Chicago Stadium was an
indoor arena in
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...
,
Illinois
Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rock ...
, that opened in 1929, closed in 1994 and was demolished in 1995. It was the home of the
National Hockey League
The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey sports league, league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranke ...
's
Chicago Blackhawks
The Chicago Blackhawks (spelled Black Hawks until 1986, and known colloquially as the Hawks) are a professional ice hockey team based in Chicago. The Blackhawks compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Divisio ...
and the
National Basketball Association's
Chicago Bulls.
History
The Stadium hosted the
Chicago Blackhawks
The Chicago Blackhawks (spelled Black Hawks until 1986, and known colloquially as the Hawks) are a professional ice hockey team based in Chicago. The Blackhawks compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Divisio ...
of the
NHL from
1929 to
1994
File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which sank in the Baltic Sea; Nels ...
and the
Chicago Bulls of the
NBA from
1967 to
1994
File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which sank in the Baltic Sea; Nels ...
. The
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 spectator ...
was the site of the first
NFL playoff game in
1932
Events January
* January 4 – The British authorities in India arrest and intern Mahatma Gandhi and Vallabhbhai Patel.
* January 9 – Sakuradamon Incident: Korean nationalist Lee Bong-chang fails in his effort to assassinate Emperor Hir ...
; the 1932, 1940, and 1944
Democratic National Conventions; and the 1932 and 1944
Republican National Conventions, as well as numerous concerts,
rodeo competitions,
boxing
Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermined ...
matches, political rallies, and plays.
The Stadium was first proposed by Chicago sports promoter Paddy Harmon. Harmon wanted to bring an NHL team to Chicago, but he lost out to
Col. Frederic McLaughlin. This team would soon be known as the
Chicago Black Hawks (later 'Blackhawks'). Harmon then went on to at least try to get some control over the team by building a stadium for the Blackhawks to play in. He spent $2.5 million and borrowed more funds from friends, including
James E. Norris, in order to build the stadium.
Opened on March 28, 1929, at a cost of $9.5 million, Chicago Stadium was the largest indoor arena in the world at the time.
Detroit's Olympia stadium, built two years earlier, was a model for the Chicago Stadium and had a capacity of over 15,000 people. It was also the first arena with an air conditioning system. However, the system was fairly rudimentary by modern standards, and was memorably given to filling the arena with fog during late-season basketball and hockey games.
The Stadium sat 17,317 for hockey at the time of closure, though standing room pushed the "actual" attendance beyond that figure. The official attendance figures in the published game summaries were often given in round numbers, such as 18,500 or 20,000. The largest recorded crowd for an NHL game at the stadium was 20,069 for a playoff game between the Blackhawks and
Minnesota North Stars on April 10, 1982.
Seating capacity
"The Madhouse on Madison"
In addition to the close-quartered, triple-tiered, boxy layout of the building, much of the loud, ringing noise of the fans could be attributed to the fabled 3,663-pipe
Barton organ, boasting the world's largest theater organ console with 6 manuals (keyboards) and over 800 stops, and played by
Al Melgard
Al Melgard (October 4, 1890 in Denmark – July 8, 1977) was the best-known organist for the Chicago Stadium, from 1930 until retirement in 1974, at age 84.
Career
Melgard, who lost his left index finger in an accident as a child, was nonetheles ...
. Melgard played for decades during hockey games there, earning the Stadium the moniker "The Madhouse on Madison".
For years, it was also known as "The Loudest Arena in the NBA", due to its barn-shaped features. When the Stadium closed in 1994 the organ was removed and prepared to be installed in the 19th hole museum. Soon after the museum closed, sending the organ along with another theatre organ to a warehouse in Phoenix Arizona. In October 1996, a year after the stadium was razed, a propane tank explosion melted and destroyed both pipe organs, excluding the console.
The organ is currently in the residence of Phil Maloof and is in good working condition with new pipes.
In the
Stanley Cup
The Stanley Cup (french: La Coupe Stanley) is the championship trophy awarded annually to the National Hockey League (NHL) playoff champion. It is the oldest existing trophy to be awarded to a professional sports franchise in North America, an ...
semifinals of 1971, when the Blackhawks scored a series-clinching empty-net goal in Game 7 against the
New York Rangers
The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference. The team plays its ho ...
