January 2001 and in February 2002, the World Wrestling Federation returned with two house shows before leaving their older location for the brand new Resch Center. The XWF held three live, house show type events in their first-ever tour outside of the original tapings that took place at Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida. These events occurred in December 2001. One of the venues the XWF ran was the Brown County Arena. The other stops on the tour included Hammond Indiana and Milwaukee Wisconsin. Despite being an unknown company to nearly all who attended the XWF in Your Face House drew a large crowd with legends such as, Curt Hennig, The Road Warriors, the Nasty Boys and Rowdy Roddy Piper along with younger talent left over from the WWF's acquisition of WCW, including Vampiro, Buff Bagwell, and Norman Smiley. BCA also hosted AWA Wrestling before going out of business.

Final concert and closure

A final concert was held at the arena on April 6, 2019 featuring

Brett Michaels Bret Michael Sychak (born March 15, 1963), known professionally as Bret Michaels, is an American singer and musician. He gained fame as the frontman of rock band Poison who has sold over 50 million albums worldwide and 15 million records in the ...

. Michaels was the lead singer of

Poison Poison is a chemical substance that has a detrimental effect to life. The term is used in a wide range of scientific fields and industries, where it is often specifically defined. It may also be applied colloquially or figuratively, with a broa ...

, and the group's first video for the song "

Every Rose Has Its Thorn "Every Rose Has Its Thorn" is a power ballad by American glam metal band Poison. It was released in October 1988 as the third single from Poison's second album '' Open Up and Say... Ahh!''. The band's signature song, it is also their only number- ...

" was filmed at the venue. The band started every one of their world tours here. Michaels was selected as the final act because he opened more tours at the arena than anyone else. The concert had a Nostalgia theme and it utilized canned lighting. A remake video for the song was filmed at the final concert. A closing ceremony was held starting at noon on Monday, April 29, 2019. After the ceremony, county residents were allowed to take two free seats or purchase a four-seat bench for $50.

References

External links