,
CBS announcer
Dan Kelly reported, "I can feel our broadcast booth shaking! That's the kind of place Chicago Stadium is right now!" The dressing rooms at the Stadium were placed underneath the seats, and the cramped corridor that led to the ice, with its twenty-two steps, became the stuff of legend. Legend has it a
German Shepherd wandered the bowels at night as "the security team."
During the 1973 Stanley Cup Finals against Montreal, Blackhawks owner
Bill Wirtz had the horn of his yacht (Kahlenberg Q-3) installed in the building, and had it sound after Blackhawks goals. This practice would, in the ensuing years, become commonplace in professional hockey.
Nancy Faust, organist for 40 years at
Chicago White Sox games, also played indoors at the Stadium, at courtside for
Chicago Bulls home games from 1976 to 1984, and on the pipe organ for
Chicago Blackhawks
The Chicago Blackhawks (spelled Black Hawks until 1986, and known colloquially as the Hawks) are a professional ice hockey team based in Chicago. The Blackhawks compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Divisio ...
hockey there from 1985 to 1989. She was replaced at the keyboard in 1990 by Frank Pellico, who serves as Hawks organist to this day.
It also became traditional for Blackhawk fans to cheer loudly throughout the singing of the national anthems, especially when sung by Chicago favorite
Wayne Messmer
Wayne P. Messmer (born July 19, 1950 in Chicago, IL) is a professional speaker, singer, broadcaster, author and actor. He is a professional member of SAG/AFTRA and the National Speakers Association. He was the long-time public address announcer fo ...
. Denizens of the second balcony often added sparklers and flags to the occasion. Arguably, the most memorable of these was the singing before the
1991 NHL All-Star Game, which took place during the
Gulf War. This tradition has continued at the
United Center
United Center is an indoor arena on the Near West Side of Chicago, Illinois, United States. It is home to the Chicago Bulls of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the Chicago Blackhawks of the National Hockey League (NHL). It is name ...
. Longtime PA announcer Harvey Wittenberg had a unique monotone style: "Blackhawk goal scored by #9, Bobby Hull, unassisted, at 6:13." The Chicago Stadium also provided a unique fan experience. On the west side of the building was the Players/Employee/VIP Visitors Parking Lot. It is also where Teams/Bands/Politicians/Performers would enter the building through the legendary Gate 3 1/2 (Appropriately placed between Gates 3 and 4 on the North and South Sides). Although protected by fencing, it was where fans could see the talent get out of their cars or teams exit their buses before going into the building. It was also a great autograph and informal "meet and greet" opportunity.
In 1992, both the Blackhawks and the
Bulls
Bulls may refer to:
*The plural of bull, an adult male bovine
*Bulls, New Zealand, a small town in the Rangitikei District
Sports
*Bucking bull, used in the sport of bull riding
* Bulls (rugby union), a South African rugby union franchise operated ...
reached the finals in their respective leagues. The Blackhawks were swept in
their finals by the
Pittsburgh Penguins, losing at Chicago Stadium, while the Bulls won the
second of their first of three straight NBA titles on their home floor against the
Portland Trail Blazers. The next time the Bulls clinched the championship at home was in the newly built United Center in (when they did so against the
Seattle SuperSonics), their second season at the new arena, and the Blackhawks would not reach the Stanley Cup Finals again until (in which they defeated the
Philadelphia Flyers in six games), their 16th season in the new building, although they won their first championship since in
Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since ...
. The Blackhawks last won the Stanley Cup at the Stadium in ; they did not win the Cup again at home until at the United Center.
Last analog game clock in any NHL arena
It was also the last NHL arena to retain the use of an analog dial-type large four-sided clock for timekeeping in professional hockey games.
Boston Garden and the Detroit Olympia (as well as the
Buffalo Memorial Auditorium
Buffalo Memorial Auditorium, colloquially known as The Aud, was a multipurpose indoor arena in downtown Buffalo, New York. Opened on October 14, 1940, it was home to the Canisius Golden Griffins ( NCAA), the Buffalo Bisons ( AHL), the Buffalo B ...
in its pre-NHL days) had identical scoreboards but replaced them with digital timers in the mid-1960s, with Boston having their digital four-sided clock in use for the
1969–70 NHL season. After removing the balcony-edge game clocks at either end and at mid-ice zones of the Stadium, the replacement four-sided game clock suspended over center ice of the Stadium, built by
Bulova as their "Sports Timer", was installed in Chicago in 1943. Each side of the clock had a large diameter 20-minute face in the center that kept the main game time for one period of ice hockey, with a set of shorter black-colored minute and longer red-colored sweep-second hands, and a pair of smaller, 5-minute capacity dual-concentric faces for penalty timekeeping, to the left and right of the primary 20-minute face — with each of the 5-minute penalty timers having its own single hand and each clock face, both the central main timer's dial and flanking penalty timer dials (when a penalty was counting down) illuminated from behind during gameplay. The "outer" face of each penalty timer had a single hand that avoided obscuration of the "inner" face and its own, "solid" single hand, through the use of metal rods forming the outer hand's "shaft", holding its hand's "pointer" head — the set of two concentric faces for each penalty timer dial could handle two penalties for each set, with an illuminated "2" on each penalty timer dial lighting up to display a
minor penalty infraction. It was difficult to read how much time was left in a period of play on the main game timer's large face, as each minute of play was marked by a longer line on every third "seconds" increment on the central main dial, due to the minute hand's twenty-minute "full rotation" timing capacity for one period of ice hockey. The difficulty was compounded on the main central dial from the aforementioned minute and sweep-second hands being in constant motion during gameplay. The "Sports Timer's" only digital displays were for scoring and for penalized
players' numbers, each digit comprising a six-high, four-wide incandescent light
dot matrix
A dot matrix is a 2-dimensional patterned array, used to represent characters, symbols and images. Most types of modern technology use dot matrices for display of information, including mobile phones, televisions, and printers. The system is al ...
display.
That clock eventually was replaced by a four-sided scoreboard with a
digital clock, first used on September 21, 1975, in Blackhawks preseason play, crafted by the Day Sign Company of Toronto, much like the one used at the end of the 1960s (and constructed by Day Sign Company) to replace the nearly identical Bulova Sports Timer game-timekeeping device in the Boston Garden, and then in 1985 by another, this one with a color electronic message board. That latter scoreboard was built by White Way Sign, which would build scoreboards for the
United Center
United Center is an indoor arena on the Near West Side of Chicago, Illinois, United States. It is home to the Chicago Bulls of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the Chicago Blackhawks of the National Hockey League (NHL). It is name ...
.
The Stadium was also one of the last three NHL arenas (the others being Boston Garden and the
Buffalo Memorial Auditorium
Buffalo Memorial Auditorium, colloquially known as The Aud, was a multipurpose indoor arena in downtown Buffalo, New York. Opened on October 14, 1940, it was home to the Canisius Golden Griffins ( NCAA), the Buffalo Bisons ( AHL), the Buffalo B ...
) to have a shorter-than-regulation ice surface, as their construction predated the regulation. The distance was taken out of the neutral zone.
Demolition
After the Blackhawks and Bulls moved to the
United Center
United Center is an indoor arena on the Near West Side of Chicago, Illinois, United States. It is home to the Chicago Bulls of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the Chicago Blackhawks of the National Hockey League (NHL). It is name ...
, the Chicago Stadium was demolished in 1995. Its site is now a parking lot for the United Center across the street.
CNN televised the demolition, showing devoted Blackhawks and Bulls fans crying as the wrecking ball hit the old building. The console of the Barton organ now resides in the
Phil Maloof residence in
Las Vegas
Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Veg ...
,
Nevada
Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...
. Also, the center of the Chicago Bulls' floor resides in
Michael Jordan's trophy room at his mansion in North Carolina.
*A plaque with the words "Chicago Stadium – 1929–1994 – Remember The Roar" is located behind a statue of the Blackhawks' greatest players on the north side of the United Center.
*Two
friezes from Chicago Stadium were incorporated into a building at
St. Ignatius College Prep School
Saint Ignatius College Prep is a selective private, coeducational Jesuit college-preparatory school located in the Near West Side neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois. The school was founded in Chicago in 1869 by Fr. Arnold Damen, S.J., a Dutch ...
, 1076 W. Roosevelt Road.
Two of the Stadium's main parking lots, which are still used for United Center parking, retain signs that read "People's Stadium Parking".
Notable events
Basketball
*
1973,
1988: Chicago was the host city for the
NBA All-Star Game.
*1987:
Michael Jordan of the
Chicago Bulls scored 61 points on April 16 to become the only NBA player other than Wilt Chamberlain to top 3,000 points in a single season.
*1992:
Great Midwest Conference men's basketball tournament.
*1992:
Chicago Bulls won the second of three straight NBA titles in Game 6 of the
NBA Finals. This would be the only time the Bulls clinched the championship while playing on the Stadium's floor, though they did it twice at the new
United Center
United Center is an indoor arena on the Near West Side of Chicago, Illinois, United States. It is home to the Chicago Bulls of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the Chicago Blackhawks of the National Hockey League (NHL). It is name ...
(in
1996 and again in
1997).
*1994: The final Bulls home game at Chicago Stadium was played on May 20, a 93-79 Bulls win over the New York Knicks in game 6 of the Eastern Conference semifinals (the team would lose game 7 at
Madison Square Garden in New York City).
*1994: The final event at Chicago Stadium was
Scottie Pippen's Ameritech Classic charity basketball game, which was organized through Reverend
Jesse Jackson's Push-Excel program and was held on September 9, 1994.
Michael Jordan, despite being in retirement at the time (he would return to basketball six months later), participated and scored 52 points, leading the White team to a 187–150 victory over Pippen's Red team. At the end of the game, Jordan kneeled and kissed the Bulls logo at center court.
Hockey
*1934: The Blackhawks win the
Stanley Cup
The Stanley Cup (french: La Coupe Stanley) is the championship trophy awarded annually to the National Hockey League (NHL) playoff champion. It is the oldest existing trophy to be awarded to a professional sports franchise in North America, an ...
on home ice by defeating the
Detroit Red Wings 1–0 in the second overtime in game four of the
Stanley Cup Finals.
*1938: The Blackhawks win the
Stanley Cup
The Stanley Cup (french: La Coupe Stanley) is the championship trophy awarded annually to the National Hockey League (NHL) playoff champion. It is the oldest existing trophy to be awarded to a professional sports franchise in North America, an ...
on home ice by defeating the
Toronto Maple Leafs 4–1 in game four of the
Stanley Cup Finals. This was the Blackhawks' last Stanley Cup win in Chicago Stadium.
*1961:
Bobby Hull
Robert Marvin Hull OC (born January 3, 1939) is a Canadian former ice hockey player who is regarded as one of the greatest players of all time. His blonde hair, skating speed, end-to-end rushes, and ability to shoot the puck at very high velo ...
scored twice in Game 1 of the
Stanley Cup
The Stanley Cup (french: La Coupe Stanley) is the championship trophy awarded annually to the National Hockey League (NHL) playoff champion. It is the oldest existing trophy to be awarded to a professional sports franchise in North America, an ...
finals, won 3-2 by the
Chicago Blackhawks
The Chicago Blackhawks (spelled Black Hawks until 1986, and known colloquially as the Hawks) are a professional ice hockey team based in Chicago. The Blackhawks compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Divisio ...
over the
Detroit Red Wings. The Blackhawks would go on to win the Stanley Cup at Detroit's
Olympia Stadium, winning the series 4–2. Later, the team made it to the finals five more times (
1962,
1965,
1971,
1973, and
1992), but they lost in all those series.
*
1961
Events January
* January 3
** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and consular relations with Cuba (Cuba–United States relations are restored in 2015).
** Aero Flight 311 (K ...
,
1974 and
1991: Stadium was host for the
NHL All-Star Game.
*1992: The last
Stanley Cup Finals game at Chicago Stadium was played on June 1. The
Pittsburgh Penguins swept the series 4–0 and won game 4 6–5, capturing their second consecutive Stanley Cup.
*1994: The final ice hockey game at Chicago Stadium was played on April 28. The Blackhawks lost to the
Toronto Maple Leafs 1–0, eliminating them from the first round of the
1994 Stanley Cup playoffs. The only goal in the game, and last goal ever scored, came from
Mike Gartner in the first period.
Football
*1932: Due to a snowstorm followed by frigid temperatures, the
Chicago Bears played the
1932
Events January
* January 4 – The British authorities in India arrest and intern Mahatma Gandhi and Vallabhbhai Patel.
* January 9 – Sakuradamon Incident: Korean nationalist Lee Bong-chang fails in his effort to assassinate Emperor Hir ...
NFL championship game inside the Chicago Stadium against the
Portsmouth Spartans (later the
Detroit Lions). The Bears won 9–0.
Soccer
*1984: The
NASL held the only All-Star game ever played in its 17 outdoor and 4 indoor seasons. The All Stars defeat the host
Chicago Sting 9-8 before 14,328 fans.
Boxing
*1947: Often cited as one of the great bouts of the 20th Century,
Rocky Graziano scored a sixth-round technical knockout of
Tony Zale before 18,547 on July 16, 1947.
*1951: In their sixth and final fight,
Sugar Ray Robinson defeated
Jake LaMotta on Valentine's Day with a 13th-round TKO.
*1953: Undefeated heavyweight champion
Rocky Marciano knocked out
Jersey Joe Walcott on May 15 in the first round.
Concerts
*1972: November 10–11:
Jethro Tull
*1974: November 1-2:
Elton John Caribou Tour with
Kiki Dee
*1975: June 1–5 & 7th:
Beach Boys and
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...
(Beachago Tour).
*1975:
Santana's
Borboletta Tour came here on July 5.
*1975:
The Rolling Stones' Tour of the Americas '75
The Rolling Stones' Tour of the Americas '75 was a 1975 concert tour originally intended to reach both North and South America. The plans for concerts in Central and South America never solidified, however, and the tour covered only the Unite ...
stopped here July 22–24.
*1975:
The Who
The Who are an English rock band formed in London in 1964. Their classic lineup consisted of lead singer Roger Daltrey, guitarist and singer Pete Townshend, bass guitarist and singer John Entwistle, and drummer Keith Moon. They are considered ...
performed here on December 4–5 during their
1975 tour.
*1975–76: December 31-January 1:
Frank Sinatra met the new year in Chicago Stadium, performing a concert with 23 songs.
*1976:
Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. One ...
's first three concerts in Chicago in 10 years; he performed May 31 through June 2 in his
Wings Over America Tour.
*1977-78:
Queen
Queen or QUEEN may refer to:
Monarchy
* Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom
** List of queens regnant
* Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king
* Queen dowager, the widow of a king
* Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...
, 3 concerts:
A Day at the Races Tour - January 28, 1977,
News of the World Tour - December 5, 1977,
Jazz Tour - December 7, 1978
*1977: In the spring of 1977,
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin were an English rock band formed in London in 1968. The group comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham. With a heavy, guitar-driven sound, they are ...
played four shows here during their
North American tour (they had previously played three concerts at this venue on their
1975 North American Tour and two concerts on their
1973 North American Tour). Two more were scheduled for later in the tour but were cancelled due to the death of
Robert Plant's son. Tickets from the cancelled partial show on April 9 were to be honored at the rescheduled shows, which never materialized. (The band was booked to perform four concerts at the stadium as part of another North American tour in November 1980, but the tour was officially cancelled on September 27, two days after
John Bonham's death.)
*1977:
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the " King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. His ener ...
's last concert in Chicago was in the Stadium on May 1–2.
*1977: Fleetwood Mac, July 23–24
*1978:
Billy Joel October 13, 1978. For his 52nd Street Tour.
*1979: The
Bee Gees performed two sold-out shows on July 30–31.
*1981:
Michael Jackson
Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the " King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over ...
and his brothers brought their
Triumph Tour to the Stadium on August 28.
*1981: November 5, Electric Light Orchestra, opening act Hall & Oats.
*1994: The final concert was held on March 10, featuring
Pearl Jam,
Urge Overkill and
The Frogs.
In film
*1961: Scenes from the 1962 version of ''
The Manchurian Candidate'' depicting the Republican
nomination convention, were filmed in the stadium. The scenes are set in New York's
Madison Square Garden.
Other events
*1932, 1940 and 1944:
Democratic National Conventions, at which
Franklin D. Roosevelt won his first, third and fourth nominations from the
Democratic Party for
President of the United States
The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal gove ...
.
*1932 and 1944:
Republican National Conventions, at which
Herbert C. Hoover and
Thomas E. Dewey
Thomas Edmund Dewey (March 24, 1902 – March 16, 1971) was an American lawyer, prosecutor, and politician who served as the 47th governor of New York from 1943 to 1954. He was the Republican candidate for president in 1944 and 1948: although ...
, respectively, would win the
Republican Party
Republican Party is a name used by many political parties around the world, though the term most commonly refers to the United States' Republican Party.
Republican Party may also refer to:
Africa
* Republican Party (Liberia)
*Republican Party ...
's nomination for President of the United States. Both lost to Roosevelt.
*1933: Funeral of Chicago mayor
Anton J. Cermak, the sole fatality in
an assassination attempt on President-elect Franklin Roosevelt.
*1936: Presidential election rallies for both Republican
Alfred Landon and Democrat
Franklin D. Roosevelt. Roosevelt's rally drew a crowd of over 1 million, with more than 200,000 attendees overwhelming the stadium's capacity of 25,000.
[Soderstrom, Carl; Soderstrom, Robert; Stevens, Chris; Burt, Andrew (2018). ''Forty Gavels: The Life of Reuben Soderstrom and the Illinois AFL-CIO''. 2. Peoria, IL: CWS Publishing. pp. 104, 107-108. .]
*1946: While waiting in a backstage area to go onto the arena floor during a rodeo,
Roy Rogers proposed to
Dale Evans.
*1968: Months after winning a
1968 Winter Olympics
The 1968 Winter Olympics, officially known as the X Olympic Winter Games (french: Les Xes Jeux olympiques d'hiver), were a winter multi-sport event held from 6 to 18 February 1968 in Grenoble, France. Thirty-seven countries participated. Frenchm ...
gold medal,
Peggy Fleming drew large crowds to the Stadium with the
Ice Capades
The Ice Capades were traveling entertainment shows featuring theatrical ice skating performances. Shows often featured former Olympic and US National Champion figure skaters who had retired from formal competition. Started in 1940, the Ice Capa ...
.
See also
*
Ray Clay
Ray Clay is an American public address announcer best known for his work for the Chicago Bulls organization in the 1990s.
Chicago Bulls
A native of Berwyn, Illinois, Clay began announcing basketball games at the University of Illinois at Chicago ...
– Former Bulls public address announcer
References
External links
Chicago Stadium's Basketball History
{{Authority control
1929 establishments in Illinois
1995 disestablishments in Illinois
American football venues in Chicago
Basketball Association of America venues
Basketball venues in Chicago
Boxing venues in Chicago
Chicago Blackhawks arenas
Chicago Bulls venues
Chicago Stags
Chicago Sting sports facilities
Defunct boxing venues in the United States
Defunct indoor arenas in Illinois
Defunct indoor soccer venues in the United States
Defunct indoor ice hockey venues in the United States
Defunct multi-purpose stadiums in the United States
Defunct National Football League venues
Defunct National Hockey League venues
Stadium
Demolished music venues in the United States
Demolished sports venues in Illinois
Demolished theatres in Illinois
Former National Basketball Association venues
Indoor arenas in Chicago
Indoor ice hockey venues in Chicago
Indoor soccer venues in Illinois
North American Soccer League (1968–1984) indoor venues
Sports venues completed in 1929
Sports venues demolished in 1995
Stadium
Wrestling venues in Chicago